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Monday, February 2, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Software Engineering
I have heard this common notion quite a few times that we Computer Engineers are really an unwanted and unnecessary lot. That Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Civil etc are the core branches-the crème-de-la-crème of engineering- and Computer/Software engineering is just a derived branch and hence does not deserve the same amount of respect as the above mentioned disciplines. This essay is my answer to those arguments will try to show just how shallow these arguments are.
Let’s take Mechatronics, a discipline that combines Mechanical and Electonics/Electrical Engineering. The same people who say Computers is a derived branch will vouch for the necessity of including Mechatronics at the undergraduate level. Is Mechatronics a so-called core branch?
Coding is easy
Another oft-heard argument is that Coding is so easy that anybody can do it and hence students from all branches of engineering are accepted in to IT companies where they are taught to code in just 6 months. Now we need to make a few things clear here. First, writing code and writing good code are very different things. Most of the work done at these IT companies does not require any specific knowledge of computer science. Is it requires coding but not smart coding. The coding is rudimentary and requires very little logic. And of course you do get away with bad code – code that does its job but is not optimally efficient. Give the same work to an efficient coder and you can expect better results. Second, the kind of code you are expected to write at these companies requires a very basic amount of logic and as engineers we all have that. While some may say that coding is very easy and that is why students from any branch can be a coder, we can also view it from a different perspective – the students from non-computing branches who take up software job do so because they are not good enough to take up jobs in their own discipline. Let me put it this way, even a mechanic knows how to repair a car, so is he at the same level as a Mechanical Engineer. If we go by the notion of core branch, then I should say that Physics and Mathematics are the core branches, rest all are just derivations.
Finally, I would like to apologize to my fellow students from other branches. I don’t think that any branch is more important than the other. Just that my branch is just as important as yours.
Let’s take Mechatronics, a discipline that combines Mechanical and Electonics/Electrical Engineering. The same people who say Computers is a derived branch will vouch for the necessity of including Mechatronics at the undergraduate level. Is Mechatronics a so-called core branch?
Coding is easy
Another oft-heard argument is that Coding is so easy that anybody can do it and hence students from all branches of engineering are accepted in to IT companies where they are taught to code in just 6 months. Now we need to make a few things clear here. First, writing code and writing good code are very different things. Most of the work done at these IT companies does not require any specific knowledge of computer science. Is it requires coding but not smart coding. The coding is rudimentary and requires very little logic. And of course you do get away with bad code – code that does its job but is not optimally efficient. Give the same work to an efficient coder and you can expect better results. Second, the kind of code you are expected to write at these companies requires a very basic amount of logic and as engineers we all have that. While some may say that coding is very easy and that is why students from any branch can be a coder, we can also view it from a different perspective – the students from non-computing branches who take up software job do so because they are not good enough to take up jobs in their own discipline. Let me put it this way, even a mechanic knows how to repair a car, so is he at the same level as a Mechanical Engineer. If we go by the notion of core branch, then I should say that Physics and Mathematics are the core branches, rest all are just derivations.
Coding nothing without hardware
Many of my friends in electrical and electronics have pointed out how our software is of no use without the hardware on which to run them. Let me put it a bit differently, what would be the PC without the software that goes with it? Nothing more than a rather slick looking contraption made of plastic. IBM designed the PC that we see today, while Microsoft made the software for it. Now who made more money, Microsoft or IBM? Can you imagine how hard it would be to drive an F1 car at speeds exceeding 400 kmph without all those computing aids provided to the driver. Forget, that without computerized fuel injection even reaching those speeds and yet maintaining a semblance of efficiency will be impossible. The Buggatti Veyron with all its immense horse power can be driven to very high speed by a modestly skilled driver only because of the smart ABS and Electronic Stability Control system constantly working to nullify the mistakes of the driver. Now try achieving the same with pure mechanical systems. A robot is no more than a tin can if it does not have the software in it. Sensors can give you data but only software helps you to make sense of the data. I don’t want to demean any discipline of engineering. But at this age, without software you can go nowhere.
Many of my friends in electrical and electronics have pointed out how our software is of no use without the hardware on which to run them. Let me put it a bit differently, what would be the PC without the software that goes with it? Nothing more than a rather slick looking contraption made of plastic. IBM designed the PC that we see today, while Microsoft made the software for it. Now who made more money, Microsoft or IBM? Can you imagine how hard it would be to drive an F1 car at speeds exceeding 400 kmph without all those computing aids provided to the driver. Forget, that without computerized fuel injection even reaching those speeds and yet maintaining a semblance of efficiency will be impossible. The Buggatti Veyron with all its immense horse power can be driven to very high speed by a modestly skilled driver only because of the smart ABS and Electronic Stability Control system constantly working to nullify the mistakes of the driver. Now try achieving the same with pure mechanical systems. A robot is no more than a tin can if it does not have the software in it. Sensors can give you data but only software helps you to make sense of the data. I don’t want to demean any discipline of engineering. But at this age, without software you can go nowhere.
Software engineers do petty jobs while those done by others are real innovation
I agree that many of the software companies in India are not much into innovation. But then neither is Maruti Udyog or Vedanta. Maruti makes cheap cars with technology that is not too high tech. And talking about innovation and progress, well, the software industry (and by that extension the electronics industry) has progressed faster than any other industry in the world. The automobile or the construction industry has been doing pretty much the same thing as it did a few decades ago. Information Technology gets obsolete in a year or less, the automobile industry in a decade or more. Yes, there are companies like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Honda, GE etc who do innovative work in their respective areas, and so does Microsoft, Google, Sun, IBM (IBM Research) and many more. And that is exactly why a Google or Microsoft will not hire a mechanical or civil engineer.
I agree that many of the software companies in India are not much into innovation. But then neither is Maruti Udyog or Vedanta. Maruti makes cheap cars with technology that is not too high tech. And talking about innovation and progress, well, the software industry (and by that extension the electronics industry) has progressed faster than any other industry in the world. The automobile or the construction industry has been doing pretty much the same thing as it did a few decades ago. Information Technology gets obsolete in a year or less, the automobile industry in a decade or more. Yes, there are companies like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Honda, GE etc who do innovative work in their respective areas, and so does Microsoft, Google, Sun, IBM (IBM Research) and many more. And that is exactly why a Google or Microsoft will not hire a mechanical or civil engineer.
Bored of Computing.
Most of my batch mates want to go for an MBA degree because they are ‘bored’ or ‘tired’ of computing. And this is something common across all branches. Well, really, how much of computing have you been exposed to in just over a year of study (considering that we had common syllabus in first year). Didn’t most of you study your asses off for AIEEE to get to this place? Didn’t most of you select Computer Science or Electronics as you first option while filling the online form? So what happened to the enthusiasm? How much have you learnt in just 3 semesters that you are bored? (Well, I guess, I am not eligible to ask that last question. Considering that my CGPA graph is falling at a rate more alarming than the stock market, I have probably learnt less than most). Aren’t you at all fascinated by all the possibilities that software unleashes? Don’t you think if everyone is a Sales Manager or a Marketing Manager, who would develop the product which is to be marketed and sold? The way I see it, very soon we will have too many managers with nothing to manageor sell. A researcher in a software firm gets paid as much as a manager and can also rise to the position of the CEO. I don’t think the blame lies with the students alone. The faculty must share the blame because if you are not able to motivate your students enough there has to be something wrong with you methodology. Most of your students are scoring well because they want a good job and not out of any genuine interest in the subject. The aim of this education according to me should not be just getting a good job. Don’t we, as students, would much rather prefer to read only the paragraph that is important for exams instead of trying to understand more of the subject matter. Now is this not learning. Also we should invite more core computing companies for placements instead of mass recruiters. While mass recruiters ensure that we manage near 100 percent placements year after year, they make a complete mockery of the amount of study we put in for 3 years(not considering the 1 year of common syllabi) and crushes our self respect as computer engineers. If a chemical engineer gets the same job that I get and at the same salary, what’s the point of studying all those books for 3 long years? Instead just give me the six months of training that such a company gives to its recruits.
Most of my batch mates want to go for an MBA degree because they are ‘bored’ or ‘tired’ of computing. And this is something common across all branches. Well, really, how much of computing have you been exposed to in just over a year of study (considering that we had common syllabus in first year). Didn’t most of you study your asses off for AIEEE to get to this place? Didn’t most of you select Computer Science or Electronics as you first option while filling the online form? So what happened to the enthusiasm? How much have you learnt in just 3 semesters that you are bored? (Well, I guess, I am not eligible to ask that last question. Considering that my CGPA graph is falling at a rate more alarming than the stock market, I have probably learnt less than most). Aren’t you at all fascinated by all the possibilities that software unleashes? Don’t you think if everyone is a Sales Manager or a Marketing Manager, who would develop the product which is to be marketed and sold? The way I see it, very soon we will have too many managers with nothing to manageor sell. A researcher in a software firm gets paid as much as a manager and can also rise to the position of the CEO. I don’t think the blame lies with the students alone. The faculty must share the blame because if you are not able to motivate your students enough there has to be something wrong with you methodology. Most of your students are scoring well because they want a good job and not out of any genuine interest in the subject. The aim of this education according to me should not be just getting a good job. Don’t we, as students, would much rather prefer to read only the paragraph that is important for exams instead of trying to understand more of the subject matter. Now is this not learning. Also we should invite more core computing companies for placements instead of mass recruiters. While mass recruiters ensure that we manage near 100 percent placements year after year, they make a complete mockery of the amount of study we put in for 3 years(not considering the 1 year of common syllabi) and crushes our self respect as computer engineers. If a chemical engineer gets the same job that I get and at the same salary, what’s the point of studying all those books for 3 long years? Instead just give me the six months of training that such a company gives to its recruits.
Finally, I would like to apologize to my fellow students from other branches. I don’t think that any branch is more important than the other. Just that my branch is just as important as yours.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A few facts about the Sun Z File System - the only 128 bit file system in existance
Project leader for ZFS, Jeff Bonwick said, "Populating 128-bit file systems would exceed the quantum limits of earth-based storage. You couldn't fill a 128-bit storage pool without boiling the oceans."[2]Later he clarified:
| “ | Although we'd all like Moore's Law to continue forever, quantum mechanics imposes some fundamental limits on the computation rate and information capacity of any physical device. In particular, it has been shown that 1 kilogram of matter confined to 1 litre of space can perform at most 1051 operations per second on at most 1031 bits of information.[10] A fully populated 128-bit storage pool would contain 2128 blocks = 2137 bytes = 2140 bits; therefore the minimum mass required to hold the bits would be (2140 bits) / (1031 bits/kg) = 136 billion kg. To operate at the 1031 bits/kg limit, however, the entire mass of the computer must be in the form of pure energy. By E=mc², the rest energy of 136 billion kg is 1.2x1028 J. The mass of the oceans is about 1.4x1021 kg. It takes about 4,000 J to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree Celsius, and thus about 400,000 J to heat 1 kg of water from freezing to boiling. The latent heat of vaporization adds another 2 million J/kg. Thus the energy required to boil the oceans is about 2.4x106 J/kg * 1.4x1021 kg = 3.4x1027 J. Thus, fully populating a 128-bit storage pool would, literally, require more energy than boiling the oceans.[11] | ” |
Also take this
ZFS is a 128-bit file system, so it can address 18 billion billion (1.84 × 1019) times more data than current 64-bit systems. The limitations of ZFS are designed to be so large that they would never be encountered, given the known limits of physics. Some theoretical limits in ZFS are:
- 264 — Number of snapshots of any file system[8]
- 248 — Number of entries in any individual directory[9]
- 16 EiB (264 bytes) — Maximum size of a file system
- 16 EiB — Maximum size of a single file
- 16 EiB — Maximum size of any attribute
- 256 ZiB (278 bytes) — Maximum size of any zpool
- 256 — Number of attributes of a file (actually constrained to 248 for the number of files in a ZFS file system)
- 256 — Number of files in a directory (actually constrained to 248 for the number of files in a ZFS file system)
- 264 — Number of devices in any zpool
- 264 — Number of zpools in a system
- 264 — Number of file systems in a zpool
Wooow...Thats quite a lot.
The above is taken from wwikipedia. For the full article go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Updates
Some updates
1. Imagine Cup: We are still in planning stage...No good ideas yet... We are supposed to develop an idea that help achieve any of the UN Millennium Development Goals. These goals are really ambitious and would help solve various problems besieging mankind. However, these are socio economic goals and finding a IT solution to these is really tough. Still we are trying. If you have an idea and would like to share it with us, do let me know. My team mates are Mohit, Nirzaree and Ruta
2. ACM: Quest is over. ACM plans to change its focus from the mass to class. We will be taking up projects and most of our events will be directed towards the tech savvy crowd and not the general crowd. Satisfying the general populace here is a tall order, they are never satisfied and expect computing to be spoon fed to them. So we will work with the more interested people. The first step towards this has been taken by Mohit and Prakhar by starting the ACM Programming Club and its doing well. SLiC will start soon.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Updates
Here are a few updates:
1. ACM Quest 2008 is finally on a roll. We are now working franatically
2. New ACM Team for 2008-09 has been formed.
3. Certain things I thought I would quit and/or forget are back again.
4.Certain things I thought I would never forget are on the verge of being forgotten.
5.Am participating in Imagine Cup 2008
6. SVNIT Linux Cluster just might see the light of the day.
7. Am doing CAT coaching at IMS.
1. ACM Quest 2008 is finally on a roll. We are now working franatically
2. New ACM Team for 2008-09 has been formed.
3. Certain things I thought I would quit and/or forget are back again.
4.Certain things I thought I would never forget are on the verge of being forgotten.
5.Am participating in Imagine Cup 2008
6. SVNIT Linux Cluster just might see the light of the day.
7. Am doing CAT coaching at IMS.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Symbian goes OpenSource
Nokia plans to completely buy out Symbian and make it Open source. Thats a great news. Symbian is the most widely used OS in mobile phones today. Its going open source is a significant step. It just means that Nokia has decided to take on Google, Microsoft and Apple all at the same time. Google already is banking heavily on Android, Apple wants iPhone everywhere and iPhone is definitely a cool device and Microsoft wants Windows Mobile on all devices. This is definitely a bad news for Microsoft. Microsoft charges heavy royalties on it mobile OS and Symbian going free takes all the wind out of Microsoft. Will Microsoft lower prices on it OS? Lets see. The free version of Symbian will be out by 2010, thats still quite far, but things are only gonna get hotter now. As for me, this gives me a good reason to get into Symbian programming.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
TCS=Thoroughly and Completely Screwed
Also officially known as Theoretical Computer Science.Need I say more about how my exam went?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Oops...i did it again.....
Well screwed CO as well....Some people were reduced to tears after the exam....But I was quite happy...Reason: well I believe my department will soon award me a PhD after going through my answer script. Why? Because everything that I wrote in the paper is purely original research done within the 2 hrs stipulated duration for the exam. Trust me, everything that I wrote has nothing to do with what is written in the book, any resemblance with Stallings or Tanenbaum is unintentional and purely co-incidental and highly regretted..
Asst Prof Sandip Dev, Computer Engineering Department, NIT-Surat
Asst Prof Sandip Dev, Computer Engineering Department, NIT-Surat
$nz...In view of the immense contribution made to my earlier theory by Dr. Nirzaree Vadgama
Prologue:The minor errors in this theory have been corrected. The credit goes to Dr.Nirzaree Vadgama. Nirzaree has been awarded PhD in FFAM (Fully Faltoo Applied Mathematics) by Dr. Sandip Dev (Ignobel Laureate in FFAM) under whom she conducted the worthy research. hence $n is now $nz
After years of research(more than 17 years to be precise) and severe head-aching brainstorming sessions,I have found out a new number.Its called the Nirzaree and Sandip's Number, denoted by $nz (it was earlier known as $n or Sandip' number as the original idea belonged to the great 21st century mathematician, hacker and self-confessed flirt and physco Sandip Dev).
Definition:Nirzaree and Sandip's Number($nz) denotes the average time is minutes in which a student gets seriously bored by the lecture given by the teacher/professor.
$nz is directly proportional to the cgpa/grades of the student,say g
$nz is inversely proportional to the IQ of the student, say q ,this statement follows from the general observation that a student with good IQ(mind it, I say IQ not grades,and the reason for this is left as an exercise for the reader) soon realizes that the teacher is an in-competent fool, listening to whose lecture is an exercise in futility, a grand waste of precious time which can be better spent in gossiping with mates, checking out the girls or by simply dozing off
$nz is inversely proportional to the time of the day in 24hr format,T
$nz is directly proportional to the competency of the teacher, but it can never be infinite,c
Therefore from the above postulates we can say that :
$nz=gc/qt +k where k is a constant(between -1000 to +1000) for a particular teacher and it depends on factors like whether the teacher is male or female, attractive or repulsive,and the general appearance of the teacher
Further research on the possible values of k are underway.
To find the overall competence of a teacher,denoted by rms(c) :
1.find all the values of $nz for each member of the class
2.Now rms(c)=(Sum($nz^2)/n)1/2 , the root mean sqaure of all the values of $nz
Readers are requested to evaluate the theory ,however most of the postulates have been found to be true and have survived years of research.
After years of research(more than 17 years to be precise) and severe head-aching brainstorming sessions,I have found out a new number.Its called the Nirzaree and Sandip's Number, denoted by $nz (it was earlier known as $n or Sandip' number as the original idea belonged to the great 21st century mathematician, hacker and self-confessed flirt and physco Sandip Dev).
Definition:Nirzaree and Sandip's Number($nz) denotes the average time is minutes in which a student gets seriously bored by the lecture given by the teacher/professor.
$nz is directly proportional to the cgpa/grades of the student,say g
$nz is inversely proportional to the IQ of the student, say q ,this statement follows from the general observation that a student with good IQ(mind it, I say IQ not grades,and the reason for this is left as an exercise for the reader) soon realizes that the teacher is an in-competent fool, listening to whose lecture is an exercise in futility, a grand waste of precious time which can be better spent in gossiping with mates, checking out the girls or by simply dozing off
$nz is inversely proportional to the time of the day in 24hr format,T
$nz is directly proportional to the competency of the teacher, but it can never be infinite,c
Therefore from the above postulates we can say that :
$nz=gc/qt +k where k is a constant(between -1000 to +1000) for a particular teacher and it depends on factors like whether the teacher is male or female, attractive or repulsive,and the general appearance of the teacher
Further research on the possible values of k are underway.
To find the overall competence of a teacher,denoted by rms(c) :
1.find all the values of $nz for each member of the class
2.Now rms(c)=(Sum($nz^2)/n)1/2 , the root mean sqaure of all the values of $nz
Readers are requested to evaluate the theory ,however most of the postulates have been found to be true and have survived years of research.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Rightly said
Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
No luck with GSoC
So GSoC did not happen. I was not selected. The reason was lack of experience. So I will apply again next year, and in the mean time gain some experience.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Adrenaline | Life rocks
Life is rocking now. Got a favorable response from Drupal about GSoC. Lets see what happens. I guess I made a good proposal.There is also a possibility of getting a paid internship at IIM-Ahmedabad and working on a product which will then be launched. The product is not my idea, but I will join in as a coder. Just the kind of work I like. Also there is QUEST, ACM SVNIT Chapter's international computing festival. It a huge responsibility and I will try my best to live up to it. We need to make a huge success out of it.
And yes, I am interested in someone. Its not love. But lets see where it goes.
And yes, I am interested in someone. Its not love. But lets see where it goes.
Tough decisions
Tough decisions need to be taken. We have taken up a big task and for the kind of success we want, we need complete dedication. People I like, people I consider good friends, are not working, specially when I trusted them with the most important of work.People whom I have encouraged. When they betray your trust, it hurts. But tough decisions need to be taken. There is no other option.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Study???
Sitting in lab and doing nothing. Viva in 20 minutes. Shailesh insists that I should study. Nah. If I study, who would bring 6 pointer. Come on. All 9 pointers in one class. Boring. I make the class exciting, unlike Shailesh. So, all the best to me for viva
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The wheels are in motion
The thing that I was planning for the last 4 months has finally hit off to a good start. Now we need to run, run faster than we ever did. And outrun everyone. Lots of exciting times ahead. Time to THINK AHEAD. And succeed like no one has before. And don't which me luck. Neither I nor my team needs it. Wish all the best of luck to our "competitiors" and "detractors". They will need it in due course. And yes, we don't have experience. So we don't know whats impossible, so we might just manage to achieve it. Time for some revenge. Time to go for the kill.
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