> Robert Kiesling wrote:
> > Deirdre Saoirse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > On Mon, 6 Dec 1999, Robert Kiesling wrote:
> > >
> > > > So what? Where would someone who's interested "learn" these skills.
> > > > How many EECS programs teach design?
> > >
> > > It's pretty much learned in grad school (if you study it!) or by
> > > mentoring.
> >
> > I'm not sure how those formal techniques would apply to a practical
> > design project, especially with the functional specifications yet to
> > be agreed upon.
>
> 1. What's EECS?
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, right?
>
> 2. What's 'grad school'? (Bachelor's? Master's? Doctorate?)
Here it's Masters and Doctorate.
>
> 3. It was taught in my Bachelor's course (and taught, and drilled
> and trained...) to the point where it's reflexive to me. Give me
> a project with sufficient specs (formal or informal) and I have to
> sit down and at least /think/ things through, preferably sketch it
> with paper or keyboard, before I can sit down and program.
>
> Give me inadequate specs, and I can't do a thing short of bug people
> for more detail.
>
> I suspect that most people are like this to some degree, but .. <shrug>
That reminds me of the way language is taught...
>
> 4. What use are formal design documents? Not a great deal - *once design
> is reflexive*. But they're great for teaching someone to design
> reflexively, and they can be very useful as a communication tool. (Here,
> look at this. This is how the program works.)
... but on a more sophisticated level, it's better to give someone a
model to emulate, then let them figure out for themselves how to
arrive at the finished program, provided they know how to perform all
of the necessary procedures (e.g., don't first throw the monitor out
of the window).
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