tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post8070379660860203747..comments2024-03-10T05:26:42.148-04:00Comments on My Biased Coin: A Little Truly Offensive Bragging (On Behalf of Harvard CS)Michael Mitzenmacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738274256402616703noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-57769709814389329882012-05-19T19:08:53.703-04:002012-05-19T19:08:53.703-04:00Great comments.
In the same kids who fail to go to...Great comments.<br />In the same kids who fail to go to do PhD at MIT can say: <br />"Most intelligent university students realize that they have better things to do with their time than to do well to go to MIT."<br />"We have things that we think are more worthwhile to do than study Mathis/CS 20+ hours."<br /><br />ICPC contest is a great experience, but not for all. Same is with IOI and IMO. But please show some respects for those who did well in any of those activities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-11244117305183644012012-05-19T19:01:45.240-04:002012-05-19T19:01:45.240-04:00Yeah, we never get anybody but losers like Robert ...Yeah, we never get anybody but losers like Robert Tappan Morris, Craig Silverstein, and Tony Hsieh on our prizewinning teams ;)Harry Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17088418333536732728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-44047555766742254592012-05-18T11:55:18.524-04:002012-05-18T11:55:18.524-04:00Most intelligent university students realize that ...Most intelligent university students realize that they have better things to do with their time than participate in programming contests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-76273690625620531672012-05-18T01:53:52.161-04:002012-05-18T01:53:52.161-04:00I'm far from convinced that the ICPC contest m...I'm far from convinced that the ICPC contest model helps students to become good software engineers. <br /><br />It can develop certain programming skills very well, of course. But I think it tends to build up "programming tricks fast for use-once code".<br /><br />That's really the opposite of what important for good software development: maintainable, extensible software that it is actually usable in the real world. <br /><br />Choosing between a student who had successful experiences working with "real code" over time and one who has success in programming contests, I'd absolutely prefer the former. (The latter often have to unlearn a lot, in my experience.)<br /><br />Of course, some students do both, which is great.<br /><br />Re other comments: I think the some of the national variation reflects differences in access to opportunities for real software development experience, rather than quality of education or skill.<br /><br />But, of course, best wishes to the Harvard team and others on their accomplishment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-66663036654286837272012-05-18T00:10:29.086-04:002012-05-18T00:10:29.086-04:00At least here at MIT, many of the top students (e....At least here at MIT, many of the top students (e.g. former IOI contestants) do not bother to even take the team selection test. We have things that we think are more worthwhile to do than programming 20+ hours (just) for fame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-73635238088745238052012-05-17T22:55:44.024-04:002012-05-17T22:55:44.024-04:00Could the fact that every year, when ICPC results ...Could the fact that every year, when ICPC results are announced, there is always bitter comments US chauvinists imply that the US could spend a little work on improving performance in these competitions?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890204.post-19172947638169307192012-05-17T22:29:17.373-04:002012-05-17T22:29:17.373-04:00Could the fact that US top schools do poorly in th...Could the fact that US top schools do poorly in this competition compared to the Russians or Chinese imply that performance in this competition is pretty much irrelevant to the academic level of universities?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com