uni 2005
Uni
Oh yeah, I enrolled the other day. Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, I am enrolled in some third year courses. W00t!
Anyway, here's the skinny:
2005 Semester 1
- Discrete Mathematics II
- Database and Information Systems
- Artificial Intelligence
- Advanced Programming Paradigms
2005 Semester 2
- Algebra II
- Systems Programming in C and C++
- Operating Systems
- Event Driven Computing
I think there's a bit of something in there for everyone, really. The double whammy of Algebra II and Discrete II is to be expected. Both courses long being cornerstones of the Mathematics and Computer Science program at the University and after a long bout of applied mathematics last year, it's clearly time for a change to pure maths.
The inclusion of both Advanced Programming Paradigms and Systems Programming is likely to yield heated discussion, however. A lot of people take issue with APP and its prerequisite; Programming Paradigms. However, after having successfully negotiated PP last year and knowing it was the last time the course was to be offered (and we can only assume the same fate has befallen APP this year), clearly something had to be done. Enrolling in the course before it too has ceased to be was the only sane option.
Yet in an almost Shakespearean twist, Systems Programming in C and C++, the course replacing PP in the Calendar, has also been picked up this year. This is a unique opportunity to compare and contrast the two; the old and the new, the general and the specific. Interesting times.
Artificial Intellegence, being a crowd favourite, was a straight-forward choice. No suprises there, but including Event Driven Software is bound to cause some puzzled looks. Coming out of the left-field, it will be interesting to see how a concept that takes a few minutes to comprehend can be expanded to fill a full semester's worth of study.
Taking Operating Systems is clearly driven by a mobid fascination of gritty details that most sane people don't want to know and who would choose to forget if somehow they picked the knowledge up. Still, it will be interesting to see some of the finer points of prerequisite Computer Systems expanded upon.
And lastly, in an almost discourteous nod to practicality; Database and Information Systems. Word on the street has it that the course has been brought forward a few decades and now covers SQL and all sorts of other late-eighties data storage and retrieval technology.
But perhaps the biggest suprises are not which courses have been included, but what didn't make the cut. Both Compiler Construction and Software Engineering and Project were clear shoe-ins but somehow failed to make the grade. Is this some sort of ploy? Will we see a last-minute switch before the census date? Only time will tell.
Comments
Yay Mike!
I say again. Yay Mike!
A few words of encouragement from someone who was last in a university seven years ago (and besides, the wench is dead) so anything he says should be taken with a hefty pinch of you-know-what, but:
APP - you'll never use it, but it *will* make your brain grow. Sad to hear it's going away, especially given the Uni's sad and outmoded devotion to keeping pure maths subjects on for programming students. I only did PP (stupid course didn't have room for APP) and I've regretted it ever since.
SysC - everybody should do this shit. What did they offer before this?
OS - again, everybody should do this shit. To paraphrase the Great Abrash, "as a programmer, why would I want to know what my computer is doing?"
You should rethink Compiler Construction. I reckon I learned more about programming doing Language Translators (the Flinders equivalent) than from any other subject I ever took.
Don't sweat the lack of SE. It's a fucking joke and always will be. You already know more about software projects and process than these fools ever will.
DBS: Suckaaaaaaah!
Posted by: Joel on January 14, 2005 08:04 PM
Cheers! Who would of though I'd actually make some progress?
I'm looking forward to the Scheme and concurrency bits of APP, the rest of it should be interesting in any case. SysC is replacing PP, unfortunately (I probably could have made that a bit more clear, but that's what I get for trying to be a clever bastard). So it's kind of bitter-sweet. I really hope they use one of the BSDs to hack on (ditto for OpSys), but I have a feeling it's going to be Solaris.
The entertaining bit is that SEP is a prereq for majoring in CS. I would have taken it this year but there was annoying first semester dependency that I couldn't fit in. But don't worry, there is going to be plenty of time for that and CC next year. Woo! Actually, that and AI are the two course I've most looked forward to, so it's probably better I have something to keep me going until next year.
So, what Abrash have you read?
Posted by: Mike on January 14, 2005 09:05 PM
Um.
Zen of Code Optimisation (wicked)
Zen Of Graphics Programming (interesting)
other bits and pieces... parts of Zen of Assembly Language (not that I've ever done x86 assembly, but it was interesting to look at), his little essays on GLQuake and a bunch of random musings.
See if you can do SEP without actually going to it. Just rock up to the exam :)
Posted by: Joel on January 15, 2005 04:05 AM
"Taking Operating Systems is clearly driven by a mobid fascination of gritty details that most sane people don't want to know and who would choose to forget if somehow they picked the knowledge up."
You're going to be disappointed. It's an overview of a few toy-level concepts.
"Still, it will be interesting to see some of the finer points of prerequisite Computer Systems expanded upon."
Sadly, they almost certainly won't be.
"Database and Information Systems. Word on the street has it that the course has been brought forward a few decades and now covers SQL and all sorts of other late-eighties data storage and retrieval technology."
You mean there's no more COBOL?
Posted by: Paul Hoadley on January 15, 2005 02:26 PM
"...especially given the Uni's sad and outmoded devotion to keeping pure maths subjects on for programming students."
(I know I'm taking Joel's comment out of context here, but...) This kind of observation always bugs me. 'Computer science' isn't synonymous with 'programming'. The science of computing is _grounded in_ mathematics---so, on the contrary, it always amazed _me_ that the math pre-requisites for computing subjects got softer and softer over the years.
Posted by: Paul Hoadley on January 15, 2005 02:39 PM
Paul: Yah.
Given that things like APP are on the way out (and they require *spit* SEP to major) though, I'm not sure that they're really aiming at Computer Science any more :(
"More programming graduates! We must fill our quota of professionals or the government will take all our money away! Again!"
Posted by: Joel on January 15, 2005 07:39 PM
"Given that things like APP are on the way out (and they require *spit* SEP to major) though, I'm not sure that they're really aiming at Computer Science any more :("
Now that I can agree with. I guess it's not like anyone enrols in computer science out of an interest in computer science these days, anyway. It's all about writing apps for TEH INTARWEB. (Except you, Mike. We know you're a math nerd.)
Posted by: Paul Hoadley on January 15, 2005 10:56 PM
Paul, surely OpSys isn't that bad? What was the example system? Was there one? Or was some mythical thing like DLX? But, err... whoops, it seems DBIS _is_ still using COBOL. I'm sure the pain will do me good. Somehow.
Anyway, just because I'm into model railroading, doesn't mean I'm a maths nerd. Hmph.
Posted by: Mike on January 16, 2005 02:13 PM
"Paul, surely OpSys isn't that bad?"
Well, in 2002, it really was. I still have the scars to prove it.
"What was the example system?"
Who's the what now?
"Was there one?"
No. Like you, I naively thought it might be BSD or Loonix-based, but nothing. Zero. Some toy concepts were demonstrated with "simulations", in C if I recall correctly. (Though I may not recall correctly. They may have been in Java.) What I do recall was that the supplied code was invariably bug-ridden (yeah---sure you put the bugs in on purpose), and non-conforming to even the most basic conventions like returning a status of zero on success. (Boring anecdote about how hard this was to track down as the source of some broken Makefiles omitted.)
"Or was some mythical thing like DLX?"
If only.
"But, err... whoops, it seems DBIS _is_ still using COBOL. I'm sure the pain will do me good. Somehow."
Well _that's_ a relief. There's nothing like a language where whitespace is significant to keep you on your toes. Not to mention where most programs are _more_ verbose than the equivalent English prose.
Posted by: Paul Hoadley on January 16, 2005 03:38 PM
Hey, ain't nothin' wrong with Python %)
Posted by: Joel on January 17, 2005 07:59 PM
Let's not get started on that, now.
But why oh why isn't Jython released under the (L)GPL?
Posted by: Mike on January 18, 2005 11:35 AM
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