[PLUG] Computer Science at PSU a nightmare

[Carlos Konstanski]

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007, Russell Senior wrote:

> Date: 20 Dec 2007 10:05:51 -0800
> From: Russell Senior <russell at personaltelco.net>
> Reply-To: "General Linux/UNIX discussion and help;	civil and on-topic"
>     <plug at lists.pdxlinux.org>
> To: "General Linux/UNIX discussion and help;	civil and on-topic"
>     <plug at lists.pdxlinux.org>
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Computer Science at PSU a nightmare
> 
>>>>>> "Carlos" == Carlos Konstanski <ckonstanski at pippiandcarlos.com> writes:
>
> Carlos> I wish the intro to programming (pascal) course at Idaho State
> Carlos> University were harder than it was for this very reason.  I
> Carlos> dropped the class because it was soooo boooring.  It was
> Carlos> geared toward the biggest moron in the class.  That guy should
> Carlos> have been culled from the herd.  As a result, I never took
> Carlos> another computer class.  I don't feel like I missed much by
> Carlos> getting a real-world education instead of an academic one.
>
> As an aside, I'd note that you aren't in much position to judge *what*
> you might have missed, as the data you collected in that region are
> rather sparse.  We'd know better if you had taken other computer
> classes and found them also missable.
>
> Carlos> Maybe it pays to find a CS department that specializes in the
> Carlos> area you're interested in.  I would think that OSU would be
> Carlos> much more linux-oriented, being a key datacenter in the linux
> Carlos> universe.
>
> I was exposed to programming in four classes as an undergraduate:
>
> a) an intro to Mechanical Engineering class had a brief section on Fortran
> b) a later Computing in Engineering class taught Fortran all term
> c) an introduction to Computer Science class taught Pascal.
> d) a unix/c class taught C
>
> Everything else, programming-wise I learned by reading and doing.
> Later on, when I was taking some classes at OGI, I ran into masters
> students in Computer Science that didn't seem to know much about
> programming at all, which surprised me at first.  I am not saying they
> were useless.  I expect they knew things I didn't.  But they were not
> well skilled at turning ideas into good programs.
>
> I think it is generally good advice to *do* the (exclude playing video
> games here) thing you like doing, because that's how you get good at
> it.  And being good at that thing makes you valuable to others who
> might be willing to pay you.  And if it all works out, you end up
> getting paid for doing something you like doing.

I agree with almost everything you said.  But I think I do have some
knowledge of what I missed by not taking more classes.  I have worked
closely with many, many CS graduates, and I know precisely what thay had
to learn from me (they were all highly deficient in javascript, for
example), and what I had to learn from them (java and lisp).  Come to
think about it, I'd be a lowly web designer if it had not been for the
skills I picked up from CS graduates.  Maybe I should go back to
college, or hang out with more graduates.  Never mind, I agree with you
100%.

Carlos Konstanski