Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course
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Something to keep in mind, CS and SW are different programs. For CS, I agree that assembly and C (but not C++) are the languages to learn eventually. But for an intro course, I think Python remains.
For SE, Assembly is unneeded and C should be cursory. But this is a CS program. So JS makes zero sense.
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Unless you are learning web development, I don't think js is necessary for anything else.
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@nerdydad said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
Unless you are learning web development, I don't think js is necessary for anything else.
JS is a key language for server side application building today. It is in no way limited to web, web tech, user interfaces or anything like that. JS is a very important server side language today.
Sodium is JS, for example. As is NodeBB. So is the Visual Studio Code development environment. So is Rocket.Chat.
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@scottalanmiller said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
@nerdydad said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
Unless you are learning web development, I don't think js is necessary for anything else.
JS is a key language for server side application building today. It is in no way limited to web, web tech, user interfaces or anything like that. JS is a very important server side language today.
Sodium is JS, for example. As is NodeBB. So is the Visual Studio Code development environment. So is Rocket.Chat.
Can verify Sodium is JS even backend. (excludiing the agent system)
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@quixoticjeremy, the agent being python so it's platform agnostic to a large degree I would assume? Further fuel for the first person stating python would have been a better replacement for Java than JS.
Though, to play devil's advocate, can node.js not handle the same tasks that python is doing for the agent? On windows it appears it's just a wrapper around a slew of wmi calls.
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@manxam said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
@quixoticjeremy, the agent being python so it's platform agnostic to a large degree I would assume? Further fuel for the first person stating python would have been a better replacement for Java than JS.
I agree. Python isn't just one of the most important software engineering languages, it is the most important systems administration language in both the snowflake and devops spaces!
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@manxam said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
Though, to play devil's advocate, can node.js not handle the same tasks that python is doing for the agent? On windows it appears it's just a wrapper around a slew of wmi calls.
Node is not built around the same concepts as Python and cannot be deployed and maintained in the same way. Python is trivial to install universally, Node is not. Using Node as the basis for a deployed app is possible, but vastly more complex and would make you likely spend more time trying to get Node working than deploying the item in question. But Python is already universal and rock solid.
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@scottalanmiller also python is way more general purpouse. Hell I've written the entire code of a machine vision industrial app in python (with binds) and it was production code not lab stuff.
Even the CNC part was wrapped with python (controller was pure c from the linux cnc project) and the damn thing was really good!
If you ask me it will be my language of choice along with c/c++
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@matteo-nunziati said in Stanford Removes Java in Favor of JavaScript in Intro to Computer Science Course:
@scottalanmiller also python is way more general purpouse. Hell I've written the entire code of a machine vision industrial app in python (with binds) and it was production code not lab stuff.
Even the CNC part was wrapped with python (controller was pure c from the linux cnc project) and the damn thing was really good!
If you ask me it will be my language of choice along with c/c++
It's seriously a great language. Decently fast, insanely well supported, runs everywhere, enforces practices to encourage being easier to share between team members, talks to everything, is easy to pick up and learn, is broadly used already all over the place, etc.
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JavaScript is, at the very least, very broadly useful. I'll agree it's not the best language to use for starters. But they at least picked something that basically everyone needs to know and be aware of. Far from the worst choice.
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Looks like Harvard has followed suit and is blindly following Stanford into moving their CS program closer and closer to just being relabeled software engineering.