Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!uwslh!lishka
From: lishka@uwslh.UUCP (Christopher Lishka)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: American Programmer
Message-ID: <312@uwslh.UUCP>
Date: 24 Mar 88 18:20:04 GMT
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison, State Hygiene Lab
Lines: 46


     I too think that this is a great idea.  All too often the real
skills in programming are left aside in favor of theory, and theory
does not necessarily a good programmer make.  As a current
undergraduate who has learned most of his real "skills" from my
current job (from an excellent, well-versed programmer who also works
here), I am now amazed that what I thought were good programming
skills (i.e. knowing all of the commands of a language, etc.) are only
a small part of a much wider base.

     One problem I see, however, is that there really isn't much of a
standard OS to work from in teaching the practical aspects of
programming.  For instance, where I work I use tools such as
Gnu-Emacs, several C compilers, Perl, Yacc, Lex, Ksh, Csh, Sh, RCS,
Gprof, Dbx, etc. all running on 4.3BSD Unix.  Now, at school I have
used such a wide variety of systems (from Xerox InterLisp workstations
to archaic local OS's) that the vast array of tools can be
overwhelming, especially when they are written to work with systems
that differ in *philosophy* as well as implementation.  A structured
Lisp editor is not like Vi.  An interpretive Lisp environment can be
much different from, say, the edit-compile-run-edit cycle so typical
of many C projects.  Using RCS can be much different than saving
backup directories as well as using Tar with a 9-track tape drive.
There is a lot of "theory" involved in organizing programs as well as
modifying and writing them, and it is this kind of theory that seems
to be left to the student to discover.

     Maybe there should be a course on this sort of thing.  I think a
mandatory course titled something like "Program Writing" should be
offered (at least at this University) where issues such as programming
environments and project management should be discussed.  At very
least it could give the prospective CS undergraduate major a set of
"rules" or "guidelines" to go about organizing and writing a general
program.  This course could be a 2nd or 3rd course, after a standard
language or two has been taught, so that something well known like
Pascal, Scheme, or whatever can be assumed to be already known, in
order to focus on program writing styles independent of any language.

     Well, those are just a few thoughts.  Any comments or criticisms?

						-Chris

-- 
Chris Lishka                    /lishka@uwslh.uucp
Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene <-lishka%uwslh.uucp@rsch.wisc.edu
"My cockatiels control my mind!"\{seismo, harvard,topaz,...}!uwvax!uwslh!lishka