Re: Any research putting c above ada?

[kaz@vision.crest.nt.com (Kaz Kylheku)]

In article <Pine.SGI.3.95L.970514190923.17085C-100000@tower.york.ac.uk>,
T Wheeley  <tw104@york.ac.uk> wrote:

>The fact is that a CS degree combines all these factors into a single
>degree related to the study of computers, and puts them in the correct
>context.  Yes the idea of dominance in sequences is part of computer
>science, but they way I was taught it in maths is not particularly relvant
>to the complexity of algorithms.

In my study of CS, I learned how to formally verify programs, using concepts
such as weakest strict preconditions, postconditions, loop invariants and so
on.  Formal verification is an important component of software engineering.
Some proponents of FV insist that it should be consistently practiced by the
entire software industry, the same way that designs in other engineering
disciplines are verified.

A superior intellect can perhaps make the jump from formal logic and
autononmously deduce the principles of formally verifying programs, but the
right CS course can guide students toward it.

In this thread I have seen attitudes toward mathematics and ``theory''
which are not shared by practitioners of other engineering disciplines.
Without the principles, you are just a hacker, no matter how much you think
your experience makes you into an engineer.