Change in WGU BSIT - SEC path

wastedtime

So I received noticed today they changed the BSIT - Sec path. Most of the changes were small but the one that stuck out to me was changing the second scripting class to spreadsheets. I don't see how that is an improvement. I was told it was due to course feed back and people having difficulty with scripting. I realize people will use it to varying degrees but I don't see how people will do a technical path security or administration/engineering without a good understanding of the basics. My background is about 5 years of sys/network admin work, 2 years Threat Hunting, 1 year Network Defense, 1 year software development analyst, 2 years malware/Sr IR analyst. I have created or contributed to Java/C/Javascript/Python/PowerShell/PIG/awk/bash programs and scripts in relation to my work so I may be a biased.

Sorry if this seem like complaining. This is part vent and part question to community. Do you feel they should have kept it in or took it out? Why?

PJ_Sneakers

For now, it is a good thing. It's not that people have a hard time scripting. It's that the class was put together poorly, IMO.

The class is very valuable. It's not impossible, just very confusing if you try to use the Udacity material they relied upon.

adrenaline19

Sounds like you didn't need the second class anyways and you are upset because you can't get an easy pass.

Phileeeeeeep651

I had that course last term and was super excited about it because my programming knowledge is severely lacking and more and more jobs are requiring at least a basic understanding. That being said, that class was an utter cluster bomb. No real structure, the book was awful, and Udacity was worse. It was the last course in my term and after a few weeks of having to continue to re-watch videos and reread chapters I just threw in the towel.

I guess I expected the course to explain more of the theory behind why you would write code a certain way, why you would use it in certain situations, etc. and in reality they expected that you know most of that information to begin with.

IMO I'm glad it's gone but I'm also disappointed that they didn't try to come up with a better solution than "spreadsheets".

**Also, I'm not a great programming mind but anyone know why they had an intro course using Python but then the 2nd course was using Java? Seems to me like you would have wanted to keep these in the same language but I could be wrong.

PJ_Sneakers

Python is quite a bit easier to grasp than Java, in my opinion. I think it's an ideal language to learn first.

Spreadsheets is probably a stopgap in until they get better Java curriculum in place. Spreadsheets is pretty useful too.

wastedtime

@adrenaline19 I feel like your trolling me. Are you trying to say spreadsheets are hard?


@Phileeeeeeep651 Yea that is basically spot on with what I heard and how I feel about it. Doesn’t bother me that they took the course out I just figured with the fact they have a BS in Software development they could have found something they already have or had that fit better.


@PJ_Sneakers I agree Python would be a better fit. It can easily be taught as a functional language then can be expanded to a OOP language. Python also isn’t to different then most other languages syntax so learning a new one once you know that one would be easier. It is also a heavily used language so they could always go into common libraries without much issue.


Sounds like they are having course creation issues and didn’t have a good solution so they did what they felt was the best solution. I can understand that. I do wish I could have had the choice of doing that course as a option though.

PJ_Sneakers

The class was not as difficult as it was frustrating. The problem was in the Udacity material, not the assessments.

The Udacity classes were poorly done, with very stiff and monotone instructors. The girl would often tell you to do something without explaining interim steps in the process. It was just difficult to learn Java from them.

gespenstern

The class was bad. Here's one example:

They give you a piece of code and ask you to type in what this code would produce if ran into an input box on a web-site. You type everything in as it is not hard and it doesn't accept your answer. No clue why and no way to figure it out. It has to be 100% correct on syntax or it won't accept.

So you start digging, you launch BlueJ or whatever you use to run the code there and see the output yourself. Alas, the code given in the course is A PICTURE. So you can't copy/paste, you have to type in a few dozen lines of code introducing a potential error. When you get through this you run the code and you receive exact same result that you typed in previously into the answer input box on their web-site that wasn't accepted!

You are frustrated, probably talk to the course mentor or what, no response, go to bed. Next morning, while brushing teeth you realize what could be off and get back to a PC. You confirm your suspicion, slightly modify the output that the code should produce, type it in and finally it is accepted!

What was the problem? Stupid morons whoever behind the course put f**cking WHITE SPACES in certain places and they should be in the output! And because they didn't use MONOSPACED FONTS these white spaces are barely recognizable on the picture!

You are even more frustrated now as it looks like they intentionally wanted to screw you. You think to yourself, f**k this course. And it's really hard to bear and move on with the course because you hate it.

But of course changing the course to spreadsheets is a moronic decision. I hope it is a temporary measure and they switch it back to java or C# or advanced python if they find a good course because who needs stupid spreadsheets?

PJ_Sneakers

Oh man, I forgot about that BlueJ crap!!!!! I ended up using IntelliJ instead. Much much better environment, IMO.

wastedtime

That does sound bad, very bad. I used BlueJ a little like 6 or 7 years ago. The JetBrain IDEs are the way to go IMO. PyCharm and IntelliJ are both wonderful.

joshuamurphy75

I hated that class. All the videos were out of order, and even when I tried putting them together in a logical manner, I felt like they weren't teaching me anything. I ended up learning it through Oracle's website, and by talking to the course mentors. Hopefully, they will revise it, and add it back into the degree plan.