On 2017-07-29 20:40, Steve Litt wrote:
On Wed, 26 Jul 2017 20:49:00 -0400
Robert Marmorstein <rob...@narnia.homeunix.com> wrote:
> >>> My high-school programming class was advertised as teaching
> >>> people how to
> >>> program in C and do all sorts of low-level stuff. I signed up
> >>> thinking I might finally meet a "computer expert" that actually
> >>> knew what they were talking about...
> >>>
> >>> The teacher began by forcing us all to make "hello world"
> >>> applications IN JAVA!
I teach Computer Science at a small public university. There is a
wide variety in the high school preparation of my students. Most of
them wind up in Java classes similar to yours, which demotivates them
and makes my life harder. Some of them have absolutely excellent
classes. It depends a lot on whether the school district can afford
to have dedicated computing/technology faculty. My general
impression is that large, wealthy school districts are able to devote
enough resources to provide I.T. classes, but most (smaller and
poorer) school districts can't.
That said, I agree completely with you about the importance of a
"low-level" understanding of computer systems. You don't have to
understand how an engine works to be a race-card driver, but it
helps. And if you want to be in the pit crew, you'd better know the
difference between a metric wrench and an imperial one. Knowledge of
binary, especially, shows up in lots of applications other than
"systems-level" coding -- graphics filters, subnet masks, digital
signal processing, numerical analysis, bitsets for network flags,
lots of places. _______________________________________________
Next question:
Given that instructors in both high school and college vary from the
guy who has a Gigabit Ethernet connection between his brain and yours,
and the clown who can't explain what a loop is and how it's used, and
given the enormous debt incurred by going to college, what is the way
forward for folks without the money to take courses and hope they get a
good instructor?
SteveT
You assume that a teacher is necessary. But anyone who wants to learn
WILL learn if they are motivated. There are geeks who have even skipped
college and made a go of it. If you're in the 'system', the quality of
teachers is always a crapshoot these days and the adventure will put you
in the poorhouse in the process . . .
golinux
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