NYCPHP Meetup

[Brian O'Connor]

I can't speak for anyone else's experience other than my own, but when I
went to get my degree in CS I was exposed to version control, unit testing,
code reviews without sacrificing any other of the core topics associated
with the degree.

Most of those "non-core" cs tools we're taught in the first 3 classes, and
then we were expected to learn the rest on our own.

As far as I'm concerned, school isn't the end all be all to learn
everything there is to be a competent programmer. It's a starting point to
teach you how to learn.
On Jan 24, 2012 12:58 PM, "Philip Camilleri" <philip.camilleri at gmail.com>
wrote:

> i don't wish to start a separate discussion here, but maybe the problem
> lies with the University/College education system here in the US.
>
> I went to school in Europe (a few years back, nonetheless, when the system
> was somewhat different to what it is today). But the philosophy back then
> was to get a "rounded" education before getting to University -- which
> meant you did all your advanced math, language, literature, history,
> geography, economics, social sciences, and so on, up until you were 18. In
> fact, our system was such that you specialized as you progress (i.e. 8 core
> subjects at 13, then 4 core subjects at 16, and finally 1 (or 2) core
> subject(s) at Uni, at 18). If one wanted to learn more about art, history
> or economics one simply picked up the books or followed extra-curricular
> courses.
>
> Granted, I know this is all wishful thinking, but to hear someone say that
> they have a Degree in CS, but do not know such things as source-control, or
> unit-testing paradigms (or even how to log into a Unix box -- and believe
> me, I have heard this one on *several* occasions while interviewing
> candidates both here in the US and in the UK) is absolutely demoralizing!
>
> Anyway, as Leam said, best of luck with your book -- it may yet become
> "required reading" for developers!!
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 12:47 PM, Leam Hall <leamhall at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 01/24/2012 12:23 PM, Christopher R. Merlo wrote:
>>
>>  Justin is, as usual, correct about all of this.  But as someone who's
>>> been
>>> involved in CS curriculum design at the associates level for going on 12
>>> years now, the problem -- at least for us at the community college level
>>> --
>>> is that we can only make our students take 66 credits, of physics and
>>> music
>>> and English and all the other stuff, along with CS and math.  I would
>>> love
>>> to offer our CS students a course on these software engineering topics,
>>> like source control and unit tests and how to do a code review, but not
>>> at
>>> the expense of assembly or linear algebra, and SUNY won't let us do it at
>>> the expense of sociology or art.  (That's not a complaint; I think the
>>> curriculum *should* be well-rounded.  We just don't have space.)
>>> -c
>>>
>>
>> I won't argue, and I have a SUNY-Regent's College degree. However, I
>> think this more points out that we need to move out of traditional
>> "college" education and forward to something new or backward to
>> apprenticeships or something else.
>>
>> The cost of college no longer meets the "increased income" myth, if it
>> ever did. In hiring discussions my degrees have meant much less than
>> respected certifications and experience.
>>
>> So Gary, I suggest you proceed with your book and dedicate a forum or
>> other interactive website. Maybe use Moodle? Develop your plan, test it
>> with others, and then charge a hundred or so bucks for the learning and
>> access to the member's forum. I'd probably join.
>>
>> Leam
>>
>>
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