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Why do so few people major in computer science?

danwang.co

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Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#601

Post by kutkloon7 »

matwood wrote: post #474
bane wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to echo this. Computer Science is essentially a Mathematics field, not having extensive math in the major doesn't really make any sense. In fact, very little of the major after the Freshman of Sophomore year should even be about learning to program. It's like having a B.A. of Computer Science, or a B.S. in Literature, it doesn't really make any sense and should probably best be called some other kind of major.…

>At most schools with C.S. majors, they have alternative majors for people who don't want to do the intensive Maths and Sciences and they're usually called something like "Information Systems" or "Computers for Business" or similar. My undergrad degree was a BS in Computer Information Systems, and I still had a ton of math. The main change from CS to my degree was replacing the higher end maths like Calc2+ and Physic…

At my university, they have a CS program without math, and on top of that an easier major (it's not officially, but everyone considers it an easier version of CS) which is called "information sciences". This program has easier versions of some courses and skips some hard courses that are known to be problematic for some computer scientists.

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#602

Post by kutkloon7 »

Fiahil wrote: post #151
kutkloon7 wrote: post #79

I majored in computer science, and I don't feel like I've learned anything. Every time there was an opportunity to learn something cool (mathematical theory behind cryptography, assembly language, details of a processor, the cache, or a communication protocol) or useful, it was glanced over as 'technical details'. Instead, I was introduced to many, many small topics (programming, graphics, databases, algorithms, user…

I have a master's degree in computer science, and my experience was the complete opposite of yours. Projects were interesting, topics were well-covered, we had the opportunity to go really deep into some subjects (kernel programming, distributed systems, assembly, functional or concurrent programming, ...), and, of course, it was highly creative. I spent my four of my five school years in France, and one in Californi…

I studied for four years during my bachelor at Utrecht University, and during that I spent half a year at UCSB (See my other post with all the courses I followed).

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#603

Post by kutkloon7 »

literallycancer wrote: post #138
kutkloon7 wrote: post #79

I majored in computer science, and I don't feel like I've learned anything. Every time there was an opportunity to learn something cool (mathematical theory behind cryptography, assembly language, details of a processor, the cache, or a communication protocol) or useful, it was glanced over as 'technical details'. Instead, I was introduced to many, many small topics (programming, graphics, databases, algorithms, user…

You did compilers/formal languages at least, right? Writing one from scratch is not trivial.

Only during my computer engineering master.

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#604

Post by kutkloon7 »

mcguire wrote: post #490
kutkloon7 wrote: post #79

I majored in computer science, and I don't feel like I've learned anything. Every time there was an opportunity to learn something cool (mathematical theory behind cryptography, assembly language, details of a processor, the cache, or a communication protocol) or useful, it was glanced over as 'technical details'. Instead, I was introduced to many, many small topics (programming, graphics, databases, algorithms, user…

Where did you go? There is a great deal of difference between different schools, which I think explains much of the varying experiences people have.

Utrecht University in the Netherlands (see my other post).

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#605

Post by dang »

erikbye wrote: post #410

Perhaps "very smart" was an incorrect assessment on your part.

Would you please stop posting inflammatory comments to HN? You've done this repeatedly and we're trying to avoid flamewars here.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14443522 and marked it off-topic.

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#606

Post by dang »

dosgonlogs wrote: post #438
erikbye wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just saying a person thought to be "very smart" should be able to do CS101, easily; and I don't think the examples you mentioned are indication of extraordinary cognitive faculties. I taught myself near photo-realistic drawing, it's a mechanical skill--craftsmanship; had I continued to invest more time in perfecting the technique I would have got to what’s considered photo-realistic. My Spanish was decent after f…

something tells me your Spanish was never that great, and you never got that good at drawing. You reek of someone with a fragile ego. You also suck at writing clearly and concisely in English.

We've banned this account for violating the HN guidelines.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#607

Post by dang »

letmein wrote: post #344

Want to hear something horrifying? In Alaska, last year, only 25 people in the entire state graduated with CompSci degrees. The chasm between the Haves and the Have-Nots, Urban VS Rural, Hipster VS Redneck, White VS Native is only going to grow even wider. Entire demographics are being left behind and they are never going to catch up. But then again, do folks in Alaska need most of the toy services and silly startups…

We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines. This rant was bad enough, but some of your previous comments went far beyond not-ok.

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#608

Post by dagw »

douche wrote: post #575
CossieRay wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a bit interested with your comment. Do we have 8 year olds playing around with environment variables in the OS? I'm curious because I never thought that could be possible

It was not uncommon to have to monkey with crap like that back in the DOS days, to do the most basic things. I vaguely remember having to fool around with autoexec.bat and play with virtual and extended memory settings to try and get Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Wolfenstein 3D or Warcraft: Orcs and Humans to load up and use the right colors on the family 586, when I was much too young to be playing such games - or re…

Yea, having to hack your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get your games to work was definitely a formative experience :)

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#609

Post by CydeWeys »

rjbwork wrote: post #440
CydeWeys wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I loaded up with theory classes in college precisely to stretch myself and learn more of the difficult things that I wasn't yet already competent in. I'd been programming since I was 9, and could handle the programming projects just fine (more easily than most other students), but the theory classes were more challenging and I wasn't going to learn that stuff if not in school. It ended up being quite helpful for Goog…

I had a much easier time in theory than the other students as well, and ended up being the only non-graduate level student in Quantum Computing, and only CS major in another, Combinatorics. I think a big part of it was that I had a strong maths background, graduating as I did from a Math/Sciences magnet school.

I had the same background of having gone to math/science/CS magnet programs in grades 6-12, which also helped me with the theory courses. Not to the same extent as my programming experience helped with the practical courses, though; theory wasn't something I did outside of school for fun.

Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?

#610

Post by CydeWeys »

fivestar wrote: post #544
smeroth wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they have an advantage, as I've noticed that kids knowing their way around their phone are often completely lost when put in front of a computer. They never use the computer, they have everything in their phones. Compared to a computer, a phone is simple, and you aren't actually solving any problems while using it (you're just downloading and running apps). When you have a phone, however, there's no nee…

Again, Rasp Pi and the whole "maker" movement are mainstream. My daughter is in a STEM Middle School and she has done more things at age 11 than I did when I was 18! They're teaching Android game coding to kids age 10.

I think your daughter is lucky to be going to an exceptional school that teaches programming at age ten. The vast, vast majority of American students do not have these kinds of courses. May I ask what school system your daughter is in?
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