Wow! I was just about to post to the now inactive Telus using VOIP discussion since I spotted this article from The Globe and Mail about Sprint.
I found it interesting that Telus, a Canadian telco, will use equipment from American companies Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks whereas Sprint, an American telco will use equipment from Canada's Nortel.
I have nothing particularly insightful to say right now. Talk amongst yourselves;-)
Disclaimer: Like some of the other readers / posters, I'm a UW CS student.
I agree that experience in language XXX is a primary criterion in screening resumes.
It's important to point out that most UW students are in a co-operative program where they are looking for their first jobs immediately following their first year or even their first semester! In fact, Engineers (for whom this controversy developed) are required to be in co-op. The languages taught in first year classes have a direct bearing on students' suitability as job candidates.
When I started at UW, first year CS students were taught using Pascal running on Windows and then moved to Modula-3 (haha) on Unix. On the other hand, first year Engineering students learned using C++ on Windows.
I found the use of Pascal and Modula-3 nearly crippling in the entry level co-op job market as most employers and the most desirable positions often required C++ experience. If not C++, then Java.
Fortunately for the freshmen CS job hunters, CS now uses Java and C++ to start off with.
As far as I can tell, most serious development is still carried out in C++. It's efficient, powerful (though perhaps too loose), and sufficiently portable if you're careful. I think the switch to C# could be detrimental to the Engineers if it is used at UW before it gains widespread industry acceptance. Whether it is ever adopted by industry is another matter.
Another thing worth mentioning is that (Computer) Engineering students at UW already have a strong Microsoft bias. Their development experience is typically using MS Visual Studio on MS Windows. So I don't think the switch to C# from MS style C++ is a big philosophical issue.
The CS Department (now the "School of CS") in the Math Faculty has always had a strong Unix bias. We usually use gnu tools on Solaris. CS at UW still has a "Go Unix, down with Evil Empire!" attitude.
Although I agree that CS concepts are not language dependent, the job market sure is! It doesn't hurt to have a variety of language experience, but C# is a poor choice for students' early job prospects. But I'll let the Engineers battle that one out!
I'm open to correction or criticism. The above is just my take on matters.
Does anyone else feel it would have been nice to see Red Book CD audio (16-bit 44.1KHz uncompressed) compared as a control? Seeing how "pure" audio compares to these compression standards could make the results seem more objective.
Darn... You beat me to the post! For the uninformed, CBC = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Anyway, I found the show to be more like "Unstructured Public Access on Acid" rather than "Open Source". Though it is still a novel idea.
To further prevent lucid comprehension of the show, it airs in the middle of the night when your cortex shuts down and you've zoned out in front of the Tele. Not to mention it was being hosted by "Bif Naked"!
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I found it interesting that Telus, a Canadian telco, will use equipment from American companies Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks whereas Sprint, an American telco will use equipment from Canada's Nortel.
I have nothing particularly insightful to say right now. Talk amongst yourselves ;-)
I agree that experience in language XXX is a primary criterion in screening resumes.
It's important to point out that most UW students are in a co-operative program where they are looking for their first jobs immediately following their first year or even their first semester! In fact, Engineers (for whom this controversy developed) are required to be in co-op. The languages taught in first year classes have a direct bearing on students' suitability as job candidates.
When I started at UW, first year CS students were taught using Pascal running on Windows and then moved to Modula-3 (haha) on Unix. On the other hand, first year Engineering students learned using C++ on Windows.
I found the use of Pascal and Modula-3 nearly crippling in the entry level co-op job market as most employers and the most desirable positions often required C++ experience. If not C++, then Java.
Fortunately for the freshmen CS job hunters, CS now uses Java and C++ to start off with.
As far as I can tell, most serious development is still carried out in C++. It's efficient, powerful (though perhaps too loose), and sufficiently portable if you're careful. I think the switch to C# could be detrimental to the Engineers if it is used at UW before it gains widespread industry acceptance. Whether it is ever adopted by industry is another matter.
Another thing worth mentioning is that (Computer) Engineering students at UW already have a strong Microsoft bias. Their development experience is typically using MS Visual Studio on MS Windows. So I don't think the switch to C# from MS style C++ is a big philosophical issue.
The CS Department (now the "School of CS") in the Math Faculty has always had a strong Unix bias. We usually use gnu tools on Solaris. CS at UW still has a "Go Unix, down with Evil Empire!" attitude.
Although I agree that CS concepts are not language dependent, the job market sure is! It doesn't hurt to have a variety of language experience, but C# is a poor choice for students' early job prospects. But I'll let the Engineers battle that one out!
I'm open to correction or criticism. The above is just my take on matters.
Does anyone else feel it would have been nice to see Red Book CD audio (16-bit 44.1KHz uncompressed) compared as a control? Seeing how "pure" audio compares to these compression standards could make the results seem more objective.
Darn... You beat me to the post! For the uninformed, CBC = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Anyway, I found the show to be more like "Unstructured Public Access on Acid" rather than "Open Source". Though it is still a novel idea.
To further prevent lucid comprehension of the show, it airs in the middle of the night when your cortex shuts down and you've zoned out in front of the Tele. Not to mention it was being hosted by "Bif Naked"!
The impetus was that with the new secretly developed US quantum super-computers, it doesn't matter how many MTOPS the "enemy" has!