Digipen Institute of Tech is a joke

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10-07-2004
Summonerur

Digipen Institute of Tech is a joke

So we had a quiz today in our CS120 class. (c programming)
The first question:

T or F: C is a high level programming language.

Now, while C is in fact a high level programming language, the book we are using (C Programming : A Modern Approach, by K. N. King) specificaly states "C is a low-level language."

We were told to study the chapters in that book and that was what we would be quized on. Instead, he tells us we are all wrong because HIS answer is true and he dosn't care what the book says.

And this is how the entire test went. Everything he had could be interpreted in many different ways leading to many different answers. And sadly, every quiz we have had in CS100 and CS120 follows this path.

This place is terrible. What a waste of money.
10-07-2004
Govtcheez

Welcome to college!
10-07-2004
Salem

> wrong because HIS answer is true and he dosn't care what the book says.
I can't wait - does he use void main?
10-07-2004
MrWizard

How about this, you graduate from there then tell me if it's a waste of money. The freshman year might be kind of a waste of time for people with previous programming experience but the later years will bring the pain.
10-07-2004
pablo615

I've heard about tech schools like this. There was an article on them a while ago about how many were having financial problems and couldn't hire competent teachers. Seems that when the tech bubble burts, all the students these schools were expecting to show up decided to do something else. Go figure

Keep a close eye on things before you write them another check. Lots of these schools have closed and students who either pre-paid or paid for a year or the rest of the semester were outta luck. Only way to get their money back was by suing a broke organization. Lucky for you digipen has been around more than 5 years, but that doesn't mean their financials are good.
10-07-2004
Summonerur

of course he uses void main ^_^

The teachers here are pathetic. If the school is one that only offers 2 degrees, I would expect them to be well taught. especially a place with such a repuation.

and for the record, I have no prevous experience in C. Which is why I am so angry, along with the rest of the freshman class. We are all going to fall behind in our GAM class because we are not being taught what we need in the cs classes.
10-07-2004
MrWizard

Who is your teacher for that class? Also saying that "teachers here are pathetic" is a broad generalization. Maybe the few teachers you have this semester are bad but I can assure you there are many excellent teachers there.

Finally I'll say this, if you don't like it, quit. Trust me no one will miss some freshmen. The lack of hygiene in that room is ridiculous.
10-07-2004
Summonerur

Professor Dee. I am being so broad because I talk to my roomatess who are both sophmores and they say almost all the programming classes follow suit with this one.
10-07-2004
Summonerur

And I don't want to make it sound like I am the only one fustrated. A number of students simply walked out of class today because of the way this class went.
10-07-2004
MrWizard

Ok, I'll let you come to your own conclusions from the all knowing sophmores. I'll just say this, if I didn't like something and had that little invested in it, I'd quit.
10-07-2004
B0bDole

its like buying a car, and it falls apart, you can't just throw it out, you still ned a car. Sure you could get a better car, but that would require too much finanical yadda yadda anyways im bad at analogies. or whatever they are called
10-07-2004
Govtcheez

Students complain about teachers whom they disagree with, story at 11
10-07-2004
Summonerur

Has nothing with disagreeing to anything. We want our moneys worth and we want to be taught what we came here to learn. We didn't pay to be put into rooms with professors who are not any where near able to teach a room of students.
10-07-2004
B0bDole

you should have gone to a University with a well known computer science program. Like UCF :)
10-07-2004
RoD

Digipen is an AWSOME tech school, they have to start at levels for everyone, diff text have diff opinions. They're going to show u sides of both opinions.
10-07-2004
sean

Yeah, life is unfair at times, but I think Summonerur makes a good point. If the idea is to make sure they understand the difference between high and low level languages, they shouldn't not use a language that makes the question so subjective. They should be using assembly and Java as examples. C can really go either way IMO. That's why it's so popular. I'd go with Salem's sentiment - I'd bet this guy's a void mainer.
10-07-2004
PJYelton

Programming unfortunately is one of those fields that if you are any good at it you likely have much better options than teaching it.
10-07-2004
VirtualAce

I thought C was a middle level language.
10-07-2004
Terrance

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

I thought C was a middle level language.

Quote:

Definitions of High Level Language on the Web:

A computer programming language using command statements, symbols and words that resemble English-language statements. FORTRAN, Pacal, C, PL/1, COBOL, and BASIC are high level languages.
giswww.pok.ibm.com/glosstext.html

Definition of a low level language

Quote:

A machine language or an assembly language. Low-level languages are closer to the hardware than are high-level programming languages, which are closer to human languages.

Technically c is a high level language. But since c can both perform as a high level language and a low level language, it's really more of a middle level language, same as C++.
10-07-2004
VirtualAce

Er...so i was right.
10-07-2004
sean

I agree, but you could really find it defined any way you want on the internet. That's the problem with so much information being available and editable. Also why you should never use Wikipedia for a paper on the ethics of abortion.
10-07-2004
linuxdude

c for dummies says it is a middle level language:) Something like it isnt' high class English, but it isn't grunts and moans of cavemen either. I thought that book was funny
10-08-2004
Sang-drax

When C was constructed, it was a high-level language, as opposed to assembler being a low-level langage.
Nowadays there are many languages that are 'higher' than C in terms of abstraction, so perhaps C is a middle-level language now.
10-08-2004
ggs

c is portable assembler

posting on the potatoes
10-08-2004
FillYourBrain

Quote:

Originally Posted by B0bDole

you should have gone to a University with a well known computer science program. Like UCF :)

wow, another UCF geek. Good to see another one. Go knights!