Re:I no longer understand my PhD dissertation
by navbaker on Monday February 15, 2016 @12:05AM
(#11101617)
I took an automata class where the professor talked into the chalkboard and refused to explain why we were required to learn any of the material. It wasn't until later in the compilers course that we had a teacher who actually took the time to explain how all that mysterious theory actually had a place in the real world. So many light bulbs went off in my head during that class.
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Re:I no longer understand my PhD dissertation
by marvin on Monday February 15, 2016 @03:51AM
(#11102234)
I had a similar experience from a different perspective -- I took a course on Theory of Computing, which was 50/50 gate-level CPU design and mathematical work on computability, automata and so on. I found this interesting as an intellectual exercise and to get a grasp on what is computable and what isn't, but then the next semester it proved super useful in the compiler design course.