The focus of CS degrees is an interesting topic. I feel like a lot of them are probably making concerted efforts to include more relevant/applicable coursework for actual work as a software engineer.
Personally, my bachelor's in CS (graduated in 2001) involved a lot of programming in C and C++ with a little assembly language. I remember projects that involved building lexers and parsers, implementing TCP/IP, implementing memory allocation and freeing, encryption algorithms -- stuff like that. So it was code-heavy, but not the kind of stuff you'd do in the real world, for the most part (too wheel-reinventing, with the exception of what we did for a database course I took).
By the time I got a master's (graduation 2011 or so, IIRC), there was at least available coursework that was specifically designed more to coincide with the corporate world. I took a couple of software engineering courses that touched on project management methodologies and code maintenance techniques/patterns, for instance. But it was still largely academic (with the code we'd write being the same).
With all of the years I spent in CS programs, it seemed like the main thrust was to give you the mathematical underpinnings of programming concepts. The merits of this approach are certainly up for debate, but I wonder if the pendulum can possibly swing much further as long as FAANG companies model their interivew process after my CS-451 Alogrithms midterm exam.
In other words, Silicon Valley seems to fetishize theoretical/non-practical knowledge into its qualification processes, which probably puts a natural governor on how practically useful CS degrees can make themselves. At least, as long as companies insist on conducting interviews this way.
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The focus of CS degrees is an interesting topic. I feel like a lot of them are probably making concerted efforts to include more relevant/applicable coursework for actual work as a software engineer.
Personally, my bachelor's in CS (graduated in 2001) involved a lot of programming in C and C++ with a little assembly language. I remember projects that involved building lexers and parsers, implementing TCP/IP, implementing memory allocation and freeing, encryption algorithms -- stuff like that. So it was code-heavy, but not the kind of stuff you'd do in the real world, for the most part (too wheel-reinventing, with the exception of what we did for a database course I took).
By the time I got a master's (graduation 2011 or so, IIRC), there was at least available coursework that was specifically designed more to coincide with the corporate world. I took a couple of software engineering courses that touched on project management methodologies and code maintenance techniques/patterns, for instance. But it was still largely academic (with the code we'd write being the same).
With all of the years I spent in CS programs, it seemed like the main thrust was to give you the mathematical underpinnings of programming concepts. The merits of this approach are certainly up for debate, but I wonder if the pendulum can possibly swing much further as long as FAANG companies model their interivew process after my CS-451 Alogrithms midterm exam.
In other words, Silicon Valley seems to fetishize theoretical/non-practical knowledge into its qualification processes, which probably puts a natural governor on how practically useful CS degrees can make themselves. At least, as long as companies insist on conducting interviews this way.