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From: colsmith@ihu1e.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: software engineering
Message-ID: <644@ihu1e.ATT.COM>
Date: Fri, 3-Apr-87 17:53:48 EST
Article-I.D.: ihu1e.644
Posted: Fri Apr  3 17:53:48 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 5-Apr-87 08:05:11 EST
References: <340@ndsuvax.UUCP> <1986@cwruecmp.UUCP> <4428@utah-cs.UUCP>
Organization: Purple People Inc.
Lines: 18
Summary: Make them read code before they write it! Hear hear!

In article <4428@utah-cs.UUCP>, shebs@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley Shebs) writes:
>  One radical
> solution might be to de-emphasize writing programs, and require reading them,
> starting with the first course.  

That is a really good idea.  In my first "hard" programming class (the
programs got too involved to write the whole thing the night before :-) )
the teacher had one "reading code" exam.  He would give us a 10 page
program with few or no comments and make us answer questions about what
different procedures did and etc.  It was horrible, and people rarely
finished it, but it was very enlightening.

This same teacher also almost killed us for hard coding things and etc.  We
all thought he was cruel (Hi Jerry!) but afterwards we realized we learned
an awful lot about programming from him.  He also used the very good
technique of making you recycle earlier programs.

Marcia Colsmith