
Who Killed the Software Engineer? (Hint: It Happened in College) - nickb
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3722876
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jmzachary
This article is spot-on. It outlines why people like me are former professors,
especially the tendency for departments to dial the math way back in favor of
attracting students, keeping them happy, and graduating them to show the dean
how much growth the department has experienced. When I covered recursion
equations and how to solve them in introductory data structures and algorithms
classes, most of the class proceeded to bitch and moan about it. When I
assigned them exercises to implement associative data structures, the ones who
used pre-built Java libraries and received 0 marks complained loudly. It
seemed like such a waste of their time and mine.

~~~
amichail
I didn't like the article at all. The use of sophisticated libraries is
_progress_. Now we can think at a higher level, allowing us to quickly
prototype new ideas.

~~~
icky
> The use of sophisticated libraries is progress.

Just as the use of sophisticated calculators is progress, but totally
inappropriate for a class in basic arithmetic.

> Now we can think at a higher level, allowing us to quickly prototype new
> ideas.

First they must learn to _think_.

~~~
Retric
IMO, hand coding a known algorithm in a generic fashion using Java does not
involve meaningful thought.

~~~
icky
> IMO, hand coding a known algorithm in a generic fashion using Java does not
> involve meaningful thought.

Nope. But doing it in assembly might... :)

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mynameishere
_The older worker suggested that the young engineer check the core stack to
see about a problem, but unfortunately, "he'd never heard of a core stack."_

And when you're done with that check the bit overflow on the accumulator
register.

 _"They taught Pascal because it seemed to be pedagogically the best choice,"
Dewar says._

Err, "seemed" to whom? Say what you want about Java, but the tendency of
schools to use Pascal was pure brain-damage. And I find it hard to believe
that NYU went straight from Pascal to Java with no C/C++ in between. That's
scary.

~~~
aswanson
_And when you're done with that check the bit overflow on the accumulator
register._

Hell, why stop there? Make sure he checks the dielectric breakdown voltages on
the microprocessor mosfet gates the machine code is executing on. These
youngins have it too easy these days.

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tlrobinson
I have a BS in computer engineering and a MS in computer science... but I've
_never_ heard of a "core stack" (a stack trace in a core dump?)... am I one of
those "incompetent" graduates?

~~~
icky
No. The "older engineer" mentioned in the article is _really_ old.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_core_memory>

(Search the article text for the first occurrence of "stack".)

See also: <http://www.pa.msu.edu/~laurens/cdc_memory/>

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streblo
I don't know. I've had to take a lot of rigorous math, theory, and algorithms
classes while trying to get a CS degree. Talking to friends at other
universities, it seems to be the same story. I don't get the feeling like I'm
a special case. Does this mean I'm a shitty programmer, or are there just a
lot of crappy software developers? I just couldn't imagine getting a CS degree
without knowing what a compiler was.

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jfoutz
Or, It happened in the HR department. Smart, capable coders that didn't get a
bingo on the keyword soup get overlooked. Especially in the large "hey you
kids get off my lawn" kind of organizations this gentleman is talking about.

