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Followup On Java As "Damaging" To Students
hedley writes "A prior article on the damage Java does to CS education was discussed here recently. There was substantial feedback and the mailbox of one of the authors, Prof Dewar, also has been filled with mainly positive responses. In this followup to the article, Prof. Dewar clarifies his position on Java. In his view the core of the problem is universities 'dumbing down programs, hoping to make them more accessible and popular. Aspects of curriculum that are too demanding, or perceived as tedious, are downplayed in favor of simplified material that attracts a larger enrollment.'"
I wonder if automotive engineers went through the same bitchfest right before the modern mechanic was born? 'Damn kids these days just want to learn how to change the oil in their car, they can't even build their own fuel injector!'
Wow. That's really funny. When the dumb bitch asked the question at the beginning I was like "yeah, students should have a mastery of basic math algorithms". But then she showed me the problem solving skills taught in one of the books she was trying to speak bad about and by the end I was like "wow, no. Problem solving skills are far more important than learning how to do stuff slower than a calculator". By the time she asked again I was in total disagreement with her. Because of exactly what she showed me.
The other thing where they just taught messed up ways of doing stuff (lattice method of multiplaction) is just dumb. If you are going to teach strict algorithms, you might as well just teach it the right way.