tech question

[Steve]

--- In  "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> Potioncat:
> I think you must be a good teacher if you could get me 
> through the process with Firefox without a screenshot. 
> 
> My daughter is applying for college--I've noticed a number
> of colleges require "either" 2 years of a foreign language 
> or computer science. I didn't get it---how are those two
> comparable?---until I asked for help with this page and 
> found out just how much of a language computer science is!
> 
> Thanks again!
>

bboyminn:

Just an anecdote from my past. When I was working for a 
large computer company one of the programmers was recounting
his college days. He said to get his degree there was a
foreign language requirement, something he hadn't bothered
to do. Again, this was back when computers were pretty new.

So, he went to the language department and told the head 
that he was fluent in PASCAL programming language and that
it was a true language because it had all the identifying
characteristics of any other language; form, style, syntax, 
structure, (in a sense) grammar, etc....

So, the Head told him to write her a paper explaining why
he thought PASCAL was a true language, give her a written
example of PASCAL communication, and to document the
language.

He wrote a paper that said essentailly what he had told her
in person, handed in a print out of one of the programs he
had written, and gave her a PASCAL language book.

He got his degree.

Though I must say it didn't take long for colleges to wise
up to that dodge. Uniformly colleges will NOT take a 
computer programming language as a foreign language 
requirement. 

Just passing it on.

Steve/bboyminn