Re: Software Engineering Education

[sun-barr!cronkite.Central.Sun.COM!newstop!sunaus!assip.csasyd!condor!dave s@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Dave Smart)]

In <1991Nov15.191846.11278@milton.u.washington.edu> mfeldman@milton.u.washingto
n.edu (Michael Feldman) writes:

> Editorial comment: The notion that, collectively, we don't teach the
> right stuff is a canard, in my experience. Just because the students don't
> learn it (or carry it with them to industry) doesn't mean we don't teach
> it.

Sorry Mike, I can't agree with you on this - from my perspective down here, at 
least.  We take a goodly share of computing science graduates, frequently with 
extremely good results.  My perceptions of the failure of the Universities to 
teach "real-world" computing is based on my work alongside these people.  I'm 
certainly not saying that all Universities are the same, or that they don't car
e 
about "real-world" computing at all - I just don't see Universities getting it 
right yet.

I don't understand your "Just because the students don't learn it (or carry it 
with them to industry) doesn't mean we don't teach it."  It isn't "teaching" if
the students (at average grade and above, anyway) don't learn and retain it.

> We have observed that, in industry, when a project is under the gun,
> all the platitudes about good style, test plan, documentation, etc., get
> swamped by the demand to get the sucker running. Gerry Weinberg, in his
> classic "The Psychology of Computer Programming", pointed this out 20
> years ago. Maybe it's not true in your company, of course not...

Of course not!  :-)  Cruel blow that one, Mike.

Dave
-- 
David Smart, Computer Sciences of Australia.
Net: daves@assip.csasyd.oz.au