> I'd have to check by I can name at least 8 core requirements off the top of my head.
I'm familiar with a vast array of CS curricula at many types of institutions. I have no doubt that this is true, but it's also not universal.
To be clear, I'm referring to the courses that everyone from that institution will have taken before graduating. So almost all CS majors require much more than 4 courses, but only 4 courses worth of certain, common, shared knowledge.
If you only count courses offered by the CS department, and that everyone must take to receive a major, I think 4-5 is fairly typical. Maybe 6-7. Especially at places that aren't ABET.
Most programs will also require 3-4 additional courses for the major (that the college/university does not require for graduation). E.g. at least one or two mathematics courses, sometimes a Physics course.
And of course all those programs require some electives -- sometimes selected from subject area "buckets".
But my point is that it's certainly possible for two students to get a CS degree from the same (decent or even good) institution and only share 4 "core" CS courses. Typically an intro course or two, a lower-division algorithms-style course, something architecture-y, and something systems-y.
> So your suggestion is for people to look at a CS syllabus and find a way to teach themselves all of the core courses?
Maybe.
This approach would certainly be inappropriate for a student with no background in Mathematics or programming.
But a strong programmer can breeze through or even skip those intro courses.
And a student with a strong mathematics background -- e.g., an accountant, other science major, or finance person learning to code -- can breeze through that otherwise time-intensive algorithms course.
I'm familiar with a vast array of CS curricula at many types of institutions. I have no doubt that this is true, but it's also not universal.
To be clear, I'm referring to the courses that everyone from that institution will have taken before graduating. So almost all CS majors require much more than 4 courses, but only 4 courses worth of certain, common, shared knowledge.
If you only count courses offered by the CS department, and that everyone must take to receive a major, I think 4-5 is fairly typical. Maybe 6-7. Especially at places that aren't ABET.
Most programs will also require 3-4 additional courses for the major (that the college/university does not require for graduation). E.g. at least one or two mathematics courses, sometimes a Physics course.
And of course all those programs require some electives -- sometimes selected from subject area "buckets".
But my point is that it's certainly possible for two students to get a CS degree from the same (decent or even good) institution and only share 4 "core" CS courses. Typically an intro course or two, a lower-division algorithms-style course, something architecture-y, and something systems-y.
> So your suggestion is for people to look at a CS syllabus and find a way to teach themselves all of the core courses?
Maybe.
This approach would certainly be inappropriate for a student with no background in Mathematics or programming.
But a strong programmer can breeze through or even skip those intro courses.
And a student with a strong mathematics background -- e.g., an accountant, other science major, or finance person learning to code -- can breeze through that otherwise time-intensive algorithms course.