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Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#281

Post by dmlorenzetti »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #271
paulluuk wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't call it "Computer Science" for nothing ;)

notoriously Philip Wadler says that computer science has two problems: computer and science. It's not about computers and "You don't put science on your name if you're a real science" He prefers the name informatics. source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IOiZatlZtGU

You don't put science on your name if you're a real science

Having flashbacks to when a close friend was getting an MS in Political Science, and spent the first semester in a class devoted to whether or not political science is a science.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#282

Post by bhelkey »

TremendousJudge wrote: post #244
actually_a_dog wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe a little OT, but, I'd rather it be called "comput ing science." Computers are just the tool. I believe it was Dijkstra who famously objected to it being called "computer science," because they don't call astronomy "telescope science," or something to that effect.

I never thought about this, but it's right. However, to get more nitpicky, most of the uses of "Comput[er|ing] Science" should be replaced with "Computer Engineering" anyway. If you are building something for a company, you are doing engineering, not science research

All my job titles have been of the form Software Engineer plus a modifier.

I believe they are referring to what the degree currently known as Computer Science should be called.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#283

Post by andrewzah »

TremendousJudge wrote: post #263
andrewzah wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average developer isn't often doing "engineering". Until we have actual standards and a certification process, "engineer[ing]" doesn't mean anything. The average software developer doesn't even know much math. Right now, "software engineer" basically means "has a computer, -perhaps- knows a little bit about what goes on under the hood".

I'm not talking about the "average developer", I'm talking about college graduates having a "Computer Science" degreee but in practice being "Computer engineers"

College degrees aren't standardized and most of the time don't really mean anything. Ask some TAs for computer science courses about how confident they are in undergrads' ability to code.

There isn't a standard license that show that someone is proficient in security, or accessibility, or even in how computer hardware or networking work at a basic level.

So all we're doing is diluting the term "engineer", so as to not mean anything.

The only thing the term "software engineer" practically means is: they have a computer. It's meaningless, just a vanity title meant to sound better than "developer".

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#285

Post by Sebb767 »

asddubs wrote: post #268
erk__ wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peter Naur agreed with that which is why it is called "Datalogi" in Denmark and Sweden, his English term Datalogy never really caught on though. He wrote it in a letter to the editor in 1966 and it has pretty much been used since then here as Naur founded the first Datalogy university faculty a few years later. This also lead to a strange naming now we have data science as well where it is called "Data videnskab" whi…

informatics may be the closest english analogue. incidentally also what computer science is called in german (informatik)

> incidentally also what computer science is called in german (informatik)

Computerwissenschaften (literally computer science) exists, too, but it's the less common word.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#286

Post by actually_a_dog »

bhelkey wrote: post #282
TremendousJudge wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never thought about this, but it's right. However, to get more nitpicky, most of the uses of "Comput[er|ing] Science" should be replaced with "Computer Engineering" anyway. If you are building something for a company, you are doing engineering, not science research

All my job titles have been of the form Software Engineer plus a modifier. I believe they are referring to what the degree currently known as Computer Science should be called.

Yes. Specifically, it's referring to what the academic discipline ought to be called.

Incidentally, I don't think I know any SWEs who actually majored in software engineering. I know one who didn't even bother to graduate high school and therefore has no academic credential whatsoever, a couple of music majors, a few math majors, and a lot of "computer science" majors, but I can't think of anyone who actually got a "software engineering" bachelor's degree. Hell, I even know one guy with a JD. I think I know 1 or 2 who have master's degrees in "software engineering," but that's it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#287

Post by wisemang »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #271
paulluuk wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't call it "Computer Science" for nothing ;)

notoriously Philip Wadler says that computer science has two problems: computer and science. It's not about computers and "You don't put science on your name if you're a real science" He prefers the name informatics. source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IOiZatlZtGU

Kinda like countries that feel the need to put “democratic” in their name.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#288

Post by actually_a_dog »

andrewzah wrote: post #258
TremendousJudge wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never thought about this, but it's right. However, to get more nitpicky, most of the uses of "Comput[er|ing] Science" should be replaced with "Computer Engineering" anyway. If you are building something for a company, you are doing engineering, not science research

The average developer isn't often doing "engineering". Until we have actual standards and a certification process, "engineer[ing]" doesn't mean anything. The average software developer doesn't even know much math. Right now, "software engineer" basically means "has a computer, -perhaps- knows a little bit about what goes on under the hood".

> The average software developer doesn't even know much math.

Well, I know stupid amounts of math compared to the average developer I've encountered, since I studied math in grad school. Other than basic graph traversal, I only remember one or two times I've gotten to actually use much of it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I publish my research code?

#290

Post by rsj_hn »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #271
paulluuk wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't call it "Computer Science" for nothing ;)

notoriously Philip Wadler says that computer science has two problems: computer and science. It's not about computers and "You don't put science on your name if you're a real science" He prefers the name informatics. source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IOiZatlZtGU

An economist friend of mine told me that once, so this isn't just a CS quip.
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