Among certain circles, there is a general agreement that university Computer Science courses don't teach practical basics, or equip students to work with actual computers. This begs the question, what would a reasonable course look like?

When I worked at an IT outsourcing company, I would test people's computer skills. …

When learning computer languages, order matters a lot, and I think I got lucky by learning them in roughly the best possible order.

Just like a linguistic ladder, it's better to take many small steps than a couple of big steps.

bash

Bash is a great first language because you can start instantly, and do regular things …

I find it bizarre how similar all schooling is, and how few alternatives people have tried.

Of course some experiments exist, such as Summer Hill, run by Neil, which famously did not demand that pupils attend any classes, and showed why children would attend classes anyway. And of course different schools exist - …

I imagine the conversation between a University and potential student going like this:

1    I'd like to get qualified in a subject.

Four years.

1    Woah there, I haven't told you what I want to learn yet.

Doesn't matter. Everything takes four years to learn.

1    Really?  *Everything*? Art and medicine? …

I felt so very bored with learning in high school that WWII was bad.

The lesson plan, as far as I remember, was this:

• War happened, it was bad.
• It was bad the war happened.
• Nazis did a war, which was bad.
• Nazis did it because of racism, which is also bad.
• (English class) Poetry about how the war was bad
• 11 Million …

Be Rich or be Poor, but Don't Work

Working a side job during University lowers grades, a student should be rich in order to get the best grades, get a good time from clubs, and get the best results.

If you can't be rich, best to be poor, and try to scrape by without work; minimize socializing, don't go to university …

I'm fast learning not to listen to experts when learning.

I say I'm starting my second Python project. I'm trying to work a nested dictionary.

You should use classes

No, I really shouldn't. I haven't even become comfortable with nested dictionaries.

It reminds me of people asking which Linux distro to install, and …