Neotheone’s Thoughts

Introduction

This is the second post in the series “Why do we study x?” — from the perspective of computer engineers. The first post in the series laid down the foundation for why it is important for people not to forget foundational knowledge; knowledge about how things work, that can be used to improve on current technology and to allow them to maintain existing infrastructure when this is required.

Introduction

Every now and then I get asked by students in the computer engineering department, which I head in my institution, why a particular course is important for our major. I typically get this comment about courses from outside the department that serve to provide supporting knowledge for computer engineers. I have tried to explain the importance of these courses so many times, that I think it would be best to just create a series of blog posts about why they are important and direct students to those links when I get asked these questions.

So, recently as the Egyptian pound has continued its relentless devaluation journey against the US dollar, I have found myself taking more care with spending. As my credit card bill mushroomed, I decided to get a better understanding of our spending habits. The first step to action is knowledge, and I needed to know what was eating up most of my income. Naturally, as a computer geek, my first impulse was to write a program to solve my issue — and that is exactly what I have done.