(Note: this mail is in reply to Vinod Parthasarathy's which is below, but I've changed the subject line to be more relevant)
For ur kind information Vinod, When I studied BE (CSE) at College of Engg. Guindy, Anna Univ main campus Chennai, I did following core subjects in my BE: 1) Principles of Programming Languages (i dont know how many colleges has this paper today). 2) Design of Algorithms. 3) Theory of Computation. 4) Operating Systems 5) Compiler Design 6) Graph Theory (i dont know whether this paper is also present today) Apart from core papers I had opportunity to do the following thro electives: 1) Advanced Operating System - Unix internals case study (this is where I formally entered into UNIX / LINUX world) 2) Distributed Systems 3) OOAD (followed the text book of Grady Booch) 4) Reconfigurable Computing - VHDL programming & Xilinx architectures. I think the above papers cane be decently learnt in 4 years of course duration. Apart from all the above I put emphasis on the following aspects: 1) Almost all engg disciplines are taught "Engineering Maths" paper till 5th semester. So, I think that is prettly much enough to grab & understand any higher or complex concepts. That is the reason they teach Maths. 2) Having choice based credit system to do whatever u would like to learn. This is really usefull for subjects which cannot be brought under regular stream of 4 yrs. My college had such a system & we had opportunity to use it. I did total of 12 electives against the university stipulated minimum of 8 electives. In a real choice based credit system no one will Q'n u if u go & do a paper in mech disciplin or even leather technology as long as it interests u & relevant to u. My view point is syllabus framers have done their best to make it robust. So, if atleast the framed syllabus is delivered to the student at its best (here i mention the role of faculty & their efficacy), then thats fine. Thanks, Selvakumar. ----- Original Message ---- From: Vinod Parthasarathy <vinnytrycl...@gmail.com> To: ILUG-C <ilugc@ae.iitm.ac.in> Sent: Saturday, August 8, 2009 12:05:00 PM Subject: Re: [Ilugc] anna univ affliated curriculum does not allow to do 5th sem proje in OpenSource, need help Hi, I joined the ILUGC mailing list recently. This is my first email to ILUGC. Since we are on the topic of syllabus, let me mention one important point that I have not seen mentioned so far in engineering circles. I have seen the syllabus of many engineering colleges that come under Anna University, and in all of them, I see that Computer Science subjects are not included in the syllabus. In other words, engineering colleges don't teach Computer Science and Engineering, as they claim to, but only teach Computer Engineering. While in other engineering disciplines, as far as I am aware, the basic science needed is taught, starting from schools, the same is sadly not the case in Computer Science. Of course, the subject, theory of computation alone is being included as one of the subjects taught in B.E(this was not the case in the colleges where I did my B.E. and M.E., but it seems things have improved, though only slightly), but Theory of Computation alone is not Computer Science. It is just the tip of the iceberg. Theory of Computation itself needs to be imparted as a two-semester course as there is too much material that cannot be covered in one semester. But that, as far as I know, is not the case. Then there are other courses such as Logic, Algebraic Automata theory, Complexity theory, Programming Language Concepts(stuff such as explaining the roots of programming languages, the different paradigms and formalisms that govern the architecture of various programming languages) that form what is generally known as Computer Science. Learning Computer Engineering without learning Computer Science is like learning, say, Mechanical Engineering without knowing/understanding Newton's laws of motion. I have seen students struggle through subjects such as Compiler Design since they had no idea of the essence behind formalisms such as Regular languages, Context-free languages etc, as a consequence of which Compiler Design has come to be considered as a very tough subject. Of course, I am not saying that Compiler Design is very easy to learn, but it can be made easier than it is now by making the students aware of the theoretical concepts behind the subject first. Algorithms is another example where Complexity theory is a pre-requisite. Logic is a pre-requisite for Artificial Intelligence. And learning any programming language is incomplete without a knowledge of the concepts behind it. While, as Shakthi Kannan said, syllabus is only a guideline, syllabus should also play a part in making computer science and engineering students aware of the various branches of Computer Science and the truth that Computer Science and Engineering is not all about programming design/implementation and software engineering, but that a whole lot of scientific principles go into it needs to be conveyed to all Computer Science and Engineering students in an effective manner. Vinod. 2009/8/8 Shakthi Kannan <shakthim...@gmail.com> > Hi, > > --- On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 12:39 AM, pavithran<pavithra...@gmail.com> > wrote: > | I am not sure if we could say that the syllabus is ok though I agree > | that a student could definitely make a lot of the current syllabus. > \-- > > That is where most people have the wrong conception, IMO. A syllabus > is only a guideline, and a "student" is expected to venture into > gaining more knowledge beyond what is prescribed, and this is the > single most important aspect that a "student" must fulfill in > "education". > > Degree, job, awards, friendships are all side-effects. > > --- > | It > | definitely needs to be revised and improved according to industry > | changes and should be vendor neutral > \-- > > That is contradictory. > > One should always follow free/open standards. > > SK > > -- > Shakthi Kannan > http://www.shakthimaan.com > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, email ilugc-requ...@ae.iitm.ac.in with > "unsubscribe <password> <address>" > in the subject or body of the message. > http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, email ilugc-requ...@ae.iitm.ac.in with "unsubscribe <password> <address>" in the subject or body of the message. http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, email ilugc-requ...@ae.iitm.ac.in with "unsubscribe <password> <address>" in the subject or body of the message. http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
