Hello,
Computer programming is taught in some Engineering departments as the nature of their study area necessitates it (like Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, etc.).
1) Should we teach computer programming course in other engineering majors?
2) If so, should it be compulsory or elective?
3) Which computer programming language is approriate for which major)?
Thanks in advance for sharing your opinion?
Best regards,
Muharrem Keskin
As the use of computers (mainly modelling/simulation) these days covers all engineering disciplines, I consider basic knowledge of computer programming necessary in all disciplines. Thus I'd say it is mandatory.
Regarding the "programming language": while I personally consider knowledge of C beneficial, it might be sufficient to teach Matlab/Simulink (or one of the open-source alternatives) - plus some "numerical basics".
Teaching computer programming courses is usually extremely challenging, due to high variability of the prior knowledge students already have. Making programming courses compulsory thus nearly always leads to a waste of time for the (potentially substantial) fraction of students already proficient in programming. Furthermore, having students in class who perceive learning "Hello World" as a punishment given that they often already earn money by programming can degrade the learning experience of the rest of the class.
On the other hand, it is hard to imagine any engineering discipline where not possessing at least elementary programming skills would not significantly hamper career opportunities or academic research.
In my opinion, the best way out is to offer elective programming courses, while-at the same time-include programming tasks as part of the regular exercises in the students' core disciplines (programming micro-controllers, implementing dynamic programming algorithms when dynamic programming is introduced, ...).
The choice of the language should be guided by the languages typically used in the subject. Obvious choices are C (hardware control, micro-controllers) or Matlab (prototyping, optimization, modelling). C++ seems way to complex for beginners. I personally like Java, but it is not easy to come up with simple object oriented programming tasks which can be non-artificially integrated into exercises of the core discipline. I would avoid new and "hyped" languages.
Dear Dreher, Moritz, Farid, Stefan, Peter,
Thank you for sharing your opinions.
All of you agree that computer programming knowledge is necessary in engineering majors (mostly mandatory).
In our department, Biosystems Engineering, we have an introductory computer programming course and it is elective.
Best wishes,
Muharrem Keskin
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