ACM TechNews
Computing Curricula for the 21st Century
IEEE Distributed Systems Online (02/08) Vol. 9, No. 2, Kornecki, Andrew J.
As the role of software and computing grows in all areas of technology and
human endeavor, it is vital that engineers are trained to understand
systems holistically and take into account software, hardware, and their
mutual interaction, writes Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University computer
science professor Andrew J. Kornecki. The majority of computing-education
programs emphasize theoretical foundations and programming skills, while
placing little if any concentration on practical facets of
hardware-software interactions and the real-time dependable-systems
development methods that the industry demands. Therefore, software
engineering practices should be incorporated into undergraduate computing
programs, and complement the education of conventional computer science
courses. Modern computing must involve the comprehension of complex
real-world interactions and systems integration; the enforcement of
engineering discipline when developing, verifying, and validating complex
software-intensive systems; and understanding the real world's
multidisciplinary demeanor by mixing disciplines that include control,
electrical, computer, and software engineering. The close interconnections
between hardware and software must be reflected in modern SE curricula, and
Edsger Dijikstra wrote that computer specialists have to apply a more
systems-based approach that stresses the system's functionality as a whole
and the interrelation of its constituent elements. The argument that SE
conventions and strategies may need to be applied to the hardware domain is
supported by rapid technological advancements in areas that include
microelectronics, and it is critical that software developers achieve an
understanding of the fundamental real-time concepts of timing, concurrency,
interprocess communication, resource sharing, hardware-interrupt handling,
and external-device interfaces.
full paper
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