Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!ucsd!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpsemc!gph
From: gph@hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz )
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Unix editors
Message-ID: <810021@hpsemc.HP.COM>
Date: 18 Jul 88 17:01:50 GMT
References: <272@jackson.UUCP>
Organization: HP Technology Access Center, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 43

whh@pbhya.PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes:

>You bet.  Possibly we also need a better grade of student.  I'm been
>slowly coming to the conclusion that there is so much that REALLY NEEDS
>to be understood to have complete education (see the the debate about
>requirements out of Stanford a few months ago) that College undergraduate
>curricula should be considered to be 5 years rather than 4.
>----------

    Sorry, I don't go along with this at all.   It was tough enough for
me to get my 4 years in, paying my own way.  If you make it 5 years, you
either have to subsidize it, or you prevent all but the most fortunate of
students from gaining the degree.

   Also, I don't believe that 5 years is necessary.  I am an engineer 
at HP, and I am a reasonably competent software engineer.  I had 6 months 
of computer training at a trade school.  The rest I learned on the job.  

   I think that motivation is really the key.  I taught myself Pascal,
and have taught it at HP.  I taught myself C, etc.   I taught myself 
Fortran and then consulted on customer conversions from Fortran 66 to 
Fortran 77.  My original training was Cobol, RPG II, and IBM Assembler.
I picked up enough VI to do my work in about a week.  In 4 years, students
should have plenty of time to learn multiple editors (even write their own).

   Some students are incompetent to work as "programmers" upon graduation.
Who knows why?  Maybe they really aren't inspired by any field, and they
just took CS because it was a guaranteed job at the end?

   Perhaps, also, some companies so overload their staff that they are
not given time to further their skills.  If so, it is too bad.  I think
I have been fortunate to work for companies where learning new things
is encouraged, not discouraged. 


    Oh well, down off my soap box.   I respect your right to disagree
with me.   I won't take it personally if you don't take it personally!

G. Paul Houtz
HP Tecnology Access Center
10670 N. Tantau Ave.
Cupertino, CA 95014
gph%hpsemc@hplabs.HP.COM
(408) 725-3864