[circular_logic]

A Professor in 101 put it as: "Programming is just a tool, CS is a study that just so happens to use that tool now and then."

Without reading through every year's syllabus you will come across supprises (and very few students seem to do this)

Its expectation versus reality, CS seems to be taught very differently depending on where you go ie different levels of maths focus is a big one, another is if they teach "reality" like common industry tools, software development methodologies, software ethics etc

Often there can a problem with elitism "this course is for knowledge, not your career" that changes many students minds on if this huge amount of debt is worth it vs just finding a job right away.

[sky_rw]

As my professor put it: "Computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes."

[paulryanrogers]

So it's science that happens to involve a computer? Maybe I misunderstood what CS truly is. I thought it was the science of computing. And while I used a lot of books and paper to study it, without the machines it would not have been of much use.

[lykr0n]

It is the Science of Computing. Memory Management is a great example of this. You learn the theory behind memory management, physical vs virtual memory, pages, swapping, with the goal of being able to understand how modern computing handles memory. And down at that level, it's all theory and math. You don't actually need to use a computer to understand it. Something like sorting lists at an algorithmic level can be applied without a computer. Part of CS is understanding the most efficient way to sort or traverse a data structure- a computer isn't needed to apply it.

It's like Medicine. You can know how the human body works down to a cellular level without ever touching another human. It's not very useful without another human to apply it to, but the science and application of that science can be two distinct topics.

[paulryanrogers]

While technically true my experience is that doing makes learning easier. Whether it's chemistry labs or running modified examples through a computer the process helps things click for me.

[lykr0n]

Oh agree 100%. Theory doesn't help much if you can't apply it.

[sova]

So your professor was Dijkstra?

[sky_rw]

There was a non sarcastic asshole way of pointing out that this quote should be attributed to Dijkstra. Maybe try it out next time.

[sova]

Pardon the transgression.

The full quote reads "Computer science is not about machines, in the same way that astronomy is not about telescopes. There is an essential unity of mathematics and computer science" and is disputatively attributed to Mike Fellows and Dijkstra although Fellows also indicates Dijkstra said it in a '93 publication.

[OGWhales]

I think your point about different universities giving different focuses on math/real world tool, etc is a great point. I’ve heard of an incredibly broad range of “computer science” degrees from various universities.