I'm a CS undergrad student at Dartmouth, an institution that has traditionally been mac-based. It's been 2 years since I've used a mac, though, as most of my classes are now taught with Linux and GNU software. After using the standard development tools that Linux has to offer (g++, cvs, etc.), there's no way I'm ever going back to Microsoft's convoluted and buggy software, despite the almost 6 years of programming experience that I have in the Windows OS. The fact that their software is is only made worse by their strong-armed tactics. I should have a choice of good vs. y software.
XTAZ Reboots on my test Windows 98 box in the past week: 16
Last reboot of my Linux box: 6 months, 18 days, 7 hours, 3 minutes ago
I'm a student at Dartmouth College, and have basically devoted my life to the CS department here. I can safely say that after CS 23 - Software Design and Implementation, which is largely the development of HUGE programs - I know relatively little code. Of the 800-page C++ reference manuals, I know how to implement maybe 75 pages of info. However, I'm receiving an A in the class I'm currently in because the department here doesn't focus on code specifically, but rather the efficient design of a program. You can write a huge, inefficient beast of a program, but you can also be prepared to have it shoved back at you with a not-so-great grade scribbled on top. The focus here is on efficiency and intelligence in programming, not whether you use a conditional vs.a try-catch or something like that. For example, CS 5, the intro course, is taught in Java. CS 18, the follow-up, is taught in Dylan, a horrible, horrible language that is really obscure and, in my opinion, worthless. All courses after are taught in C++, but that's only because Java's really darn SLOW. This combination of languages teaches students not to rely on one language, but on the program and its effective creation. I don't know how it is at other institutions, but I think they got it right here.
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I'm a CS undergrad student at Dartmouth, an institution that has traditionally been mac-based. It's been 2 years since I've used a mac, though, as most of my classes are now taught with Linux and GNU software. After using the standard development tools that Linux has to offer (g++, cvs, etc.), there's no way I'm ever going back to Microsoft's convoluted and buggy software, despite the almost 6 years of programming experience that I have in the Windows OS. The fact that their software is is only made worse by their strong-armed tactics. I should have a choice of good vs. y software.
XTAZ
Reboots on my test Windows 98 box in the past week: 16
Last reboot of my Linux box: 6 months, 18 days, 7 hours, 3 minutes ago
For example, CS 5, the intro course, is taught in Java. CS 18, the follow-up, is taught in Dylan, a horrible, horrible language that is really obscure and, in my opinion, worthless. All courses after are taught in C++, but that's only because Java's really darn SLOW. This combination of languages teaches students not to rely on one language, but on the program and its effective creation. I don't know how it is at other institutions, but I think they got it right here.
XTAZ