One are where I think CS schools are really short-changing students is testing and debugging. While there are quite a few schools who educate their students well in design, coding, algorithm analysis, and math, I've yet to even hear of a CS curriculum that prepares any student in the areas of testing and debugging.
This is a shame because as we all know, a large portion of any software engineer's time is spent testing and debugging code.
I'm not talking about teaching how to use the specific features of debugger XYZ. I'm talking about the basic sleuthing skills needed to track down defects in your software. How to use basic concepts such as breakpoints, single-stepping through code, data watches, etc. - things that are common to all debuggers. How to systematically use deduction to narrow down where the defect is ocurring. How to do unit testing, and why you should do it. General approaches for dealing with bugs in multithreaded/multiprocessed programs. Learning to write code that supports your debugging efforts and going beyond just using printf() for tracking down defects.
Most CS schools tend to just throw students to the wolves when it comes to testing and debugging - if they teach anything, they may teach how to use a specific debugger's interface. They usually just assume the students will learn various debugging techniques on their own. Some of them do. A lot of them don't.
The ones who don't learn a large array of debugging techniques, when to use them, and why the should be used enter the workforce unprepared. They end up learning on the job, which can cause a lot of stress for them and their employers.
This is pure speculation, but this may be a factor leading to the high number of defects in software programs today. A lot of ink-fresh-on-their-degrees CS students just don't know how to test and debug their software! While I don't think its the only factor, it's something that is rarely discussed.
Bias is everywhere in today's media. At least with Slashdot, it's usually out in the open.
Take for example Disney's efforts to kill an ABC news story about DisneyWorld park employees with records of child abuse and/or molestation.
Or how about the fact that third party candidates get next to no coverage in the media? A fair and unpartial news organization would give all candiates equal air time, but that is not the case.
CNN, Fox News, The New York Times are all corporate entities with a bottom line to protect, and that immediately biases what they will print/broadcast.
Just the wording of a title for a news article can be biased - Noam Chomsky has written excellent essays on how simple word choice can betray bias.
The dream of a news organization without bias is just that - a dream. Every reporter, editor, what-have-you, conciously or unconciously, puts his or her own views and spin on the stories they report. Just the choice of what to report is a bias.
No one seems to mind that Slashdot is completely biased against Microsoft and for things like Linux. And its OK because everyone knows going in to Slashdot that they have that bias. As long as it is spelled out, I think CmdrTaco should have the right to express his political views in the open.
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One are where I think CS schools are really short-changing students is testing and debugging. While there are quite a few schools who educate their students well in design, coding, algorithm analysis, and math, I've yet to even hear of a CS curriculum that prepares any student in the areas of testing and debugging.
This is a shame because as we all know, a large portion of any software engineer's time is spent testing and debugging code.
I'm not talking about teaching how to use the specific features of debugger XYZ. I'm talking about the basic sleuthing skills needed to track down defects in your software. How to use basic concepts such as breakpoints, single-stepping through code, data watches, etc. - things that are common to all debuggers. How to systematically use deduction to narrow down where the defect is ocurring. How to do unit testing, and why you should do it. General approaches for dealing with bugs in multithreaded/multiprocessed programs. Learning to write code that supports your debugging efforts and going beyond just using printf() for tracking down defects.
Most CS schools tend to just throw students to the wolves when it comes to testing and debugging - if they teach anything, they may teach how to use a specific debugger's interface. They usually just assume the students will learn various debugging techniques on their own. Some of them do. A lot of them don't.
The ones who don't learn a large array of debugging techniques, when to use them, and why the should be used enter the workforce unprepared. They end up learning on the job, which can cause a lot of stress for them and their employers.
This is pure speculation, but this may be a factor leading to the high number of defects in software programs today. A lot of ink-fresh-on-their-degrees CS students just don't know how to test and debug their software! While I don't think its the only factor, it's something that is rarely discussed.
Bias is everywhere in today's media. At least with Slashdot, it's usually out in the open.
Take for example Disney's efforts to kill an ABC news story about DisneyWorld park employees with records of child abuse and/or molestation.
Or how about the fact that third party candidates get next to no coverage in the media? A fair and unpartial news organization would give all candiates equal air time, but that is not the case.
CNN, Fox News, The New York Times are all corporate entities with a bottom line to protect, and that immediately biases what they will print/broadcast.
Just the wording of a title for a news article can be biased - Noam Chomsky has written excellent essays on how simple word choice can betray bias.
The dream of a news organization without bias is just that - a dream. Every reporter, editor, what-have-you, conciously or unconciously, puts his or her own views and spin on the stories they report. Just the choice of what to report is a bias.
No one seems to mind that Slashdot is completely biased against Microsoft and for things like Linux. And its OK because everyone knows going in to Slashdot that they have that bias. As long as it is spelled out, I think CmdrTaco should have the right to express his political views in the open.