UofW CS course content

[r.3volved]

I know there a several of you who are attending UofW and was interested in what the couse content is like. Such as your course material, languages used, etc.

[wtd]

I believe at least a few people here have expressed interest in CS135, which uses Scheme. I highly recommend it.

[r.3volved]

Well I've been wanting to do CompSci at UofW in a few years when I'm finished with the diploma I'm working on now and after a couple others...I just read the posts around these forums and started thinking to myself that maybe it isn't the greatest of ideas judging from many of the responses and questions....

Seems like they teach theory without implementation

[wtd]

r.3volved wrote:

Well I've been wanting to do CompSci at UofW in a few years when I'm finished with the diploma I'm working on now and after a couple others...I just read the posts around these forums and started thinking to myself that maybe it isn't the greatest of ideas judging from many of the responses and questions....

Seems like they teach theory without implementation

What about the posts here gives you that impression, and why is theory bad?

[cool dude]

i have to disagree with that. most of the reason i want to go to U of W is only because they teach u the theory and then give u a chance to implement it in a work environment. a lot of universities don't do that, and thats a major reason why i want to go to U of W in the first place.

[Dan]

cool dude wrote:

a lot of universities don't do that, and thats a major reason why i want to go to U of W in the first place.

Eh? The basic persinaple of unverisity is that it is more theroy then hands on. I don't think there are many unis that do not teach this way and almost all have the co-op system to combined the theroy with use.

I whould not wory about only having theroy with computer science at a uni since for the most part computer science is just theroy as it dose not exists in reality. Then you can just take some co-op terms to back up your theroy with work exprice and hopfully by the time you are done you will be very enopolyable.

[Martin]

r.3volved wrote:

Well I've been wanting to do CompSci at UofW in a few years when I'm finished with the diploma I'm working on now and after a couple others...I just read the posts around these forums and started thinking to myself that maybe it isn't the greatest of ideas judging from many of the responses and questions....

Seems like they teach theory without implementation

Theory without implementation - that depends. If you are in co-op, you will get the academic side from school and the application side from work. Keep in mind however that the program is the study of computers as a science - if you are looking for more application over theory, you should look into software engineering.

Computer science focuses on algorithms. Software engineering focuses on software design. It's the difference between teaching someone how to build a bike, and teaching them how gear ratios work. The person who was taught how to build a bike will build the better bike, but when they're both told to build a car, the person with the gear ratios knowledge will have the upper hand.

[r.3volved]

wtf are you talking about Martin...
As far as your analogy goes, I'd say Mr. Bike builder with his hands on fabricating experience plus obvious knowledge of gear ratios from experience would by far outperform the guy who's got a degree saying he knows how it all works but has never built anything in his life.

Obviously every aspect of computers require in-depth theory, but in all honesty how much actual time do you spend in the course actually sitting in front of hardware? Co-op doesn't count because damn near every school utilizes a co-op program for their computer sciences.

I've been coding for over ten years and working in the industry for over five...I can dish out theory, but I can also write up examples on the fly to go along with it. I just don't know if it would be worth it to me or if I would be bored out of my mind. It's mainly that piece of paper that I'm going for.

[Martin]

But what if bike builder guy needs to significantly modify those gears (such as for a car) - something he's never done before, and has no experience doing. He has a basic understanding of how the gears work, but not enough to be able to predict the relevant variables. Sure, he could learn - but the point was, the other guy already knows. Getting a degree isn't going to make you stupid - it's specialization, and by focusing on some areas you end up having to focus less on others.

As for sitting in front of hardware - CS focuses more on the software side, so there's not much hardware to begin with. We did write a compiler in one of our classes though, and the fourth year CS courses have some pretty intense assignments, including building an OS to handle a system of trains.

Computer Science versus Engineering is a matter of science versus design. If you want to understand the mathematics behind computers, CS is what you're looking for. If you're more interested in the application of these sciences, software engineering or computer engineering is where you'd probably be happier.

[wtd]

A university exists to teach you how to learn. It does not exist to give you a step-by-step guide to accomplishing specific tasks.

This is actually in line with how good employers will treat you. They will specify a desired result and set you (likely as part of a team) free to accomplish that result. They will not tell you what you can do to accomplish that result.