[shinuko]

Today I visited my Community College Counselor.
She showed me all the classes I would need to get a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science.
My interests are doing computer programming & web design.




Anyone else doing this too??
Are these really all the requirements for the major?
if your currently in college and aiming for the same major, hows it going so far?




Computer Science, B.S. Requirements:

Introduction to Computer Science I, Introduction to JAVA
Introduction to Computer Science II
Fundamental DATE Structures
Introductory Computer Organization
Introduction to Software Engineering
Single-Variable Calculus, Calculus with Analytic/Geometry I & II
Introduction to Linear Algebra, Linear Algebra
Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
Discrete Mathematics: Boolean Algebra & Logic
Critical Reasoning/Introduction to Symbolic Logic/Introduction to Abstract Mathematics
Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Computer Science
Physics & Basic Physics/Labratory

+


Getting General Education Certification Requirements
(60units to transfer to UC)

Communication in English Language
Physical Universe and Life Forms
Arts,Literature, Philosophy & Foreign Language
Social,Political & Economic Institutions
Understanding and Self Development

[bonnie_heart5]

yeap.

or they didnt tell me about JAVA.
I think the one youre mainly into is...computer...network? something like that. :0

[watcher]

it's kinda sad, but most CS programs across universities in the US will never meet real world expectations. heck, none of your coursework even show anything related to web programming. i graduated a few years ago with a degree in CS, and it was tough figuring out how to get ahead in the software engineering field. schools just dont teach you what you really need to know.

if you want to do well within the software engineering field as a web developer, you're going to have to learn some extra stuff on the side. learn about server technologies, configuring and maintaining databases as well as programming practices [optimization and patterns especially]. keep in mind though, that these are dependant upon the language you wish to program in.

for web, there's the big 3: asp, php and java. [and a smaller, dying group of people who stand by perl...hehe] depending on the language you use, it will determine the associated technologies you use. for the most part, if you go asp/c#, you're going to work mostly with .NET and microsoft related technologies. java and php are a bit more loose in what software you use.

most people learn one of these languages and go all the way with it. a handful will learn a 2nd language, but will be strong in just one. there's a growing group of users who are starting to become adept at actionscript as a 2nd language. actionscript is the scripting language for flash. i've been learning a lot of flash nowadays as well. web 3.0's going to come down to a very big change in the way users start to access websites, and adobe/microsoft is leading the way by creating interfaces that mimic flash. [at least that's what i think... IMO]

anyways... im babbling now...
learn as much as you can outside of the classroom. that's where you will do your real learning. college is for fundementals.. like learning syntax, debugging and compiling. what will make you different is knowing how to build real life applications, and not a generic software bundle in some random language. good luck!

[Kuchiyose Mizu]

^woah..Thanks for that..
I'm actually going for this too..
It kinda scared me a little but..I'll try my very best.

[watcher]

^ what's your short term and long term plans for your cs degree?

[masqueraider]

Good luck with that, some professors can be tough on you. I switched my major, but I don't know if I want to give CS another shot cause I gotta cram them and looking at my past record, it hasn't been pleasant with me.

[Kuchiyose Mizu]

^ what's your short term and long term plans for your cs degree?

I'm kinda confused at you question. I'm sorry..
I'm not in the US though, I'll be taking Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Ateneo de Davao University. That's in the Philippines. I'll be a freshman this June. I'm not yet ready, but I'll note your advice about learning outside as well. ^^

[shinuko]

it's kinda sad, but most CS programs across universities in the US will never meet real world expectations. heck, none of your coursework even show anything related to web programming. i graduated a few years ago with a degree in CS, and it was tough figuring out how to get ahead in the software engineering field. schools just dont teach you what you really need to know.

if you want to do well within the software engineering field as a web developer, you're going to have to learn some extra stuff on the side. learn about server technologies, configuring and maintaining databases as well as programming practices [optimization and patterns especially]. keep in mind though, that these are dependant upon the language you wish to program in.

for web, there's the big 3: asp, php and java. [and a smaller, dying group of people who stand by perl...hehe] depending on the language you use, it will determine the associated technologies you use. for the most part, if you go asp/c#, you're going to work mostly with .NET and microsoft related technologies. java and php are a bit more loose in what software you use.

most people learn one of these languages and go all the way with it. a handful will learn a 2nd language, but will be strong in just one. there's a growing group of users who are starting to become adept at actionscript as a 2nd language. actionscript is the scripting language for flash. i've been learning a lot of flash nowadays as well. web 3.0's going to come down to a very big change in the way users start to access websites, and adobe/microsoft is leading the way by creating interfaces that mimic flash. [at least that's what i think... IMO]

anyways... im babbling now...
learn as much as you can outside of the classroom. that's where you will do your real learning. college is for fundementals.. like learning syntax, debugging and compiling. what will make you different is knowing how to build real life applications, and not a generic software bundle in some random language. good luck!

OH WOW!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTELL!
This will help me alot!!

The only concern I have with doing this major is taking all those mathematic classes T_T!
I'm not very good with anything above basic math *sigh*!!!

Also, with all the critiera i would have to learn outside of school would be from like books and looking online right? lol
have to do it on my own time XD?

and for webdesign..
isn't there things you would have to know like.. with adobe and photos hop and digital imaging?

[watcher]

OH WOW!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTELL!
This will help me alot!!

The only concern I have with doing this major is taking all those mathematic classes T_T!
I'm not very good with anything above basic math *sigh*!!!

Also, with all the critiera i would have to learn outside of school would be from like books and looking online right? lol
have to do it on my own time XD?

and for webdesign..
isn't there things you would have to know like.. with adobe and photos hop and digital imaging?

for math, just pass your required courses. i hated calc, especially multivar calc. i got a b+ in it, but i hated it with a passion. the only real 'math' you should be good at is discrete math. they'll help you later on when programming different sorts of algorithms and solving patterns.

also, you're gonna learn a lot outside of school anyways. but i say get a head start and do it while you're still at school. i learned all my important lessons after i graduated, while i was working. i think the best place to start is to ask yourself what you want to accomplish as a software engineer.

for example, if you want to make the visual aspect of a website, you learn photoshop and html/css. maybe learn flash [a lot more sites are going flash-based nowadays].

me, i wanted to get into large scale software applications. it just happened that i hopped onto web-based apps. so i'm learning about server technologies, databases, programming optimizations [large systems can end up running real slow] and some front end skills like flash to build interfaces.

but once you figure out exactly what you want to accomplish, go down the list of things you need to do, and learn each step as you go. make a test website and see what you can do. you'll learn fastest that way.

[hippiehop]

Both my sisters are computer science majors.

One works for ADP http://www.adp.com/

(You see ADP on your pay checks)

And the other one works for JPL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

(which is a research facility for NASA)

One of my friends is a Computational Media (Web Design, basically) major

and she makes like $40 an hour.

[awdark]

^Thats very impressive. Both for being female and the jobs they got.

it's kinda sad, but most CS programs across universities in the US will never meet real world expectations. heck, none of your coursework even show anything related to web programming. i graduated a few years ago with a degree in CS, and it was tough figuring out how to get ahead in the software engineering field. schools just dont teach you what you really need to know.

if you want to do well within the software engineering field as a web developer, you're going to have to learn some extra stuff on the side. learn about server technologies, configuring and maintaining databases as well as programming practices [optimization and patterns especially]. keep in mind though, that these are dependant upon the language you wish to program in.

for web, there's the big 3: asp, php and java. [and a smaller, dying group of people who stand by perl...hehe] depending on the language you use, it will determine the associated technologies you use. for the most part, if you go asp/c#, you're going to work mostly with .NET and microsoft related technologies. java and php are a bit more loose in what software you use.

most people learn one of these languages and go all the way with it. a handful will learn a 2nd language, but will be strong in just one. there's a growing group of users who are starting to become adept at actionscript as a 2nd language. actionscript is the scripting language for flash. i've been learning a lot of flash nowadays as well. web 3.0's going to come down to a very big change in the way users start to access websites, and adobe/microsoft is leading the way by creating interfaces that mimic flash. [at least that's what i think... IMO]

anyways... im babbling now...
learn as much as you can outside of the classroom. that's where you will do your real learning. college is for fundementals.. like learning syntax, debugging and compiling. what will make you different is knowing how to build real life applications, and not a generic software bundle in some random language. good luck!

Im CS and I totally regret choosing this major. But I knew I hated programming from the beginning. They definitely have a different mentality. Its like they can think in a different way.

Anyways, at CSULA we are required to take 2 web classes... one HTML one, and a CS320 making JSP servlets and all that fun stuff. JSP => SQL database ohh how I hated that class. I uploaded the files like 10000 times to test each stage of revision.

16 classes and I can say im finished with something. Thats my goal then ill try to get a IT job or something trivial.

[Raito!]

im graduating with a bachelor in Computer Science this month.

My courses consist of mostly programming and mathematical (including algorithm) class.

In my case, it was pretty intense, sooo much programming yet sooooo little time.
My advice is, don't take a lot of higher level programming class in the future in one single semester because you won't have time for your other class.

for example: in my one of my semester, i took 3 computer science class + 2 liberal art class in 1 semester, sometimes i would have like 2 programs (for 2 csc class) due every 2 weeks if im lucky. I would be given homeworks like, data structure: use link-list to perform 5 functions: delete, append, insert, test with == operator, and some other function i forgot. This hw alone took me more than 1 weeks to do LOL since i was learning it from scratch. It is not as easy as it seems either since you have to write your own code for these functions. In image processing i would be given another hw to do (usually consist of 5 sub programs) quantize an image using n sub-level, clip an image using certain threshold, create histogram, blur an image, and match an image using a histogram. This one took me 2 weeks to do. With both of these classes, i don't have much time for social life and sometimes i run out of time that i would not be able to test my code or even submit it with everything done

but if you enjoy programming you should do computer science.

Keep in mind that the number one rule in programming is don't submit stuff that doesn't compile cause thats like instant 0 LOL, well in my case anyway

Though comparing your CSC requirement with mines, your seems a lot easier O_O

[watcher]

^Thats very impressive. Both for being female and the jobs they got.



Im CS and I totally regret choosing this major. But I knew I hated programming from the beginning. They definitely have a different mentality. Its like they can think in a different way.

Anyways, at CSULA we are required to take 2 web classes... one HTML one, and a CS320 making JSP servlets and all that fun stuff. JSP => SQL database ohh how I hated that class. I uploaded the files like 10000 times to test each stage of revision.

16 classes and I can say im finished with something. Thats my goal then ill try to get a IT job or something trivial.

well, IT consulting is pretty hot, and will stay that way for a while. the company my friend works for was on a hiring frenzy late last year, offering to train for free as long as you had some kind of cs/it background. starting pay was in the 60K range. man... if i had that kind of opp when i got outta college, i woulda jumped. haha

im graduating with a bachelor in Computer Science this month.

My courses consist of mostly programming and mathematical (including algorithm) class.

In my case, it was pretty intense, sooo much programming yet sooooo little time.
My advice is, don't take a lot of higher level programming class in the future in one single semester because you won't have time for your other class.

for example: in my one of my semester, i took 3 computer science class + 2 liberal art class in 1 semester, sometimes i would have like 2 programs (for 2 csc class) due every 2 weeks if im lucky. I would be given homeworks like, data structure: use link-list to perform 5 functions: delete, append, insert, test with == operator, and some other function i forgot. This hw alone took me more than 1 weeks to do LOL since i was learning it from scratch. It is not as easy as it seems either since you have to write your own code for these functions. In image processing i would be given another hw to do (usually consist of 5 sub programs) quantize an image using n sub-level, clip an image using certain threshold, create histogram, blur an image, and match an image using a histogram. This one took me 2 weeks to do. With both of these classes, i don't have much time for social life and sometimes i run out of time that i would not be able to test my code or even submit it with everything done

but if you enjoy programming you should do computer science.

Though comparing your CSC requirement with mines, your seems a lot easier O_O

u know whats funny? after a few years of working in the field, that data structures homework that took you over a week, you would be able to do in a couple hours. it becomes so trivial... it's crazy! haha

[Raito!]

^ exactly cuz once you master something, it becomes easier the second time.

Also as you learn more languages, every new languages becomes easier to learn.
Like since i know java and 15 other languages, i was able to learn PHP + mySQL and be able to develop my own website using OOP in a few hours LOL.

[sentuhmentalfo0l]

i took an intro computer science class and i really liked it
i thought about becoming a cs major
but what stopped me was the amount of math i had to take

[awdark]

well, IT consulting is pretty hot, and will stay that way for a while. the company my friend works for was on a hiring frenzy late last year, offering to train for free as long as you had some kind of cs/it background. starting pay was in the 60K range. man... if i had that kind of opp when i got outta college, i woulda jumped. haha

think that trend will last at least another year? It will take me at least a year to finish this .... major.

[watcher]

think that trend will last at least another year? It will take me at least a year to finish this .... major.

it'll last much longer than that... especially with virtualization and saas on the rise.
the next generation of IT has only begun

[Voltage]

i'm getting my degree in cs this year. I think people or universities aren't not advertising what CS really is. It's not programming, it's not graphic design and computer stuff. The way I have learned it is to approach problems from the mindset of an engineer. I have had 2 programming classes total which illustrates a point. You can learn as many pl's as you want, but there is a right way and a wrong way.

[Raito!]

^ are you sure your degree is CS?

2 programming class is very low, in fact its horrible cuz your not getting any hands-on experience with developing programs.


In my college for my bachelor of science in computer science degree,
40% of my classes are programming based,
25% of it is mathematical/algorithms/logic,
35% is others (liberal arts and science).

I have taken around 40-45 classes

[Voltage]

I got enough from the 2 classes I took. There is so much you can learn from pure programming. Anyways, yes I'm sure that I'm getting a CS degree. My classes are much more math oriented: Algorithms, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Topology, Stochastic Processes, AI, Systems Design...

Anyways, the way it's taught here is that you should be able to learn any programming language in a day. In fact, the transition from the very first programming language learned, LISP, to the lab in JAVA is 3 days.

Anyways, not many teach CS the right way so I'm biased for sure.