> This I just have to disagree with. I think it's valuable for students to learn how to implement quick sort.
I'd rather the students kow how to implement large software architectures, keep line counts down, abstract problems correctly, and learn how things are done in the real world.
> It's useful to learn how to implement big-integer arithmetic
Not in my opinion. Maybe, maybe, show them how emulating FP math works but writing big-integer arithmatic functions is pretty useless for most people and is far too strait forward to require them to develop their skills of development software architectures.
> It's useful to learn how you can "fake" Java-style inheritance with structs and function pointers
You can't force them to learn patterns, you can only give them work that is better suited to using the patterns provided. You can even hint to your students "Hey you can make a get_car and get_bike and make a Drivable struct that has a Drivable->stear() and stear can be a function pointer!" Forcing them to use a pattern isn't useful.
> so you really understand what's going on under the hood
Using function pointers isn't really correct for how Java stores class/object information. This is kind of only used in virtual functions IIRC. When I've decompiled static bytecode you see stuff like LString(some function).
> Also, if I set a practical which involves (for example) connecting to a HTTP server, intending them to do the raw connection themselves, and they use a 3 line python program, using the standard library, have they really learnt anything at all?
You're assigning the wrong problem. Don't say "Make and HTTP request" say "implement an HTTP header parser". The problem is now language and abstraction agnostic and involves a much more complex problem who's complexity lays in the realm of the software organization. The HTTP Parser code can be used to read and write requests and the next lab can be to use your new library in a larger project. I think that is far more useful.
> There certainly is a place for giving students more freedom, particularly in later years. It's clear the modern world is moving into "slap together 50 javascript/python packages with string" type programs (and that's because it's a great way to be productive quickly), which universities don't currently teach that well. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!
There is a measurable reason for this and it's not because of productivity. It's about maintainableilty, consistency, and bug erradication. I'd love for you to read this paper Do Code Clones Matter? [0] to see what they have found.
Making it so people know how to:
* List all the featurs that a library will need
* Take those features and write them in a clean API
* Do it in the most clean language-specific way (ex Pythonic code)
* Distribution methodologies
* Maintainablilty and support of these libraries
* Using these, and others, libraries in larger applications
* Documentation & Technical writing
I'd really love it if you could email me and follow up after you read that paper and tell me what you think. My school username is jk369 and my school's email server is @njit.edu. (I've split this up to avoid spam)
[0] - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1701.05472.pdf