Elliot Koffman, statement, CS2 workshop
"The more things change, the more they stay the same". As I mentioned in
the SIGCSE meeting last year, it seems to me that the crucial concepts
of the course are not that different from before.The CS2 report of 15(?)
years ago mentioned that abstract data types are a critical component of
the course, and it should emphasize both the implementation and use of
ADTs. A second major component is developing good software engineering
practices and designing for reuse as students begin to develop
larger-scale programs. I think that is still true today although the
method of delivery may have changed - the basic concepts are
similar. The software engineering techniques may be slanted more towards
object oriented design than before and the languages we are considering
are more likely to be C++ and Java, not Pascal, Ada, or Modula-2
:-). Also, there is more discussion of whether to focus on use of ADTs
in this course rather than implementation since the STL is now
available.
Owen L. Astrachan
Last modified: Wed Sep 2 12:26:06 EDT 1998