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Is computer science pseudo-science?



Ludwik makes a good point, and makes it well. But by choosing
software carefully and conservatively, I think we can get a lot
more for our time investment than he implies. Certainly more
than "a year or two".

I learned to program in BASIC when I was a high school sophomore,
in about 1977. I still program in BASIC (TrueBasic), though
not exclusively, of course. I learned Pascal in about 1982, and
have used it ever since though its life may be limited in the
near future. I learned Mathematica in 1989 and still use it
heavily, and it has no sign of fading any time soon. I learned
spreadsheets in about 1992 (late, I know), and they're not
fading any time soon either.

Furthermore, the skills developed in learning one software
environment often carry over to others. I'm now learning C,
and knowing Pascal is making it a lot easier. When I had
to learn FORTRAN a while back I picked it up very quickly
because I already knew BASIC and Pascal.

But I tend to be very conservative when it comes to learning
new software. I wait a few years to see whether it's just a
passing fad or not. Ludwik's point actually applies very well
to many software packages.

Dan