
Is Computer Science Dying? - danw
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1083188&rl=1
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ivankirigin
Now that computer scientists have discovered that the statistics and
probability research of the past few decades completely applies to any
interesting problems, there should be at least a few more good years left.

Regardless, computer science would never actually die. It would just deadlock
or attempt to solve the halting problem.

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nradov
The biggest problem in the field is still that most universities don't offer
separate Computer Science and Software Engineering majors. While there is
substantial overlap, those are two distinct fields. It's much like the
relationship between Physics and Mechanical Engineering. The IEEE is doing
some good work to establish a standard curriculum for Software Engineering and
get it implemented at more schools. That would provide a more attractive
option to students who want to create software but don't enjoy the theoretical
and mathematical side as much.

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wozer
> One solution proposed for this lack of vision is that of renaming the
> subject to "informatics."

Renaming doesn't create visions but it should be noted that this is the usual
term in French, German, Italian, Norwegian etc.

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amichail
It's amazing that computer scientists never consider the possibility that they
are wrong -- it's always students who are misguided.

In my view, computer scientists are wrong. They have limited the scope of the
field to exclude application-level creativity. And in so doing, they have
severely restricted the potential of the greatest invention of all time.

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comatose_kid
Nothing wrong with understanding computer architecture/algorithms/os/etc
before you exercise your application-level creativity.

Anyone learning a sport has to master basic things before they go on to the
advanced (eg in volleyball, you learn how to bump/set/spike before you learn
how to run offensive plays). I think the same applies to CS.

~~~
umjames
But at least you do get to learn how to run offensive plays while still
learning volleyball.

Personally speaking, in my 5 years of college (Drexel University from
1996-2001), most classes were 80-100% theory and 0-20% programming. None of it
was application-level programming until the Software Engineering track in
senior year. And you didn't have to have a full working program to pass
either; it was enough to just show you made an effort.

I'd rather see a university that promoted the idea of letting self-motivated
students do their own thing instead of just turning education into a checklist
of required classes and credits.

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michaelneale
I hope not. The mathematical aspects are about to get a whole lot more
important to us.

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sabat
Only like the phoenix.

