Computer Science: So, what's it like?
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Computer Science (Programming) is for hardworking lazy people. You work very hard to create a program that will do the work for you. If the job is repetitive, you are doing something wrong. If you've already written it, you should never have to write it again. Don't rewrite, reuse. The general set of skills learned can be applied to a wide range of activities (process control, video games, report processing, web pages, etc.). So if you get bored, there are plenty of other programs to write.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11
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You might consider still majoring in ME, but look at a career path that leads more to the controls/SCADA side. Take CS type electives so you will be ready. I am sure that just about anything complicated that is built in ME has a computer attached to it. Heck, even new bridges have monitors and computers built into them to collect stress data and the like.
Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to look out for such modules next year, when we start to pick a few modules. ME is rather broad so there must be something for me. It's probably just that the first year is the most boring and that I hate one/two lecturers/modules...or I'm just being a, y'Know.
Hassan
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tom1443 wrote:
be prepared to learn and relearn lots of things every year or two
Learning's a never ending process and when you do learn something new, you feel pretty good about it, well, for a short while. "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young, but becomes constantly more valuable regardless of physical capacity"-Harvey Ullman
Hassan
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Software development ain't boring. It also ain't any easier than ME (or EE, or CHE, or PHYSICS). It depends on what you like to do. If you are an analyst type you will like doing software development. Any career path has it's repetitive aspects to it. In software engineering, though, you write libraries to beat that. However, if you're going to be a successful software engineer (or any of the others) you're going to have to LOVE it. Your first several years (decade) might not be at a very high salary as you learn the ropes. I've been writing code for 35 years and I still LOVE doing it. I was told by a senior S/W engineer that I would get tired of it. Sorry Carol ... you were WRONG! Whichever of the disciplines you choose is going to have to really "light your fire" in order for you to have the energy to excel with it. If you're not inspired by the work (I.E. you're only doing it 'for the money') then you're going to be far more likely to join the ranks of the unemployed during a recession such as is going on now. -Max :D
Max Peck wrote:
If you're not inspired by the work (I.E. you're only doing it 'for the money')...
Ugh! I would never do that, enjoying the work is much more important than the salary-as long as the salary can provide the basics, that is. Why is why I'm not sure if ME is the right job or something in the programming/computing field.
Hassan
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I'm not sure how things work in your university, but it may be possible to keep your Mechanical Engineering major and get a Computer Science "minor". It sounds like you really enjoy programming (which is great), but for some reason you did pick Mechanical Engineering as a career, probably because you also really enjoy making things. I am a strong believer that good programming skills are applicable to just about ANY career. So, if you can just trudge your way through ME, but pick up as many programming courses as you can, you may be quite qualified to do a wide variety of work. BTW, I don't care what major you take: you WILL have many courses that are boring (to you), tedious, difficult, and probably not applicable to real life. Suck it up. As for your job being repetitive, sure, there are meetings and documentation, but generally, as an Electrical/Computer/Software Engineer (and I know it's the same for my Mechanical counterparts where I've worked), no day of work is the same as another. Every day brings a new and exciting challenge. I might also suggest that you try to spend as much time as you can doing internships, "co-op" jobs, and other work outside of a university setting. This will will give a better taste of what things are like, plus it will help a lot to get a job when you graduate. Stuart
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I started out doing Aerospace Eng. but switched to Comp Sci after 1 year. Basically I spent most of my time in the 1st year programming games etc as a hobby and fell behind on the engineering coursework etc - of which there was A LOT. For me, it was a smart move - computer science in comparison to Engineering was generally a breeze - there was about 60% the number of lectures and coursework to do, and for me it was all easy and stuff I mostly knew. It covered various advanced topics and specialisms in the 2nd and 3rd years which kept me interested and broadened my knowledge, but I never felt pressured doing something I was not interested in. In retrospect, in some ways it did not discourage my lazy tendencies, which could be a bad thing. However, if I had continued down the engineering path, I might have become overwhelmed and depressed and totally failed... who knows? If you feel you could overcome and become very hardworking and dedicated enough to get through engineering that would probably be a great thing, but if you feel it is getting you down, then a switch to Comp Sci is probably just what the doctor ordered :-) PS... As a follow up, 10 years after I graduated from Computer Science I am a seasoned software developer and enjoy my work. I moved to New York about 7 years ago from the north of England (where I'm from originally) where it is reasonably easy to find software development work as long as you are good, passionate and interview well. Not sure how this might compare to the UK as a whole, but New York is probably similar to London. As a side hobby I still write video games (published my first completed game for the iPad last year) There's not usually that much money in the game industry, unless you are lucky, which is why I have not made it my main career focus.
modified on Monday, January 17, 2011 10:31 AM
Because of the whole applying through UCAS I feel I might be a little late in changing course for 2nd year, unless it's different if you stay at same uni. The problem is because ME is very broad, I'm not totally show where I'll be in 5 years from now and if I'll enjoy it.
Hassan
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I initially thought I was going to enjoy ME, which is why I chose it. Then since last year of college I couldn't decide if I made the right choice or not.
Hassan
That's OK. Once you find out what really grabs your attention and imagination, change majors. One of my daughters started out in civil engineering, then switched to geology and geophysics because she really loved them. I think it was a good decision and she lost no real effort. In fact it actually gave her a broader perspective which has served well in her career.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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That's OK. Once you find out what really grabs your attention and imagination, change majors. One of my daughters started out in civil engineering, then switched to geology and geophysics because she really loved them. I think it was a good decision and she lost no real effort. In fact it actually gave her a broader perspective which has served well in her career.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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Thanks for the advice. I'll ask my personal tutor if there are such jobs available for me, though I'm not too sure since I'm only in my first year.
Stuart Rubin wrote:
Suck it up.
This may just be the best advice, ever.
Hassan
Most universities will have some sort of job placement program, and many will have full-fledged "co-op" programs, or internship placement people. As for your experience and under-class status, if you have some good programming skills, many employers will look beyond your lack of coursework. (I know I do.) Be sure to maximize your programming experience as much as possible in your resume. Personally, I would rather hire (or at least bring in for an interview) someone who puts programming as a hobby, had high-school experience, lists programming languages, etc., on their resume than someone who spent years flipping burgers or folding sweaters at the mall!
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I'm currently in my first year of Mechanical Engineering but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy ME after graduation. The reason I didn't pick CS, or something similar, is because I thought it would be repetitive, I'd always be working till early in the morning on a project with an impossible deadline and always on the computer. Now I'm starting to think I should have chosen the computing route. I find the 'materials and manufacturing technology' module in ME really boring but the others aren't all that bad-I somewhat enjoy science, maths and design but I only find half of the physics in them interesting. The other students also seem a lot more motivated for this career path than I do so I'm starting to doubt if I really want to do this. I like programming and enjoyed computing in college, but I really don't want to choose a career path that I'd find boring, repetitive and am unmotivated for. So, I just wanted to know-what's computer science, or a similar career, like and, typically, the course in a UK university?
Thanks, Hassan.
Maybe you should take a look at Computer Engineering
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fat_boy wrote:
I am an ex Mech Aero engineer.
So I assume you're now in the computing field(?) Do you have two degrees then?
Hassan
Yes, I am mostly a kernel developer, and no, I didnt get a degree in IT, I did some post grad stuff with the OU and learnt C on one of those correspondance courses. And after that I just worked at it damnn hard! :)
"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation." Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville
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I'm currently in my first year of Mechanical Engineering but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy ME after graduation. The reason I didn't pick CS, or something similar, is because I thought it would be repetitive, I'd always be working till early in the morning on a project with an impossible deadline and always on the computer. Now I'm starting to think I should have chosen the computing route. I find the 'materials and manufacturing technology' module in ME really boring but the others aren't all that bad-I somewhat enjoy science, maths and design but I only find half of the physics in them interesting. The other students also seem a lot more motivated for this career path than I do so I'm starting to doubt if I really want to do this. I like programming and enjoyed computing in college, but I really don't want to choose a career path that I'd find boring, repetitive and am unmotivated for. So, I just wanted to know-what's computer science, or a similar career, like and, typically, the course in a UK university?
Thanks, Hassan.
Computing doesn't have to be just pushing databases around or tweeking web pages, you can pick your field, whatever you want to do. For me it was games, I spent 15 years in the games industry which was fun, working with artists and musicians, not just us programming nerds! I got in a maths degree, then got into games via a CS Masters (conversion course), which maybe an approach for you.
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I'm currently in my first year of Mechanical Engineering but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy ME after graduation. The reason I didn't pick CS, or something similar, is because I thought it would be repetitive, I'd always be working till early in the morning on a project with an impossible deadline and always on the computer. Now I'm starting to think I should have chosen the computing route. I find the 'materials and manufacturing technology' module in ME really boring but the others aren't all that bad-I somewhat enjoy science, maths and design but I only find half of the physics in them interesting. The other students also seem a lot more motivated for this career path than I do so I'm starting to doubt if I really want to do this. I like programming and enjoyed computing in college, but I really don't want to choose a career path that I'd find boring, repetitive and am unmotivated for. So, I just wanted to know-what's computer science, or a similar career, like and, typically, the course in a UK university?
Thanks, Hassan.
The computer is to Computer Science as the telescope is to Astronomy. The computer is just the tool that allows you to realize the concepts of CS in a concrete manner. Which is why most businesses don't refer to what we do as Computer Science, but as Information Technology. The problems are nearly always challenging, no two days (or problems) are exactly alike, and the pay is usually very good. What's not to like.
Kevin Rucker, Application Programmer QSS Group, Inc. United States Coast Guard OSC Kevin.D.Rucker@uscg.mil "Programming is an art form that fights back." -- Chad Hower