"computer science" is going downhill..

[earlz]

Hi. We have these curriculum contests(I'm still in highschool at the moment) where we go to different colleges and take tests they make and see who gets highest, and in the end they have a tournament of champions thing

I took 3 of these tests.
First one: Computer Fundamentals
This was all about office productivity.. extremely closely tied to microsoft(good thing I have a fundamental knowledge of databases)
The most remarkable question I saw was something like
Whenever you highlight text and press escape 3 times, what does the text do.
I placed first in division, second overall(they are all idiots cause I really know nothing about word, I use OpenOffice)

Second one: Computer Concepts
This was the most pleasing test. It had some hex->binary and octal questions and such.. Also, it had questions over control structures and such and even a little bit of psuedo code. This is what all the tests should have been like.
I got first.

Third one: Computer Science
This was a complete joke. First off, the teacher I'm pretty sure is an idiot. In big lettering over each computer monitor is "DO NOT DOWNLOAD MYSPACE" and this is the computer science room. Also, she was a relic. She still made Os with a line through them from the good ol GOTO basic days.. Not a single line of code; not a single base conversion. It had some questions about flowcharts and PGP.. those were about the most relevant. Here are some questions I can remember.

Susan has many devices. She wants to condense into one device. She needs to be able to use email, browse the internet, and have GPS. Which device should she get?
1. Ipod Touch
2. Smart Phone
3. Portable computer
4. Blackberry (I chose this and it was wrong)

I think they have ipod touch's with gps now, I know blackberry does, computers can have gps put in them, smart phones can have a gps depending on type and such.. no correct answer, only opinions.

On average, a single programmer can write, test and document ____ lines of code per day
10, 15, 20, or 25. (it wasn't 25)

I would say depends on language and project, cause I write and test about 50 lines or more of code per day with my OS

Oh, and my favorite:
Typical computers come with harddrives ranging from 40GB to ___
100G, 250G, 750G, 1TB. (not 750G)

I chose 750G cause I've yet to see a OEM computer come with a TB hdd.

Yea, the computer science one pissed me off... I felt like standing up and saying I'm writing an OS and I don't know half this crap.

I absolutely hate when programmers aren't computer literate.

[Alboin]

Besides being unanswerable and mindlessly arguable, I don't think a terribly made mock test can be said to be the complete and utter downfall of computer science. You just need to find a better 'test'.

If you're so determined, perhaps a local university has a summer program you could attend?

[nekros]

Besides being unanswerable and mindlessly arguable, I don't think a terribly made mock test can be said to be the complete and utter downfall of computer science. You just need to find a better 'test'.

If you're so determined, perhaps a local university has a summer program you could attend?

Agreed, here, but wtf is a question about specific devices doing on computer science?

[Solar]

On average, a single programmer can write, test and document ____ lines of code per day
10, 15, 20, or 25. (it wasn't 25)

At that point, I would have stood up, went to the guy overseeing the test, told him (loudly) that he is free to contact me again when he has a test that is actually not completely BS, and left.

Seriously.

What language? What area? One line of PHP web-app template code is a very different thing from one line of, oh, say C device driver code. First creation, extension, or maintenance coding? It simply cannot be compared. Anyone asking such a question in a test is a complete lunatic.

[nekros]

Even more still is that the question is subject to debate.

[pcmattman]

On average, a single programmer can write, test and document ____ lines of code per day
10, 15, 20, or 25. (it wasn't 25)

Per... day!? Writing, testing, and documenting 25 lines of code in a day might happen if the programmer is using Facebook, chatting to mates, and playing games for half the day. Writing, testing and documenting a hundred, or a thousand lines of code... That's going to take some effort

On the other hand, implementing even 10 lines of code can potentially involve hours of regression testing, not to mention appropriate documentation of the code and the testing process.

[Colonel Kernel]

What language? What area? One line of PHP web-app template code is a very different thing from one line of, oh, say C device driver code. First creation, extension, or maintenance coding? It simply cannot be compared.

There's nothing to compare. It's an average. Pretty useless average, but an average nonetheless.

It's a bit of trivia for a supposed "comp sci" test though... A better question would be "Name some software engineering practices that help increase programmers' average SLOC per day."

[Kevin]

A better question would be "Name some software engineering practices that help increase programmers' average SLOC per day."

Hm, just skip testing and documentation?

Trading quality works always. And SLOC/day is a useless metric anyway...

[earlz]

Their also was a question that was like
Software engineers use ____ techniques in order to write programs more efficiently
1. Engineering
2. Scientific
3. Mathematical
4. Economical


Yes.. it was ridiculous.

[PHPnerd]

MMM, i would say 3, but 'more efficiently', without maths we cant program, right?
4 is wrong (doh)
1 and 2, euhm, can be yes.

We can debate years about this subject, it sucks.

I hope I will never get a test like this.

// PHP

[pcmattman]

Their also was a question that was like
Software engineers use ____ techniques in order to write programs more efficiently
1. Engineering
2. Scientific
3. Mathematical
4. Economical

If it's not "engineering" then there's something wrong with the world, in my opinion. I've *done* engineering and the techniques are very, very similar (at least, that's how I feel).

[yemista]

Id say they are all the answer.

[earlz]

I think I chose math and it was wrong..

[Solar]

What language? What area? One line of PHP web-app template code is a very different thing from one line of, oh, say C device driver code. First creation, extension, or maintenance coding? It simply cannot be compared.

There's nothing to compare. It's an average. Pretty useless average, but an average nonetheless.

Well then, but without telling what domain the average is taken from, the question is still bogus.

The more I hear about it, the more I get the impression that the only way to pass the test was to outright refuse taking it. (As in, they expected you to cry outrage, and everyone who took guesses at the answers is an outright fail...)

[nekros]

Or maybe they are just idiots lol.