I agree completely. I didn't go to school for computer science or anything fancy like that. I studied Music Theory. Frankly, I think those luddites in the music building have done a pretty good job of tackling the plagiarism problem, and it's something that can be learned from by others.
At the beginning stages of a music theory course, you are learning the very basic rules. How did Bach's music work? That's where pretty much everyone starts. And you learn how his music worked by finishing his stuff. The early exercises (which I think are analogous here to having some code or library provided) are basically, "Here's the first part of a piece of music by Bach. Finish it in the style of Bach."
Then you go from there, gradually, with less and less hand-holding.
Is it possible to plagiarize these things? Of course! You can just look up the piece and finish it the way that Bach did.
There are some students who did things like that. The professors never bothered to say anything. They didn't have to. Because by the end of the class, you are all on your own. "Write a short piece of music in the style of Bach with the following features: . . . ."
At the beginning stages of a music theory course, you are learning the very basic rules. How did Bach's music work? That's where pretty much everyone starts. And you learn how his music worked by finishing his stuff. The early exercises (which I think are analogous here to having some code or library provided) are basically, "Here's the first part of a piece of music by Bach. Finish it in the style of Bach."
Then you go from there, gradually, with less and less hand-holding.
Is it possible to plagiarize these things? Of course! You can just look up the piece and finish it the way that Bach did.
There are some students who did things like that. The professors never bothered to say anything. They didn't have to. Because by the end of the class, you are all on your own. "Write a short piece of music in the style of Bach with the following features: . . . ."