On Thu, 4 Nov 2004, Sasha Pachev wrote:
Well, it is about the same way with programming. This is one of those things that are nearly impossible to teach in a lecture. Some philosophy of programming can be, but unless you already know how to program, the philosophy will go in one ear and out of the other. If you want to learn the skill, follow the car mechanic's path.
I respectively disagree. BYU doesn't pretend to have any classes for car repairs. A better analogy would be that your math skills are limited to the things you did in high school, and your question is: "What class should I take at BYU in order to progress in my math skills and knowledge?"
There do exist beginning math courses at BYU, because it's seen as such a valuable skill for all sorts of people, not simply those who plan to do nothing but math for the rest of their lives.
I don't disagree that the *best* way to learn how to program is to become an apprentice to someone who already knows how to do it--but that's the best way (IMNSHO opinion) to learn *anything*, be it math, or computer programming, or any other subject taught at the university.
But to say that programming is "nearly impossible to teach in a lecture" is, as far as I'm concerned, just plain wrong, and a disservice to classes like those in CHum where non-CS majors learn basic programming skills quite fruitfully.
~ Ross
--
This sentence would be seven words long if it were six words shorter.
____________________
BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________
List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
