Getting the Most Out of a CS Curriculum? 124
Henry asks: "In September I start on a CS-type degree course. I am probably a fairly typical newbie programmer, in that most of my knowledge centers around scripting and high to very high level programming. There's much to choose from: languages, concepts, mathematics, and so on. From previous stories, I know that many readers have strong opinions on the failings and weaknesses of university courses and students. Apart from all of the coding that I will do, what can I do in the coming months to maximize what I get out of this? "
Programming skills have a small half-life (Score:5, Insightful)
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Seriously if you leave a CS program knowing more about math than programming you are fucked. Have fun learning on the job while making 2/3 what you would otherwise be worth.
And have fun being out of a job when your language of choice falls out of favor. Part of learning a lot of math in a CS degree is also learning a lot of CS theory. Understanding linked lists, stacks, queues, binary trees, and the like will help you to switch between programming languages. Sometimes you will realize that you need to represent data in a way that your language does not have a standard library for. Usually that means you're not looking hard enough for someone else's solution to your problem.
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Oh he doesn't even have to wait until it falls out of favor. If the language becomes really popular (e.g. Java), there'll be hundreds of drones in Bangalore or Saigon who'll do the job for a tenth of his asking rate. He'll then spend all his time unemployed and bitching about f*king Indians on Slashdot.
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I'm taking all the math and non-CS related courses I can. If you do programming in your spare time, take part in an OSS project or two, that and your assignments will give you a fair bit of programming familiarity.
Software development lifecycle stuff, and all the peripheral knowledge you need when developing, you will pick up on the job. A little more than a year ago, I had no experience developin
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Have fun trying to get a job without being able to implement or use the binary trees in a language, and being able to convey that knowledge in an interview. Because if you aren't proficient in at least one marketable language, or your aren't from a top CS school like MIT, you're going to be fucked. I've known people with Masters in CS from GA Tech who couldn't code for shit. I don't care what kinds of algorithms or advanced math they learned, if they can't apply it ,(i.e. code), to design and build a decent
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Have fun trying to get a job without being able to implement or use the binary trees in a language, and being able to convey that knowledge in an interview. Because if you aren't proficient in at least one marketable language, or your aren't from a top CS school like MIT, you're going to be fucked. I've known people with Masters in CS from GA Tech who couldn't code for shit. I don't care what kinds of algorithms or advanced math they learned, if they can't apply it ,(i.e. code), to design and build a decent application, they're fucking incompetent. I know people who got their CS degrees go never got a decent job because they never learned a decent language.
Lean all the CS you can, AND make sure you can code. Learning to code will get you the first job, learning the CS will hopefully keep you employed.
You naild it perfectly. You need practical skills and theory. The theory to describe things in abstract terms and the practical skills to get things done.
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Are you even out of college yet?
Out without a degree, but making "real money". Did it set me back a few years? Yes. Would I recommend it to anyone? I'm not sure, give me another 10 years of hindsite. I know I'm making 2k less than a a friend I started college with that graduated, 3k more than another that graduated and is now a manager, and 17k less than another friend without a degree that was doing ASP programming while he was in college.
What makes me sound like I'm in college? Do I stress theory to much? I like to program in C as a
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What, like the thousands of other identikit drones doing exactly the same thing?
But it's worse than that. While knowing about databases and transactions is a good thing (and has some really nice CS depth to it) just knowing how to hack up SQL isn't the same thing at all. It's a road to anonymous skill-less poverty, and a total waste of a higher education.
My advice is to always push yourself. Do the assig
CS-type degree course? (Score:5, Informative)
Back in the day I was getting my CS degree in Brazil, where you are required to choose your major *before* you are admitted to the university, the dropout rate in the first 2 semesters was something like 20% (8 out of 40), because students choose CS thinking they would learn programming and advanced hackeries, and game programming when the truth was that they would have to go deep in calculus, algebra, data structures and everything "boring" first, in order to have the scientific basis to progress in the course. People just didn't understand that CS goal is not to produce developers to the market but researchers that have the necessary skill to learn everything they will eventually need to use. IT is a fast moving field, but the foundations of it are mostly static. Learn the foundations once, and keep in pace with the zeitgeist and you will be successful.
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Yes, I agree the fundamentals (algorithms, data structures, numerical analysis, compiler theory, graph theory, calculus, etc) are more important than say a class on C... But at the end of the day, if you can't develop software you're not a very useful computer scientist (aside from working at the uni).
I do agree, however, that many CS degrees tend to focus too much on programming languages/tools (things that competent deve
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Why? Computer Science does not need to have anything to do with software development. That's what Software Engineering is. I'll leave you with a quote.
Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --Edsger Dijkstra
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Snobby academics are not in high demand. If you want to get a job out of college you need both academics and practical experience. -- Me, right now.
That is, unless you want to work for the uni. I get that on a whole that CS isn't about programming, but I disagree that you shouldn't have it there. I mean you take English writing and other courses during a CS degree. What does English grammar have to do with sorting or searching or ? If you think you can get a job related to the
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I'm not one. I'm an engineer (and not even a software engineer). But I hate that people in the field don't know the difference between Computer Science and Software Engineering.
Even if your degree sounds multi-purpose, it's likely you focused in one area.
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Computer science is a tool that allows you to sensibly design software. Just like architecture allows you to make sensible home renovation decisions. Or how a medical degree allows you to know how to physically treat a patient. If you just want a book education, save yourself the trouble. Get a membership at a library and read the books. Save yourself the expense.
At anyr
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Almost any science program focuses on the science itself, not the huge variety of practical engineering-type yak-shaving techniques that you may end up spending most of your time actually doing. There's so much actual science to be learned that you just can't fit in specific classes to cover all the practical details you may need experience in. I don't see that computer scie
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My brothers wife is doing a masters in biology and she spends considerable time in the lab doing non book related work. My friends wife did a masters in geology (underground water studies) and spent considerable time in the field doing survey work.
etc.
Many sciences have a practical observation/doing side to them. Even physics. It's just plain foolishness to think you're above getting your hands dirty because you're in university. While, yes I agree that CS degrees tend to stray towards the p
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First of all, as someone with both EECS and physics undergrad degrees, who's worked professionally as a hardware/software engineer, and is currently in a physics PhD program, I think I have some idea of how the world works as it pertains to my post.
Second, I never argued that a science (computer, physical, medical, whatever) should not have a practical component at all -- I don't have any idea where you got that. My point was that at the undergrad level, the amount of t
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English grammar doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sorting or searching or the like. However, when you're working on a specification for a program you're writing, or when you're trying to explain how your program works or will work to someone else (in QA, documentation, technical support, upper management, etc.) being able to write well comes in handy.
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Sure you may know how to implement, say an efficient matrix reduction algorithm. But the devil is in the details. Try implementing that on say an 8051 or FPU less machine, etc...
Having practical experience allows you to make *rational* design decisions that are likely to be lower risk than someone who has no experience writing software.
Tom
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Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --Edsger Dijkstra
I think you are reading this quote the wrong way. How many of the famous astronomers from history didn't build their own telescopes? Very few. Even these days, astronomers have to know a lot about telescopes; how they work, how they are built, how to effectively use them. I learned most of the optics I know via astronomy.
Computers are not the be-all and end-all of computer science, but they are the basic, fundamental tool. If you can't write software, then you are as much use as a computer scientist
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I thought that's what grad students are for...
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Psst! Here's a big hint! You're not very much use at a uni either if you've got a CS degree and can't program. Without programming, all you can do is draw pretty flowcharts on a whiteboard, constructing castles in the air out of little more than hot air and dry-wipe markers. For all that to mean anything (including enough to be worth publishing!) it had better be programmed in
A note about the editing (Score:5, Funny)
Before the usual spelling bitchslap about the editing, I want to get this in: Cliff actually did a decent bit of editing on my submission here. He's moved around some of what I typed and tweaked the wording slightly to improve the style. He also changed "CS degree" to "CS Cirriculum", which is unfortunately a bit of an own goal.
What you should do... (Score:5, Funny)
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Maybe not such a newbie... (Score:5, Insightful)
In that most of my knowledge centers around scripting and high to very high level programming.
That's not the mark of a newbie programmer, there are many expert Java programmers out there; just because some of them haven't touched the assembly, doesn't mean they are newbie. Having most knowledge center around high-level language is smart, and it is the mark of a programmer that's realistic, as in actual practice high-level language is used the most (and most sophisticated and desirable to know).
Probably if you have any prior knowledge at all of the language that will be used for the curriculum, you will be an "expert". Figure out which language will be used and read up on it in advance, look at examples, and bookmark useful URLs.
You can be a master of x86 assembly and still be considered somewhat of a newbie in a Java programming curriculum. But in case you already know Java, you will start ahead, and have a better chance at mastering the much more important higher-level, language-neutral concepts such as proper design, understanding of algorithms, data structures, etc.
I suspect many CS programs nowadays may cover low-level language details barely if at all, that may be up to you to study independently.
Many students start with knowing no language at all. Knowing a little of just one language is what I consider the mark of a newbie. Advanced programmers know multiple languages, usually of different types -- not necessarily a lot of the low-level details, unless they choose to be low-level programmers, or they need some assembly code to solve a performance or to be able to understand their debugger's assembly dump.
A non-newbie should be able to find good reference material and read from the platform manual and learn parts of the language on the fly, as needed for the problem at hand, and that's about enough. :)
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Having most knowledge center around high-level language is smart, and it is the mark of a programmer that's realistic, as in actual practice high-level language is used the most (and most sophisticated and desirable to know).
Most is fine. All is not. A good programmer has to be able to think at multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously. At the end of the day, a high level language is a tool for quickly generating large amounts of assembly (well, machine code, but you get the point). If you don't understand assembly, and you don't understand compiler design, then you won't know what assembly your compiler is likely to generate.
A good programmer will usually not write assembly, because writing it by hand is not the most
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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you. The majority of 'expert' Java programmers I have met that don't also have a strong background that runs all the way to the bare metal (ie, assembly programming) are not expert programmers, they are generally self taught Java programmers that are either very familiar with a large variety of libraries in Java, or have f
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...[they] are not expert programmers, they are generally self taught Java programmers...
I have to take issue with the connotation that self taught programmers are not expert programmers. You do realize the only reason there are Educated programmers is because some where along the way self taught programmers decided to teach. I also don't like that you assume self taught java programmers have no knowledge of lower level development such as C, Assembly and Machine Code. It may be the fact that I learned how to programmer before there were CS degrees available, but I can tell you from experi
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Let me place some emphasis on the OOD... learn the theory... learn the design patterns...
When you first encounter OOD try to forget about programming all together. You must begin to visualise objects and their interaction with the world around them.
If you can get a good understanding of OOD then OOP flows along with ease.
Don't forget to run linux as a platform for all
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Also, you make JAVA sound like some easy language to learn which to my mind does'nt make sense. JAVA is after all a fully Object-Oriented language...
No wonder the idea of Java (It's not an acronym) as an easy language is incomprehensible too you since you can't even comprehend that Java is not a fully Object-Oriented language. Try using a fully Object Oriented language, such as small talk, and then try and say that Java is fully Object Oriented. I know you going to try and say that event though the language is not fully OO it can be code in a way to be fully OO, but by that definition so can C.
I don't really understand how someone could be considered an 'expert' JAVA programmer without knowledge of whats happening at the lower levels.
So to be an expert in modern english (the language not t
There is no eax register, Neo (Score:2)
I agree with the general thrust of your post, but this is a pet peeve of mine. (Or maybe I'm just showing off my favority new bit of knowledge. Is there a difference?) Assembly programming doesn't take you anywhere near the metal on many modern processors, especially superscalar workstation and server processors. True, with some kinds of processors, the ISA gives you an idea of the how the processor is structured and
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Thanks to its JVM, you have enough layers of abstraction that what you're saying is probably right for Java. But if you're working in any language that compiles to n
Start an OSS project (Score:3, Interesting)
People who coast through uni without really taking the initiative are a dime a dozen. If you want to stand out you have to get yourself organized and build a portfolio of public projects that demonstrate you're a competent fellow.
Tom
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The obvious added bonus is that if you're prolific enough you can actually earn your uni fees as you go; it's working well for me so far. It's also a fairly good place to apply all the stuff you learn in your software engineering units.
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In my case I stuck my name in my project name
Tom
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My users appreciated that they not only have a say on how the projects advance [through suggestions, fixes, and submissions], but also that they can depend on things progress smoothly. It also helps if you do the whole 9 yards. In my case, I have a 300 page user manual, tons of examples, very commented code,
Dudes (Score:5, Funny)
Math and PROJECT MANAGEMENT (Score:2)
If you train yourself to be a project manager, study the development PROCESS rather than the menial low-level grunt work, the project will come out better for it. You needn't be a great coder - a
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I suggest he learns the very basics, what does it mean when the language says 'start a thread', or 'allocate memory'. Unless you know this kind of stuff you'll end up being a very inefficient coder and end up as just another ok coder who knows 1 trick. Learn the basics (even if you think they have nothing
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Just a note on project management - I have found that PM classes were only useful to me at the grad level after I had some work experience.
Most MBA programs only allow people have been in the workforce for the same reason. You need the work experience to provide context for the class. Without that context, you'll never be able to connect the theory to practice.
In terms of becoming a better programmer, the most important classes are the ones dealing with software engineering. Writing unit tests; coding defensively; writing maintainable code; gathering requirements. Those are the fundamentals of good programming.
The algorithm and programmin
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I would disagree with that. Most of the MBA programs I looked at did not have any kind of work requirement. They wanted people with high GMAT scores and GPAs because that raises the average GMAT and GPA of their enrollees.
The goal of most schools is to increase enrollment and increase
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Th
*sigh* (Score:3, Funny)
From the start work on good programming habits!! (Score:2, Insightful)
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As someone who teaches undergraduates in CS... (Score:5, Insightful)
2. Ask questions of your TAs and lecturers (when appropriate of course). Getting students to ask questions is difficult; especially when they don't understand. If you don't get what's going on, chances are that lots of other people don't, and they will be greatful when you ask the question they were to timid to ask. If you don't understand the answer say so and get the person to walk you through it. See point 1, it's your degree and it's for you, asking questions might make you look silly (in fact, having been on both sides of this, it doesn't; students just think it makes them look silly - see not being at school, in general asking questions makes you look smart) but which is more important you learning or what people who think they are still at school think of you? See the ESR guide on how to ask smart questions. You may not agree with the writing style but the points are valid.
3. Program. Lots. Anything and everything. In a variety of languages on a variety of topics. The *only* way to become a really good programmer is be experience and hard graft. Not only will this make your coursework easier and faster to do and help you pass your programming courses, it will improve your CV, but most important of all - it will help you understand what you are doing. Learn to use a variety of languages and tools like version control, symbolic debugging, static analysis, etc. Think of each language as a tool; the more tools you have the more likely you are to have the one you need. This applies to special purpose tools as well - SAT solvers, linear programming systems, machine learning, GAs, etc. A tap wrench can easily dismissed as 'useless' because you can't hammer things in or pry thing like you can with a claw hammer; but if the problem you are facing is removing a tap - they are invaluable.
4. The right attitude is vitally important. Classic wrong attitudes:
Spoilt - "It doesn't compile"
(Tempting flippant response - "That must really suck", Actual response - "Have you read what the error messages say?")
Defeatist - "I can't do this"
(Tempting flippant response - "and I can't be bothered to help you", Actual response - "What seems to be the problem")
Bigot - "Why do we have to do this with technology X, technology Y is so much better"
(Tempting flippant response - *sigh*, Actual response - "We're trying to teach ideas, not technologies")
World-owes-me-a-degree - "It's too hard"
(Tempting flippant response - "Well as the course is supposed to be obvious I guess we should drop this part", Actual response - "What seems to be the problem")
Too-busy-socialising - "I don't have time"
(Tempting flippant response - "That's too bad then isn't it", Actual response - "How long have you spent on it so far")
Right attitudes:
"Can you help me find why I'm getting a segmentation fault on line
"I'm not getting on well with this course; where is a good place to start?"
"I've done all of the exercises but I still don't feel confident with technology X. Can you recommend any good books."
"I've re-read my notes and gone through the examples; could you help explain why Z is needed when
"I've spent 10 hours practising this since last week's tutorial; could you check I'm going in the right direction?"
5. Work. Actually do the recommended reading (it's their for a reason) and the exercises. To get most of of your degree you should be doing at least 40 hours a week (including lectures, labs, etc.), less than 20 is poor and you will find the later years harder beacuse of it. Time invested in getting the foundations solid is never wasted.
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The student matters more than the teacher. If the student doesn't do the work, the teacher can't help. If the teacher is incomprehensible, the student can still RTFM. Alas, I didn't get that point through my head as an undergrad.
The one thing I'd like to add: learn how to do testing. Learn how to write testable code. Perhaps start at the JUnit [junit.org] website? Add unit tests, for starters, to your homework projects when it makes sense to you to do that. See i
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When is your book coming out?
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9. repeat 8 until you can't figure out a better design
10. remove *all* cruft in you final solution
goto 8
Seriously the best thing you can do is to try to make your code better. It doesn't help much to just keep programming more and more stuff. Once you get more experience you'll also understand that 'smallest' or 'fastest' isn't always best, for instance when you need to add changes or when somebody else needs to take over or when a solution i
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A prettified version... (Score:2)
The prettified version lives Here. [ualberta.ca]
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I can't help but think they can't be generalized to apply to more courses of curricula. I'll have to work on that...
Thanks for the pretty version!
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Alas, it's more often the case that you can use three paragraphs of transparent analogy to explain a concept and manage to completely miss the point and so totally mislead someone reading the text. Let's face it, some things are hard and must be experienced to be really understood. (See the Twelve Networking Truths [ietf.org] for a good example.)
Re:As someone who teaches undergraduates in CS... (Score:5, Insightful)
I went from being a C student to getting 98 out of 100 on calculus exams from this approach to things. It sounds like someone's old man saying stuff like "In my day..." but the fact is, you just have to cowboy up and then it's easy.
And once you've done this for a hard course like calculus, everything else is downhill. I discovered that the first half of lots of teachers' lectures was a paraphrase of the chapter you were assigned to read. When I went into class having read it already, I found that (1) I understood it much better because of multiple sensory methods (a trite but true method), (2) I was able to ask intelligent and useful questions about things that were vague on first reading, and (3) teachers noticed this.
The benefits of (3) are both gross and subtle. One semester, I had 60 migraine headaches in about two months (I didn't know about aspartame then), and scored 55 out of 100 on a calculus exam. The teacher had known me for 2-and-a-half semesters though, and threw that exam out, because he knew it was not due to me screwing around. He knew I wanted to do well.
The real benefit, though, was better instruction. The teachers would talk to me. They'd say things it would never occur to them to say to more passive students. I converesed with them, instead of being just lectured to. There was a richness to my education that I got because I was involved. In short -- cliche alert -- you get out of life what you put into it.
As someone else who teaches undergrad CS (Score:1)
Another wrong attitude: "I already know this stuff."
When I teach CS1, I usually have some students who know some Java and are totally bored while I teach "this is a variable, this is a loop", and decide the class has nothing to teach them. So when I get to recursion or linked lists or whatever they are not paying attention (despite my warnings) and fall behind.
CS Type or CS? (Score:2)
In September I start on a CS-type degree course.
CS-type or CS? There is a difference (see below).
Apart from all of the coding that I will do, what can I do in the coming months to maximize what I get out of this?
If it is a CS course, you probably will do some "coding" but not alot. Computer Science is about much more than writing code. In the majority of my classes we wrote no code at all, because its about learning the ideas and concepts and not the specific implementations (it is assumed you can figure out how to write code). So my advice to you is to dig deeper than just simply learning how to write code.
Experience (Score:2)
Since it is a school situation team up with people and build relationshios and swap skills.
Keep in mind once you are out of school, working becomes the #1 priority for most of your day time and learning new stuff is crammed in somewhere below that. Learn what you can now without the pressure of bosses, deadlines and family keeping you from it
I recommend discrete math and other math courses (Score:2)
What you get from it is what you make of it (Score:1)
I found that my program was way too theory-oriented. Way too early on there was an emphasis on intense algorithm efficiency that lasted for the first two years, and then disappeared from the coursework entirely. Similarly, for the first two years all classes were taught using Java, and then afterwar
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I'm curious because I'm wondering who still does OS design nowadays outside of M$ and Apple.
Enjoy It (Score:5, Insightful)
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As well any employer should be wary of hiring anyone.
Thing is, I know people who have great paying jobs who didn't go to college, and I know people who have mediocre paying jobs who went to college. The difference that always sticks out in my mind is that the people who didn't do the "live at college after high school" really wish they had, for the experience and the social aspects of it. It's not all about getting the best job and being obsessive about your future career. There's plenty of time for tha
Learn the whole stack (Score:3, Insightful)
Do an architecture track that covers logic design and computer architecture. This will give you a solid understand of what is possible on modern hardwarend and teach you how to apply what you learned in discrete math.
Next, take an operating systems course. This will show you how software interfaces with the hardware.
Along the way, make sure to take at least two programming language courses, ideally one imperative/procedural and one functional. This will teach you there are multiple ways to solve the same problem. Once you're comfortable with languages, take a real algorithms course with a focus on analysis (not just design). If you have time, a compiler course will fill in the final gap between hardware-os-language-program.
Fill out your electives with things that interest you - graphics, HCI, databases, AI, languages, etc. Be sure to have fun in these courses and apply what you're learning in the other courses.
In the end, a good understanding of the whole stack - hardware, software, and theory - will give you the foundations to build a solid career in computer science, in industry or academia. If you want to specialize more, consider a Masters or Ph.D.
I've learned from experience in both industry and academia that a solid foundation gives you an advantge over people who specalized too early in their careers. A strong theory focus as an undergrad makes it difficult to understand what's practical, too much focus on the hardware side makes it difficult to understand what's possible, and only learning the latest trends makes it impossible to design an debug real systems. Strive for balance and breadth early, specialize later.
-Chris
Tips from me (Score:2)
Your school likely has some course like "comparative programming languages" where you're exposed to functional and logic programming. Take i
Some general advice (Score:3, Interesting)
I wrote a post in a recent Slashdot discussion on computer science [slashdot.org] that might be of interest. Short version: read around your subject, try to gain a breadth of experience using the resources available at your university, and never stop learning. The linked post is the long version with specific examples. HTH...
Plan on an extra semester or two (Score:1)
If you can swing it financially, take 1 or 2 extra full-time semesters.
Take 5-10 courses in:
Books (Score:2)
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I always, always, always recommend "Practical C Programming" by Steve Oualline (O'Reilly, $34.95). In addition to being an awesome introduction to C, it has all sorts of goodness for practical code desin in the first few chapters. What do I mean by "practical"? Well, readable, reusable and well documented. After reading that, I applied it to all of my projects. Sometimes it got me extra credit; once it actually helped land me an internship.
Other books...
"Lear
Break Stuff (Score:1)
OK, maybe that's a little excessive, but learn to play with your computer, break it, fix it, install linux on it, install a different linux on it, download random shit from the internet and run it - work out what it does, how to use it, how it works. Compile stuff, add a feature to it, break it, write shell scripts that do stuff you don
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>OK, maybe that's a little excessive, but learn to play with your computer, break it, fix it, install linux on it, install a different linux on it, download random shit from the internet and run it - work out what it does, how to use it, how it works. Compile stuff, add a feature to it, break it, write shell scripts that do stuff you don't actually need to do. Setup some server applications.
That's a good skill to have, to be sure -- my experience tinkering with 'nix has been consistently useful to me
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but I really wouldn't call it C.S.; it's more like what I'd call "I.T." It's like what "learning to weld" is to "mechanical engineering:" It's awesome to know, and immensely practical, but by itself it prepares you neither for academic work nor for a particularly impressive job in the corporate world.
I wasn't saying that's what he should STUDY, I'm saying that's what he should practice doing. I think you're welding example is quite apt here - if you're studying Mech Eng, you should probably know how to weld, how to put shit together. At the same time, if you're studying a CS degree - you should probably know how your computer is put together (and all the rest of the stuff I mentioned).
Interestingly enough, an arguement occasionally comes up where I go to uni, about whether CS is a Science or an Enginee
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When hiring students for our computer programming team, one of the lines of interview questions we have for computer science interns is whether they've built or repaired their own computers, installed O/S's (particularly Linux), etc. They will not be doing these tasks on the job - they will be programming in one more languages and probably using every math class they've taken and a few they haven't. What we're trying to find out is whether computer science is just a major or if it's a calling, if they have
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There's nothing to prevent you, if you rely on the computer to hand in work, playing with your computer during holidays...
Learn C++ (Score:1)
The key to success (Score:1)
I am probably a fairly typical newbie? (Score:1)
Ye Olde Coder
advice from 2nd year (Score:1)
well (Score:1)
Fundamentals (Score:1, Insightful)
You are not going to learn how to be a good programmer in college. You might think you're a great programmer and you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. The sooner you are prepared to deal with that realization the sooner you can get star
Attack the darker areas (Score:1)
an example might have a programmer who writes some gui spreadsheet program from the ground up, then - deciding his brat would benefit, coding features for graphing, imaging and drawing.
take a lab project that does some menial task and extend it to execute on another platform, rewrite it in a language you don't know, make some command line progr
My advice - Don't major in CS... (Score:2)
Learn C/C++, learn database administration (the whole, not just hacking SQL), learn Unix adm
SICP (Score:1)
If any of your courses... (Score:2)
Peek your head into "engineering" (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You certainly need to have a s
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My advice would be twofold, first if you love the subject and want a job in IT get your CS degree. For me I was programming when I was 8, and my dad is a programmer, so I've always wanted to be a programmer. If you are going into CS for the money (lol) or other reasons, consider looking into another field.
Secondly, build a *solid* portfolio while you are going through your classes, and make it a point to learn a few in demand languages. D