Computer Science or Computer Engineering?

Those "annoying" design patterns are pretty important in the "real world", mind you. I learned that quite quickly...
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Those "annoying" design patterns are pretty important in the "real world", mind you. I learned that quite quickly...
Click to expand...

I passed that module without being able to do a single design patter (okay, maybe the template method, but nothing else).
 
Don't you have your textbook or notes anymore? Well, there are decent resources on the 'net available for pretty much any design pattern. But this is going a bit off topic now...

CS vs CE, B.IT FTW! :)
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Don't you have your textbook or notes anymore? Well, there are decent resources on the 'net available for pretty much any design pattern. But this is going a bit off topic now...

CS vs CE, B.IT FTW! :)
Click to expand...

Of course I do. I took over 1000 pages of notes into my tests and exams plus a C++ textbook plus my design patterns module textbook (which costs two arms and a leg)...
 
froot said:
Of course I do. I took over 1000 pages of notes into my tests and exams plus a C++ textbook plus my design patterns module textbook (which costs two arms and a leg)...
Click to expand...

Is it still the ugly brown book?

Yeah, I remember those days with all the notes and books being dragged into the exam locale. COS213 was my first REAL foray into C++ territory, with only some minimal exposure to it before. My project team "member" claimed to the lecturer that he did about 30% of the project. When we had to answer questions about the code/patterns/program I answered pretty much everything until the lecturer told my team member: "If you claim to have done 30% of the work, at least answer 30% of the questions!" :p
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Is it still the ugly brown book?

Yeah, I remember those days with all the notes and books being dragged into the exam locale. COS213 was my first REAL foray into C++ territory, with only some minimal exposure to it before. My project team "member" claimed to the lecturer that he did about 30% of the project. When we had to answer questions about the code/patterns/program I answered pretty much everything until the lecturer told my team member: "If you claim to have done 30% of the work, at least answer 30% of the questions!" :p
Click to expand...

Nope. It's this 1inch thick hardcover white book. I did absolutely nothing in the project- I had no friggin idea how. I did the algorithms and stuff, but none of the coding :o
Come the demo and we took the demi for a ride and a half :D
Still got a distinction in the project.
 
froot said:
The year of the Gruner?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was his first year, 2007. He still presents the module with the exception that I hear he no longer gives them the mathematical explanation of everything. Don't know if you recall but he mathematically proved things like variables to us, it was painful :confused:
 
Gnome said:
Yeah, it was his first year, 2007. He still presents the module with the exception that I hear he no longer gives them the mathematical explanation of everything. Don't know if you recall but he mathematically proved things like variables to us, it was painful :confused:
Click to expand...

Yip... I remember his mathematical explanations and his corny (no, I mean REALLY corny) jokes... but at least he was a good laugh...
 
Well, the book we had (the ugly brown one) was very good actually. It had class diagrams of each design pattern as well as C++ code samples.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Well, the book we had (the ugly brown one) was very good actually. It had class diagrams of each design pattern as well as C++ code samples.
Click to expand...

I can't remember if the white book has decent examples. If my memory serves me right it didn't have nice examples...
 
Hey guys i know its been a WHILE. But if anyone is still here i would like to ask for help. I want to study computer engineering at UKZN. Is this a good decisions...the other option is studying computer science at uct. After i finish computer engineering i will deicide to either study further or sstudy comp science. I digress...but mainly i need to know if studying computer engineering is a good thing to do at ukzn with all their nonsense about having to learn zulu :(
 
sn3rd said:
We're talking general engineering maths.

At Tuks, we did Calculus 1 (Introduction), 2 (More introduction), 3 (Multivariable functions), 4 (Sequences and Series), Differential equations, Linear Algebra, Numerical Methods, Statistics, Stochastic processes...

It's not the hardest stuff in the world, but people tend to neglect it, which is bad because (a) while it's not difficult, it IS tougher than you think, and (b) you use it a lot in your other subjects.

Assembler is good for what it's used for: optimised embedded systems, etc.

Java is a great language, especially when you need cross-platform capability.

According to ECSA's website, UKZN is accredited until 2008 only. Not sure if their renewal went well or not. Don't see any reason why it wouldn't.

Another thing to note is that the UKZN course is a BSc (Engineering) degree, whereas (classically), true engineering degrees are B.Eng degrees. This mainly means a difference in curriculum, though I'm not sure what exactly the differences are. But if they're ECSA accredited, it means you can still get Pr.Eng certified in the long run.
Click to expand...

Is Matric maths a prerequisite for a computer science degree?
 
cguy said:
Yes. UCT's details (but AFAICT, this is universal): http://www.science.uct.ac.za/usr/science/apply/ugbrochure_11.pdf

You will also most likely have to take maths at university too. Some universities require 2 years (sometimes one of maths/stats/app maths).
Click to expand...
Maths naturally makes sense, however I always find I'm questioning the logic behind the push to include stats over e.g. Category Theory, Type Theory, .... Almost seems like SA is stuck is somewhat of a time loop.
 
[)roi(];18953110 said:
Maths naturally makes sense, however I always find I'm questioning the logic behind the push to include stats over e.g. Category Theory, Type Theory, .... Almost seems like SA is stuck is somewhat of a time loop.
Click to expand...

I would actually advocate stats over almost anything else. It is the basis of decision theory, machine learning and data science. I personally wish I did more of it at university.

Category theory is interesting, but was only taught as a graduate maths class when I was at university (I touched on it briefly in general topology) - reason being, without a background in abstract algebra, topology and analysis, there are less practical contextualizations for the abstractions. I also think that one would be hard pressed to justify the utility of the course (similar to topology - it can make one a better mathematician or abstract computer scientist, but direct utility tends to be very niche, so it is relegated to postgrad study).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X