So what did you ask?

A few questions about ODL syntax.... specifically, creating nullable relationships and if it were to possible to define indexes. ODL, he says, isn't to be used for stuff as specific as modeling indexes... that's a database implementation issue. WTF? SQL lets you define indexes. If there are ODL to SQL converters, why couldn't they map ODL indexes to SQL? Either my professor is dumb, or ODL is dumb. And he didn't know how to define nullable relationships in ODL, but he knew how to draw the damn E/R diagram for it. Great.

just give up on school like me dood. whats the point of wasting time and money (not?) learning crap you will never use in the future.

I think they stick to theory b/c it's static. If they tried to teach hands-on stuff they would actually have to keep up with a changing curriculum.

The idea of sitting though a DB theory class makes me want to chunder.

How true that is. :-(

Chunder... is that the shit I cleaned up at the theater tonight... twice?

More than likely.

It all gets brought down to this arguement. To school or not to school. The CS degree is (imho)definately full of fluff. Relevancy and pratical use is not something you should be wanting to learn from it. If you are, go take an ORACLE course or another vendor specific course.

I was in the CS degree for 2 1/2 years. The program started out using C, then to C++ and finally using Java. Syntax wasn't important, it was the fundamentals behind them. I've definately learned more about syntax from my VC++ teacher who gets paid $120K a year programming than those flaky university teachers who used to program dbase back in the 80's. They are just seem full of cruft.

Formal education REALLY SUX as currently presented. I have 350 semester hours in college and 30 years experience with computer systems. 95% of the information I "learned" was not integrated with a practical application view of its worth. I agree completely with your comments. What is needed is two years of tech school information, one year apprenticeship and one year of theory at undergraduate levels. That would provide a much better progression for the average information science major. Computer science is theory, however, by definition. What you want is a two-year technical degree, 4 years work experience, and a return to university studies for the theory. Who's got the patience to dick around that long before having a life?

is an endurance test. Learning is not essential; if it occurs, it's a bonus. If you make it through to the end, it means that you can tolerate mind-numbing work environments and you have enough on the ball to make some sort of contribution. By the time one hits university, the skills to teach oneself should already be well-entrenched. Do enough to pacify the beaurocrats and get marks to have good accreditation; devote most of your energy to enjoying yourself and making lifelong friends.

That's some good advice, as always from you.