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Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by blue039 on Wednesday February 15, 2023 @11:42PM (#34815113)
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 finding interesting ways to drive down wages. One of the easiest ways is to just pollute the waters with sub-par talent. As much as this website, Google, and many other FAANGs would like you to believe, the average person lacking a formal education in CS or a related field (math, engineering, etc) tend to make for the programming equivalent of one trick ponies. The wages have stayed high as a result.

Personally, I am growing tired of seeing all of these "learn to program" focused CS degrees. Even the one you have linked lacks the rigor of an ABET accredited program. For the last several years now every time someone tells me they like computer science what they have meant is they like learning to code. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but CS is quickly going the way of the kleenex. I am not gatekeeping to be an asshole. There is so much beauty and richness of the field. It's like the people who read one pop-sci physics book and then put "physicist" in their linkedin.

Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by hedora on Thursday February 16, 2023 @01:50AM (#34815825)
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 but plywood, trowels and brooms.

None of those people can replace each other, and they all have different titles / work for different companies. Even the untrained people that spread the concrete around can't be replaced by the others; no one else has enough muscle tone / stamina to do that job!

In CS we have many, many sub-specialties, but we don't have names for those specialties.

Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by fragmede on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:12AM (#34816255)
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.
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by Jensson on Thursday February 16, 2023 @08:42AM (#34818442)
But all of those got the same degree and usually the same job title, they specialized on the job and not in their education. That is very different from engineers.
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by wheelinsupial on Thursday February 16, 2023 @10:49AM (#34820210)
Where I am, engineers have a discipline which is their undergrad major (e.g., mechanical, electrical, civil) and a practice area which is on the job specialization within the discipline (e.g., HVAC, pressure vessels, pipelines).

Software engineering is a licensed branch of engineering in many places, so I don't think it's that different from other disciplines.

Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by AstixAndBelix on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:09AM (#34817291)
Exactly, when I"m told to double up as a database engineer I always die inside a little bit. If this were any other profession there would be a specialized guy in every company doing that sort of thing.
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by thaumasiotes on Thursday February 16, 2023 @02:30AM (#34816029)
> 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 ggsp on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:04AM (#34816201)
Maybe they mean “programming” is becoming a metonym for “computer science”?
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by ajdoingnothing on Thursday February 16, 2023 @05:07AM (#34816901)
Imho, it is not worth it to study Computer Science, unless you really want to stay in academia (or for those niche areas in the industry). Though, even then I think you'd be better off with Math/Physics for an undergraduate degree and CS for a minor or graduate-level degree. How often is someone writing their own compiler or graphics engine? At least with Math/Physics, you'd have some useful foundation which easily translates to CS (rather than vice-versa).
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by 314 on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:59AM (#34817598)
I'm finding it hard to parse your argument. Are you saying that large organizations would rather have cheap-but-mediocre programmers than good-but-expensive programmers? Why would this be a benefit to them, surely they want good programmers?
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by kevviiinn on Thursday February 16, 2023 @09:25AM (#34819006)
Companies are focused on short term profits 98% of the time
Re:CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum... by chris11 on Thursday February 16, 2023 @02:37PM (#34824540)
Top tech companies could reduce comp by lowering hiring bars and wages. They don't think it's worth the cost.