Computer science grads/students

[GodlessAstronomer]

I'm so sick of C programming. Yeah I get it, it's the best language for teaching algorithms and operating systems, but damn I hate this language. Arg! I miss my first year where they eased us in by using Java. I :heart: objects.

/rant-while-doing-homework

 

[Leros]

The CS students at my university rarely venture out of the Java world. They use assembly and C for the computer architecture class they take, but that is it.

The CE students use a mixture of Java and C. C is actually used a decent amount by engineers so it makes sense to use it. I can't see why you would teach C to a CS major though.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Leros
The CS students at my university rarely venture out of the Java world. They use assembly and C for the computer architecture class they take, but that is it.

The CE students use a mixture of Java and C. C is actually used a decent amount by engineers so it makes sense to use it. I can't see why you would teach C to a CS major though.

We've only ever used C, assembler and Java. Java we used a lot in first year, and it's used in the software engineering class. C is used almost exclusively in algorithms, operating systems and networking classes. We're finally branching out in the programming languages class by using... Prolog and Haskell. Sigh.

 

[Leros]

I can see C for operating systems, but Java is a perfect language for teaching algorithms.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Leros
I can see C for operating systems, but Java is a perfect language for teaching algorithms.

I agree completely. Although I prefer C#, I think Java is an excellent teaching language because it doesn't force students onto any particular platform.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: Leros
I can see C for operating systems, but Java is a perfect language for teaching algorithms.

I agree completely. Although I prefer C#, I think Java is an excellent teaching language because it doesn't force students onto any particular platform.

C# is basically the same thing as Java. Java is nice because the students can use whatever OS they want.

 

[JDub02]

lots, but that was a long time ago. before any of this C# or .NET stuff. used it even more when i started working after graduation.

then i realized programming sucks and left the field. best thing i've ever done.

 

[newnameman]

I had one class that was restricted to C. The rest have been in C++.

 

[schneiderguy]

The class I'm in right now is C++, and the rest of the classes I have to take are either C/C++ or assembler.

I took Java in high school.

 

[Train]

College consisted of C++ with an assembly class thrown in so you could learn the guts of a CPU

There was an elective Java class my last year, Java was new then, lol.

I dont know why colleges teach managed languages first nowadays. Just seems backwards.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Train
College consisted of C++ with an assembly class thrown in so you could learn the guts of a CPU

There was an elective Java class my last year, Java was new then, lol.

I dont know why colleges teach managed languages first nowadays. Just seems backwards.

You can either teach top down or bottom up.

We started with transistors, slowly built that up to a computer, then learned assembly, then learned C, then learned Java...

 

[Madwand1]

C is an elegant, small language, and what you learn from it also helps in C++ and other variants, not to mention the many domains which are still dominated by C, or if not, still have some legacy hooks / components.

It's also a horrible language for trapping noobs, as you can create problems you won't find or fix in time -- problems that are much rarer when the system is doing all the memory management / low-level addressing, which is why Java and its ilk are better and more common choices for learning languages and droves of programmers.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
C is an elegant, small language

C is just a nicer way of writing assembly

 

[bobsmith1492]

C is the only real way to program. C++ and others high-level code is for the lazy.

 

[Q]

My intro class was in C, and was extremely hard. I got a B somehow but quickly switched majors. I honestly don't know how I even passed, much less got a B.

 

[Jumpem]

Most was C/C++. Almost everything I have done at work since college is C/C++.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
C is the only real way to program. C++ and others high-level code is for the lazy.

Moron.

 

[charrison]

C and only C. By the time I had my undergrad I was a well trained C bigot. C is still the language to learn if you really want to learn how to program.

 

[Dumac]

The classes I've taken have only used C++, besides other small languages for programming robots and such. However, I'm still in low level courses, so this will probably change over time.

 

[Glitchny]

was all C/C++, assembly and C#

Oh actually we did 1 project using Java, it's like C with training wheels and IMO doesn't teach enough low level memory management techniques and theories to be used exclusively.

And it isn't used a whole lot for what I do.

I also don't understand why people learn Java first and then move to C/C++ seems backwards to me. Teach the fundamentals with C/C++ and introduce OO Programming then move onto Java/C#.

 

[MrPickins]

The only class in my CS degree program that uses java is Object Oriented Design. The rest has been C++, x86 and MIPS assembly.

 

[Red Squirrel]

C is not all that great, but C++ is where it's at.

Sadly in my course it DRAGGED. I mean, we'd get 3 months of review, and a few weeks of actual new stuff. Think the most complicated thing we did was a you vs computer battleship game. zomg, I can use rand! Well mine was smarter, but to get an A the requirements were not all that high. I just liked to overdo things, and somehow still manage to help everybody in the class.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
C is the only real way to program. C++ and others high-level code is for the lazy.

Moron.

More on than off, that's what I always say.

 

[esun]

Not a CS major, but on the EE side of EECS. Of the required courses, we had: 1 class Scheme, 1 class C & MIPS asm, 1 class Java (algorithms and data structures). Non-required, our OS course used Java. Not sure what all the others used. I know one used Python. One was more open-ended so you could probably use whatever you want. Anyway, C & asm didn't show up a whole lot after that one course (except with microcontrollers, but I didn't use those until after graduating).

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: esun
Not a CS major, but on the EE side of EECS. Of the required courses, we had: 1 class Scheme, 1 class C & MIPS asm, 1 class Java (algorithms and data structures). Non-required, our OS course used Java. Not sure what all the others used. I know one used Python. One was more open-ended so you could probably use whatever you want. Anyway, C & asm didn't show up a whole lot after that one course (except with microcontrollers, but I didn't use those until after graduating).

I kinda wish I had went to a college that used Scheme or Lisp, at least at the introductory level like MIT or Harvard does.