learn how to read code, not just write them
I think CS program should put more emphasis on the title statement. The difference between homework programming and real world programming is, generally speaking, you most likely will be asked to maintain a codebase and that doesn’t usually involve writing hundred lines of codes per day. I learned it the hard way. Having already been ‘in the wild’ for a few years now, and lurking around various OSS projects, I can see newbies are still learning it my way :(.
Some fresh CS graduates walk into the real world thinking they will take ownership of a codebase and be asked to solve problems right away. Since some of them might have limited experience in collaborative coding environment (I can count in one hand the number of times I was involved in group programming projects during my 4 years in college), they choose not to study the existing codebase. It’s bad, they basically would choose to rewrite everything every time because it’s hard to maintain existing codes that are written by some schmucks they don’t know.
I think more credit hours should be allocated to courses that teach proper coding guidelines: how to write good comments, existing coding standards, why Unix tab parameter is different than say, a Windows system, source control and whatnots. It will be a boring course, but an important one nonetheless.
