I have read somewhere recently something related to the kind of computers. The reading was related to Lisp and Emacs that fit into an "architectural" model more like a Turing Machine. In the other hand it was C and the "other" architectural model was named after someone whose name I don't remember, but named as the most successful type...
Programmatically. (alt. programmically) I've never used it, but I see it in questions a lot, i.e. "How to programmatically determine [insert task here]". Firefox immediately tells me that neither of these two words are real (at least, it doesn't recognize them). I've also never seen them used anywhere but here. 1) What does it mean to ...
If you had the opportunity to take one computer science course now, and as a result significantly increase your knowledge in a subject area, what would it be? Undergraduate or graduate level. Compilers? Distributed algorithms? Concurrency theory? Advanced operating systems? Let me know why. (Note that I appreciate this isn't a far fet...
I recently asked about new languages and language features of the last 10 years, but apparently there is none. However I noticed one issue is that most of our focus is on calculus of various types. But thinking about it, theoretically I can see Neural Networks and Genetic Programming as non calculus based models for programming, that al...
As far as I know I've never encountered a SHOULD construct in a computer language, but then again I don't know that many languages, compared to the hundreds out there. Anyways SHOULD and other modal verbs are very common in natural languages, and their meanings are quite clear when writing documentation and legal-binding contracts, so ...
DUPE: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/191302/does-it-matter-where-you-get-your-cs-degree Is an online degree as valid as a degree from a brick and mortar school? And in general, how important is the school you attend? For example, there are some schools that offer software engineering degrees that are well know as online only type...
I was just interviewed with a question, and I'm curious what the answer ought to be. The problem was, essentially: Say you have an unsorted list of n integers. How do you find the k minimum values in this list? That is, if you have a list of [10, 11, 24, 12, 13] and are looking for the 2 minimum values, you'd get [10, 11]. I've got an ...
I have worked/played as a software developer for years and have focused on programming almost exclusively (mostly OO software, design and methodology). I feel quite sure on "higher-level" networking concepts (like HTTP and SSL, for instance) but I've never studied -- at least not deeply -- lower-level networking concepts. Are they releva...
I recently read The Numerati by Stephen Baker. It is an AMAZING book which really opens your eyes to all the possibilities of new emerging technology. I was wondering if anyone (preferably who has read The Numerati) could suggest a good read? I'm not looking for anything "code related". Thanks! ...
I am going to start learning Abstract Algebra- Groups, Rings,etc. I am interested to know any programming language, if at all which can help me learn/try the concepts I learn in theory. EDIT: I am not really looking at implementing what I learn. I am interested to know any language which already supports them. Thank You. ...
Hi there I was wondering which Integer or Float types are the fastest.. i was thinking byte is faster than integer because it has a smaller range. Some people told me .. that in some cases integer is faster than a byte. second question : The GPU is on his way to World Domination .. so i asked myself : Can a Double "be faster" than a I...
I am pursuing a graduate degree in Organic Chemistry. Right now, many talented people in my area are headed towards nanotechnology. What is the equivalent field in modern computer science? ...
What's a common way of generating sentences from a grammar? I want an algorithm that's sort of the opposite of a parser. That is, given a formal context-free grammar (say LL), I want to generate an arbitrary sentence that conforms to that grammar. I use sentence here to mean any valid body of text, so it can actually be a whole program ...
I found a couple of essays like this: What every programmer should know about Memory? What every programmer should know about Floating-Point arithmetic? I am currently reading the first paper. What other similar essays do you know of? ...
What is most important at this time? I know that I can acquire programming experience later. Which of the following should I study to become a good programmer or analyst after I graduate? data structures algorithms software engineering low-level aspects design patterns and OO analysis [Edit] Thanks for the answers. I would like to i...
While reading through some lecture notes on preliminary number theory, I came across the solution to water jug problem (with two jugs) which is summed as thus: Using the property of the G.C.D of two numbers that GCD(a,b) is the smallest possible linear combination of a and b, and hence a certain quantity Q is only measurable by the 2 j...
I'm constantly being inundated with articles and people talking about how most of today's Universities are nothing more than Java vocational schools churning out mediocre programmer after mediocre programmer. Our very own Joel Spolsky has his famous article, "The Perils of Java Schools." Similarly, Alan Kay, a famous Computer Scientist...
I am currently in the process of preparing for the computer science GRE and I was wondering if anyone at Stack Overflow could offer some advice or point me towards some useful resources? Here are some resources I'm already familiar with: Titanium Bits Practice Exam - Additional practice questions made by a third party. Slashdot | GRE ...
Question: How is computer simulation, typically resource intensive? For instance, Simul8: a Discrete Event Simulation package - why is this computationally intensive, what factors (calculations) contribute to this? ...
I will be teaching a course on the fundamentals of programming next Fall, first year computer science course. What are the pros and cons of teaching pointers in such a course? (My position: they should be taught). Edit: My problem with the "cater your audience" argument is that in the first couple of years in University, we (profs) do n...