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CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

academy.cs.cmu.edu

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Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#51

Post by thaumasiotes »

blue039 wrote: post #16
lispisok wrote: post #4

How come this or things like https://teachyourselfcs.com/ dont exist for other fields like mechanical engineering?

Computer Science has become a "programming" farm degree rather than what it was originally back in my day (grumble, grumble). It used to be an off-shoot of mathematics and was so strongly tied at the hip many schools had CS and math in the same department. Cynically programmers are paid better than any other so-called "knowledge worker" field. Naturally, schools paid by large organizations have a vested interest in f…

> but CS is quickly going the way of the kleenex

Everyone knows what it is, everyone makes annual use of it?

The name has expanded from "a product, sold by a particular company" to "exactly the same product, but sold by any company"?

Help me out here.

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#52

Post by vineyardmike »

throwaway8689 wrote: post #43
owlglass wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be worthwhile for recreation, but software is kind of unique in eschewing credentials in favor of experience and ability. Civil engineers must be accredited to practice. While I don't think the requirements are as rigid for mechanical engineers, I expect a greater proportion of mechanical engineering jobs have a degree as a hard requirement than in software. This probably leads to less interest in things like te…

I wonder if there are hard requirements for some areas of programming and not for others? There's no reason to require credentials for writing a game because if it fails, try again. But if a bridge fails that's a big deal. So for high consequence software like heart pacemakers or aircraft controls, are there people writing code without degrees?

I don't write aircraft controls are pacemakers, but I know people in the medical device industry, and my understanding is that there are regulatory requirements for the product more than the creators. That said, I imagine those industries are more conservative and credential based. Again, my contacts in the medical industry say that its very academic-adjacent environment (which is very credential-obsessed).

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#53

Post by kqr2 »

diebeforei485 wrote: post #19
philonoist wrote: post #13

I hope they don't take it down like how Berkeley CS videos were taken down.

Those were taken down because of some complicated lawsuit about use of public funds to make available content that wasn't accessible to people with disabilities. It was too expensive to make the recorded lectures work with tools used by people with disabilities, so the university took down the content instead instead of spending even more resources making it compatible with screen readers, adding captioning, etc. CMU…

By the same token, would the course material be available under California's Public Records Act which is essentially a state version of the Freedom of Information Act?

Since the course material was created by public funds, shouldn't a state resident be able to request access to it?

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#54

Post by tgv »

hedora wrote: post #35
gpuhacker wrote: post #27

I always find it disappointing when people equate CS to programming. In my view, programming is a at most a means to an end in CS. A tool that we use to show that something is possible, to implement a proof of concept. By looking at the code we can understand in a formally defined language how certain systems work. It is definitely an important tool in CS, and a practical skill that CS students can use in their profe…

I agree. In my opinion, computer science is using mathematical constructs to produce correct programs. Computer engineering is getting the not-quite-ideal digital circuits in the computer to run programs correctly. Software engineering is a mixture computer science, computer engineering, and sociology while spinning a plate on a stick (or, if you're unlucky, while planning sprints).

It's a somewhat limited and artificially restricted view. CS develops theories and algorithms that can be used in practice. The shortest path algorithm is an early example. And mangling algorithms into another complexity class also belongs to CS (IMO, of course). Studying CS may not prepare you for centering divs, but a good curriculum provides you with enough tools to learn and understand e.g. the constraint mechanism behind the CSS box model.

What seems to be true is that quite a few CS students lack training in proper development techniques.

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#55

Post by modeless »

kqr2 wrote: post #53
diebeforei485 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those were taken down because of some complicated lawsuit about use of public funds to make available content that wasn't accessible to people with disabilities. It was too expensive to make the recorded lectures work with tools used by people with disabilities, so the university took down the content instead instead of spending even more resources making it compatible with screen readers, adding captioning, etc. CMU…

By the same token, would the course material be available under California's Public Records Act which is essentially a state version of the Freedom of Information Act? Since the course material was created by public funds, shouldn't a state resident be able to request access to it?

This is an awesome idea. They should record the videos, not post them, have someone file a public records act request for them, and then that person can post them.

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#56

Post by wheelinsupial »

lispisok wrote: post #4

How come this or things like https://teachyourselfcs.com/ dont exist for other fields like mechanical engineering?

https://mitocw.ups.edu.ec/courses/mechanical-engineering/

It's available, you might need to search for it and look for the flow charts to see which courses are missing from the other departments.

The challenge is, in many places, you won't be able to practice as an engineer without going through an accredited program.

If you're trying to be a maker or learn more about that, mechanical engineering is probably overkill. There are more accessible books for technologists or technicians that have a much more reduced emphasis on math.

An undergrad degree in engineering isn't sufficient to be an engineer. It's the base knowledge that gets built on during the apprenticeship ("engineer in training" or other name), and you need to learn and use the relevant laws and standards.

If you're able to state your goals a little more clearly, there may be others who can provide better advice or comments.

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#57

Post by ggsp »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #51
blue039 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Computer Science has become a "programming" farm degree rather than what it was originally back in my day (grumble, grumble). It used to be an off-shoot of mathematics and was so strongly tied at the hip many schools had CS and math in the same department. Cynically programmers are paid better than any other so-called "knowledge worker" field. Naturally, schools paid by large organizations have a vested interest in f…

> but CS is quickly going the way of the kleenex Everyone knows what it is, everyone makes annual use of it? The name has expanded from "a product, sold by a particular company" to "exactly the same product, but sold by any company"? Help me out here.

Maybe they mean “programming” is becoming a metonym for “computer science”?

Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon

#60

Post by fragmede »

hedora wrote: post #41
blue039 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Computer Science has become a "programming" farm degree rather than what it was originally back in my day (grumble, grumble). It used to be an off-shoot of mathematics and was so strongly tied at the hip many schools had CS and math in the same department. Cynically programmers are paid better than any other so-called "knowledge worker" field. Naturally, schools paid by large organizations have a vested interest in f…

I think the problem is that CS is too young to have sub-disciplines. If you want to lay a concrete slab foundation, then you get an architect, multiple engineers, the rebar guy, the cement mixing truck driver, the person that understands the chemistry of the cement, dyes, etc. Then, you get the guys with shovels to spread it around. Finally, there are some artisans that somehow make it perfectly level using nothing b…

Don't we? Off the top of my head, there's front end, there's back end, there's DevOps, there's kernel devs, there's low-level embedded devs, there's database people, there's data scientists, there's ML people, scripting language people, video game engine programmers.
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