[Edu-sig] A case against GUIs in intro CS :-)

[Scott David Daniels]

Arthur wrote:
> I don't remember SQL and database ever coming up here....
> Where does it fit into the CS curriculum?

It is typically its own course (it takes a completely different
attitude than "another programming language").  Most programmers
"pick it up" after school.  Usually they "don't want to understand,"
but "just have to get this coded."  There are too many texts that
cater to that attitude, to the detriment of the consumer.  This
attitude leads to bad (inefficient), product-specific SQL.  The
best texts I've found for DB for the programmer are Joe Celko's
books; he has a good blend of practical and enough theory to steer
it.  He is also one of the few practical programming authors to
write about how to write in SQL without picking a single vendor and
teaching you how to use their product.

--Scott David Daniels
Scott.Daniels at Acm.Org