What is Digg?99 Comments
- shattadeya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Started out as an excellent article but ended up talking about database's. If you need to know about computer science please see the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Science
IF you need the short of CS here is my opinion. CS (Bach. of Sc.) sets you up to learn the fundamentals of a computer system (both hardware and software) so that you can branch off into specific categories of computer science. So you will be learning 50% language programming using java, C++ or other; 20% alogorithms and data structures and math; 10% hardware; 5% Ethics; 5% software engineering for large apps; 10% learning other crap like Geography, History, Literature.
So if you can handle this then CS is a great career. It is the BEST job in America as per CNN That why I am happy See http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/ - nailbunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9my experience with discrete math was quite easy, stuffed into a six week summer class. i hardly paid attention, and the tests were nearly compltely intuitive. see, i got a half-senile teacher who reminds me of pope john paul the second (in his winter years).
Which goes to show you, any class can be hard if you get a son of a bitch teacher. Hence, my biggest advice to incoming freshman is to find a teacher review site, or talk with people, and find out about the guy before you take a class with him.
i've probably flushed two semesters worth of classes down the ***** because i ended up with teachers i hated - masterren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Actually, a lot of schools have operating systems classes.
- ravuya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I refer you to his original post:
"So you will be learning 50% language programming using java, *C++ or other*;" - BitwiseMcgee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8YES.
This is too damned true. The most popular course at my uni is a comp graphics course, just because kids get excited, thinking they'll make quake or something. do you know what that class has? projects that make you basically write what opengl does, ie: line, circle, and polygon drawing algorithms. low level stuff, but it gives you a damn good perspective onto the science of computer graphics. - catoutfit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"if your planning on going..."
"you're" obviously not planning on going to university. ;) - killrgorilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7they forgot the part about averaging 6 hours sleep a weeknight with a job and hw, while attending cs classes that are 10% female at best.
- Brian48216, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Every kid who wants to go into CS as a major should read this.
Too many people going into CS programs without a flying *****'s idea of what they're doing. All they wanna do is make video games, and have no clue what they're getting themselves into. - speel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Man i wish i wasn't horrible in math.
- bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You're ahead of the game bro if you already know some syntax and haven't even been to college yet. I think you will have a number of advantages going into school, for one you will probably already know how to write code, save it, compile it, and get it running. Second when a teacher explains why a particular practice is a good practice, you'll have your own knowledge so that you can say "oh wow so THAT is how I should be doing it."
My advice though is to remove any chip from your shoulder that you may have. I went to school with a lot of kids who had experience before starting out, and it gave them a massive attitude. The funny thing was that the never bothered to really pay attention and alot of them wound up failing. - bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You didn't offend anyone, but you sure sounded like a retard.
Projecting your own personal experience in one office onto a web = failure. - BitwiseMcgee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6my uni uses solaris in the cs labs, and in OS2 we write an os as a group project. in systems programming, we write programs that run sans an OS on x86 machines.
Of course, I see you're point, I'd certainly not attend a school's CS if they strictly used windows... - j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Software Engineering is the best job in America (as pertaining to that article). Computer Science is NOT Software Engineering. They are two different degrees and two different principles. With that said, you may have some courses on Software Engineering while persuing your CS degree (because BSE is not as common in Universities/Colleges as BCS programs are).
- Massif, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Agreed with j_bellone. Software engineering is great.
@bpapa: If you take Software Engineering at an accredited University you get a Bachelor of Engineering. At least that's how it is in Canada. - pagemaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I think someone needs to find an article on Computer Engineering as well. I think there is some confusion as to what they both do and the differences between them. Can anyone suggest any good colleges for Computer Science or Computer Engineering; I'm considering them as possible academic majors.
- comeonpriitk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I agree that it's not all programming, but I think the author kind of deviated.
Some advice to anyone considering taking CS, glance over the topics on this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_mathematics - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I remember taking Discrete Math in college. I went in and bought a $100 text book, opened the first page, and was slightly shocked to discover this line among the author's notes:
"Discrete Mathematics will probably be the hardest math course you will ever take in your life."
Needless to say I dropped out of it on my first try, failed on my second try, and finally passed with a B on my third. That was one of the reasons why, even though I completed my Computer Science degree, I never actively searched for any programming jobs after graduation and just sort of went into a mostly unrelated area in Quality Assurance.
Programming is definitely not for everyone, which I think is what the point of the article demonstrates (though for some reason the guy just decided to focus on describing what a linked list is, for god knows what reason). It's not all about programming. In fact, it's MOSTLY not programming. The whole point of Computer Science as learned in college is theory, theory, and more theory, and using programming as a demonstrative way to IMPLEMENT that theory in semi-real-world application examples. (EX: Using all the theoretical science you've just learned, write a piece of software that can efficiently run a large parking lot, and have it ready by next Monday!) - dangerboy13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The focus on a certain language doesn't mean anything. My university uses Java as the main object oriented programming language as well, but the concepts work for many different languages (and the syntax has a lot in common with C++). I just took Discrete Math (which was a bitch) and Organization of Programming Languages (which was pretty dry and boring, but I got to work with a few functional languages such as Prolog and Lisp). CS requires a lot of work and quite a few late night (especially if you are a procrastinator like me), and a lot of people don't realize that.
- spadin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Computer Science isn't hard in itself. What's hard is sitting in a large lecture hall with more than 200 students at 8am learning discrete mathematics with a professor who chooses to use an overhead projector instead of a regular computer projector and speaks with an extremely heavy foreign accent. That's the hard part!
- jjafuller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+410% female? Per class? You had it good! Our program had less than 10% admittance total. There would be maybe one female in the class, and they were always androngenous (sp).
- schnitzi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5>That means 90% of the class went into Computer Science because they either liked computers or didnt know what else to choose.
Bzzzt. That 90% of the class went into Computer Science because they heard there was a lot of money in it.
These people are the enemy. They waste my time and yours by sending resumes and occasionally scoring an interview. Educating them as to what computer science is all about is a bad idea. - dbxz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4here u go http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/compscie_vs_compeng.php
- j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ugh. This is so true.
- dbxz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3yup math is a pain...
- energeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I am one of the guys who is interested in taking up computer science. My problem is that I know quite a number of languages, but I am not very good at complex data structures, sorting, searching and math related to CS. Can anyone suggest good books explaining any of these. Wikipedia is there ofcourse but having a book in the hand which you can read naytime is much better. And please recommend relatively modern books, I hate old books which teach in Pascal or something. Java/C++ would be good, or even one which teaches in a language neutral way.
- olliholliday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3the course i did in the UK didn't teach a language at all, there was a module in the first year to test your programming skills with java but there was no tuition on it - it was expected since you're doing a course in CS.
- xamox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5That pretty much sums it up. I almost have my Software Engineering degree, one more semester. When I seen that article I was super pumped. I'm already ahead of the curve.
If people are curious about interrelated degrees, the best example I've seen goes something like this.
Keep in mind that each field that is side by side overlaps the other in some parts.
[Hardware] (Electrical Eng.) (Computer Engineering) (Computer Science) (Software Engineering) [Software] - graememc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@arthur
Weiss is an excellent author. I found his "Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java" top notch. He does a good job of explaining algorithms without falling back on complicated and verbose "mathematical" definitions. Highly recommended. - matts0344, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What are you talking about? Of course they have OS classes. I know mine does (and I'm not even a CS major, I'm ECE). Also, don't most Universities use Unix or Linux along with Windows?
- barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3yes. However these people rarely understand what computer science is all about. For them a paycheck is a paycheck, and instead of actually researching something that they would like to go to school for they just pick the one major that they think will make them enough money to survive.
- bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Does that still happen though? When I started out in college everybody and their mother was taking CS. By the time I graduated though, enrollment in that program was on the decline.
It's funny because most of my friends from my CS program that I graduated with HATED what they were doing by the time we graduated, and now having nothing to do with programming. - Sublimefly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I would digg it but this guy is talking college and computer languages. Yet he has 101 mistakes in his english. No Digg
- j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If you know what you're doing you should not need to prove to anyone else. I agree with the above, do not go to school with a chip on your shoulder, and don't be arrogant towards other people. I am a firm believer of learning what you can on your own. In this field though, its unfortunate that a lot of people are in Computer Science when they should be in Information Management or Information Systems. But I suppose you will learn that as soon as you start college (as will they, usually after a few semesters).
- j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Like I said, the Software Engineering degrees are just starting to go mainstream. The main problem is that it is not yet being recognized as an enigneering profession (in the United States). There are not many colleges around here (Northeast), but you're most likely going to find the degree programs under the Engineering colleges and not the Computer colleges. The other path would be to get a Computer Science degree, and then go for a Masters in Software Engineering (which many Univerisites/Schools have). This is the route that I have chosen to go.
- yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2dugg.
There are too many people who think that computer science is about how to use personal computer in a geeky way.
Too many people who think that mathematics is about how to add numbers like mad.
Too many people who think that visual arts is about how to paint a picture of an object exactly like photographs.
Too many people who think that all scientists look like Einstein. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I still think it's BS they made us take 3 credits of Microsoft Word and 3 of Computer Fundamentals (as if we don't know what a mouse is). I like to think someone wanting to learn computer languages probably knows that a keyboard is an input device, and Ctrl+B makes stuff bold in Word. Maybe I just go to a sucky school. I heard Operating Systems classes in other schools have them compiling their own OS. Where my OS class is taught by an old lady who has us installing xp, 2000, 98, and dos and knows nothing about Linux or Apple...
- dpk87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2mmm.. all too true. I think its a requirement for professors to have heavy accents and fly through material at the speed of light.
- arthur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The first edition of this book was very helpful to me when I was learning to write software:
Data Structures and Problem Solving Using C
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/020161250X/104-2798382-9215131?v=glance&n=283155
It seems you can get a beat up first ed. for $1.36:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805316663/104-2798382-9215131?v=glance&n=283155 - j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The main thing to understand though is Software Engineering is -NOT- Computer Science. Read the Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering
"As of 2004, in the U.S., about 50 universities offer software engineering degrees, which teach both computer science and engineering principles and practices." (form Wikipedia) - sk545, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2it all depends on which school you go to. Some might be quite heavy on languages, while others concentrate on theory and math. Guess, just find a school to your liking and get a degree. Cause, thats all that really matters. Later, do what you really want to do with CS.
- d1gger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4And to think that you will likely never use any of those things you struggled through in any of your 4-5 semesters of Calculus at any time in your career...
- saddad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I did Math/CS. Ring theory was a bitch.
- vanlandw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah....you are 100% correct jja. Even in IS at our college 10% would be "pushing it"...and even then all the chicks were pretty undesireable :-(
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They forgot to mention how you sit at your computer day and night, weekdays and weekends, trying to figure out the program that's supposed to weed you out.
- malignatus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sounds like you got a crappy school. I'm about to graduate from a state school and the most primitive class with more than two credits (i.e. not a introductory seminar where you just sit and listen about the work being done in the department) in my curriculum was programming in C with Linux as the target environment. You can pretty much graduate without touching a Windows box. (One instructor provided us with a .doc specification and required that changes were tracked a la Word, but that was it.) We didn't compile an operating system in my Operating Systems class, but we did code to learn about the concepts, like a threaded client-server program to learn about interprocess communication. We do, however, have to write a compiler for our Compiler & Translator class. People were dropping like flies this semester.
- stupidclese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Discreet math is pretty tough, but discreet 2 is a snap. No proofs, all graph and tree theory.
- stupidclese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Computer sciece may not, by definition, be the same thing as software engineering, but who do you think gets all of these software engineering jobs? It is the guys with computer science majors of course. As for engineering in general, who cares if they ever consider it a real engineering? Engineers have a tendancy to be arrogant pricks about who they will or will not let in to their little club. I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer and he draws a distinction between what he calls "real engineers" and software guys. That's all fine with me as long as I still make more money than he does.
- Ellsass, on 11/05/2008, -0/+2@automagically
Crappy school. At my school (private, engineering/science-heavy) our first semester included comp sci 1 (C++) and CAD and it got more and more complex from there. Knowledge of Word and even the ability to learn applications quickly was just an understood pre-req. - Ben1220, on 05/25/2009, -0/+1I agree, people need to realise that computer science is a proper academic field, like physics, chemistry or philosophy, that requires a strong mathematical foundation, its NOT about learning how to use computers.
Many people getting a computer science degree would probably be better of with a degree in information systems or informatics... - mproberts, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The point of the whole battle between software engineering is to go beyond the ridiculous rhetoric, you don't need a software engineering degree to write software, it is a buzzword in most cases used to label employees. The reality is that computer science focuses more on theory, pure mathematical abstraction, that might be the way for you to get where you want to be. Software engineering might be right for you, maybe you are more concerned with the design of the system and the elegance of the implementation. Both are admirable choices but they are choices just the same. No one is successful because of what their degree has written on it and that is more certain today than ever before with the poor quality of education as it stands. Don't just look at the artificially inflated entrance averages used to pump up admissions to new programs and don't listen to rhetoric coming straight from governing bodies which stand to gain from your interest in a specific area.
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