Mike Meyer wrote: > Andrea Griffini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >>Also concrete->abstract shows a clear path; starting >>in the middle and looking both up (to higher >>abstractions) and down (to the implementation >>details) is IMO much more confusing. > > So you're arguing that a CS major should start by learning electronics > fundamentals, how gates work, and how to design hardware(*)?
No, Andrea means you need to learn physics, starting perhaps with basic quantum mechanics and perhaps with some chemistry thrown in (since you can't really understand semiconductors without understanding how they're built, right?). Oh, and manufacturing. And a fundamental understanding of scanning electron microscopes (for inspection) would be helpful as well. I think probably a Ph.D. level training in mathematics might be a good start also, since after all this is the foundation of much of computing. A while later comes the electronics, and then memory management. Things like while loops and if statements, and *how to actually write a program* are, of course, only the eventual outcome of all that good grounding in "the basics" that you need first. <big wink> -Peter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
