[ale] Ga Tech changes emphasis of Computer Science

[ale at FultonGreen.com (Fulton Green)]

As someone with a degree in computer (software) engineering (albeit
from Auburn) ...

On Mon, Feb 20, 2006 at 08:59:35PM -0500, Mike Harrison wrote:
> > Fundamentally, I think you can be much more effective at 
> > *any* role in the computer business, if you can program.  
> 
> Very insightful. My experience is a good programmer can -do-
> anything, hardware, network management, sysadmin, project management...
> They aren't always the best, nor is the temperment always desirable
> when doing things they don't want to do that they feel is 'beneath' them. 
> 
> But they CAN. 
> 
> Even some simple programming skills changes the way you think about ANY 
> problem in th ecomputer world. 

My main concern with the curriculum shift would be the possible loss
of analytical skills, which are more in demand than one might think.
Even though, for example, very few employers will be interested in your
ability to design a BNF grammar in (f)lex and implement its ruleset in
(b)yacc/bison, the lessons you learn through such experiences can be
carried with you throughout your career in a wide variety of problem
situations.

I definitely think the focus on entrepreneurship is a good thing,
though.

I wonder ... what are other schools in the presumed comparable set
(MIT, CMU, UIUC, UCB) doing with their CS/SWE programs?