Programming is not tied to anything physical – Department of Data

When you have to manufacture something, it is usually the case that a certain material means various limitations that you have to deal with. But that is not the case when it comes to programming.

– The most fascinating thing is that I am not tied to anything physical, says Beatrice Åkerblom, doctoral student, teacher and program manager for the Bachelor’s program in computer science at DSV. A program is built from something intangible. For example, I don’t have to think about the fact that what I create might topple over.

It was the rubber boots that decided!

Beatrice Åkerblom’s first contact with programming was in high school.

– We would choose a specialization between environmental technology and computer science. Since I wanted to wear my Dr. Martens boots that didn’t work in the forest, I chose data. It was the rubber boots that decided!

– We had to program in Basic, Pascal and C. I thought it was quite fun, just like math, but I didn’t think then that it would be my future. After high school I worked and studied art science and archaeology. It was when I was writing my thesis in archeology that I bought my first computer. Then I got interested again and installed a Pascal compiler and came to the conclusion that this is probably what I should do. I entered the then four-year program in computer and systems science here at DSV. Now I am writing the end of my doctoral thesis “On Typability in Programming Languages”, which is about how we can use static types to capture dynamic behavior in programs.

What is the difference between computer and systems science and computer science?
– Computer and systems science is read as computer science and systems science. Those who study the Computer and Systems Science bachelor’s program also study some systems science. Computer science means more programming with less focus on organizations and organizational analysis. Systems science is very much about modeling and understanding how information flows within an organization. Computer science focuses more on programming and its mathematical basis. For example, we can look at two versions of a program and calculate which of the two is the best and which will be the fastest to run.

As a student, you get to learn different programming languages ​​on the Bachelor’s program in computer science.

– In several of the first courses, we use Java so that everyone has time to focus on learning to program. In later courses such as Programming Language and Paradigms, we can instead focus on understanding the differences between different languages ​​and use four different languages ​​in the same course Java, Javascript, Clojure and Prolog to illustrate this. The arrangement provides an understanding of how different languages ​​can work and makes it easier to pick up new ones. We want the students to become fearless in learning new languages. A good analogy is linguistics, which makes you better at understanding how a new language is structured and then also makes it easier for you to learn more.

We want the students to become fearless in learning new languages

– The program contains more courses that use languages ​​other than Java, for example the course in C and C++. The logic course uses logic languages ​​such as Prolog and the Parallel and Distributed Systems course uses both Java and Erlang.

What is your favorite language?
– It changes. But I mostly use Python. It is always the closest when I want to get something done, figure something out quickly or solve a problem, such as administering submissions from the students. Often I write a Python program that then starts other programs written in the language. When I have to correct assignments, for example, the test program itself can be written in Java, but I let a Python program start and run the test program on the assignments.

Programming can also be used to greatly simplify everyday life.

– As soon as I need to calculate something, rename or sort files on the computer. Or want to avoid clicking, selecting and dragging them. Then I write a program that fixes everything!

The Advent of Code

– A fun but useless thing about programming, which I do every year, is The Advent of Code. It is an advent calendar where every day a programming problem is published that must be solved as quickly as possible. You can use any language you want and whoever is fastest gets the most points that day. Some former students list how everyone is doing and then we compete against each other, concludes Beatrice Åkerblom.

Text: Carina Bergholm