HN Explorer

Ask HN: Syllabus for web technologies 101?

2 points by yurylifshits ↗ HN
My girlfriend is enrolled in summer session at Berkeley. She signed up for "Web Architecture" class (http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i153-waim/su10/) and got the following syllabus:

- HTML 4 & 5 - Cascading Style Sheets - Internet Protocol / DNS - URIs / HTTP - Client Side Scripting - HTML II - Basic Web Apps - AJAX - Server Side Scripting - Content Types / Data Exchange - Browsers - State & Local Storage - Privacy - Security

For me, it feels really outdated. Anyone can read documentation! Do we really need thousands of graduates who know how DNS works and do not know Rails/cloud/mobile? And many modern topics are completely missed:

- jQuery, other javascript frameworks - web frameworks: rails, djnago - cloud (AWS, GAE, ...) - mobile web: iPhone/Android/iPad - social apps... - payments - overview of APIs (e.g. Facebook, Google, YQL, Twilio, Paypal, Google Maps...)

What's your take guys? What should / shouldn't be in "Web Technologies 101"?

5 comments

[ 7.8 ms ] story [ 38.8 ms ] thread
Quasimofo
Outdated? It seems pretty good to me. I would protest the teachings of API and framework-specific topics without having some fundamentals down first. E.g., Teaching someone jQuery without teaching them bare-bones JavaScript first would be a mistake IMHO.

I imagine the Basic Web Apps and AJAX topics may well use a framework you have suggested. Client Side Scripting may touch on jQuery etc.

Once a student has an understanding of the topics in that syllabus they'll be able to leap into Rails, Django or whatever they like. That sounds much better to me than having someone know how to use one tool only.

yurylifshits
I feel that the opposite sequence (hands down first, fundamentals later) works better. Otherwise, you can only teach semantics. When you have zero experience with a particular technology, how can you appreciate the "fundamental design principles"?
Quasimofo
Perhaps I'm a little biased from studying computer science rather than something more vocational, but as you say there are already dedicated classes for the technologies that you suggested so I think the syllabus is still well-suited for a "web architecture 101" course.
inerte
You disagree with the teaching methodology, but I think for a 101 course on web development the syllabus is very good.

I guess we could debate if fundamentals first or later is a good idea, but in general most teaching is done with fundamentals being first. You don't fight on the UFC before earning a white belt.

IMHO, college is for learning the fundamentals, not gaining 1-on-1 market skills. Because the best JS framework changes every couple years, but DNS? Not so much.