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comp sci degree

R

Ruick

n00b
Joined
Apr 17, 2005
Messages
53
whats the future of the computer science degree? interested in majoring it, but im wondering if its going downhill or not.. due to outsourcing,etc. hows pay and would you reccomend doing it?
 
If you enjoy programming, and you're willing to work hard at the degree, you'll be able to find work. I'm about a year and a half in and I'm really digging it. Except the PC Assembly language class I'm in now. Jeezus. :D
A couple of things that might help you out...
Be prepared to do TONS of math. You'll do...probably a quarter of the curriculum for a math degree. So, if you're at all like me and have a bit of trouble with that stuff, be prepared to go easy on the Jack Daniels and hookers and work your ass off.
Also, this is a feild where WHO you know is arguably more important than WHAT you know. Work hard on your CS stuff, and do your best to stand out to the professors. Try to get a job working in the dept. computer lab, and work up to tutoring. Participate in the local ACM (association for computerized machinery) chapter if you have one, or the CS club if you don't. Doing all this will make you a prime candidate for job references, and especially for internships that lead to solid careers more often than you'd think.
The important thing really is whether or not you like to program. Not sure what your experience is, but you'll either love it or hate it and you'll find out real quick which it is.
Anyway, sorry to ramble but I hope that helps a little. Take that ass kissing and getting internships part very seriously, as it is at least important as just showing up and getting grades. All that said, if you enjoy this stuff the classes are a blast, and the people following this path tend to be a good bunch to my experience. Best of luck whatever you end up doing man.
 
Sunni_Phono said:
Everything is like that pretty much.
Click to expand...
QFT man, it just seems even more so here because nobody will take a chance on the new guy hardly.
Oh, and in answer to the op's original question aside from my rant, I would say every industry just about is suffering a bit from outsourcing, but there are a LOT of computers out there and therefore there are a lot of people needed to write and maintain code for them, so as long as you enjoy it and you can give an employer a reason to hire you, I wouldn't worry about that end too much. Just do what makes you happy and the rest will fall in place. Well, maybe its not that simple but still.
 
The out source thing is due to people who are able to ship lower maintance programming stuff over to india. Anything that requires advanced knowledge in a different field like biology, physics or math will stay here. Quantum computing, nanotech/biotech/ mathematical computation are all fields that will stay in the us.

Also there is one company that can't outsource, the government. So if everything falls through know you have a safety net whether you like government or not.
 
People complain about outsourcing and generally feel threatened cause they only think that that's the only job they can think off as soon as they graduate.

You don't have to be a programmer.

There's hardware in CS .. there's project management ... there's Information Systems ... CS is not software development. Software development is a part of CS. IT is not a part of CS and doing IT after graduating from a CS major is the worst thing you can do after 4 years of hardwork. 5/6 if you do COOP(internship) programs.
 
Just about everything has a computer of some kind now and somebody has to program them.

My first job was because my 3d graphics professor setup a job interview for me which landed me the job. Thus it was a combo of who and what I knew.
 
The government cant outsource? No not political positions, but i hate to break it to you but the government gives out tons of contracts to companies and guess what? The government doesnt care if they outsource all their work. I work for an aerospace company that does about 75% of their business with the government. In 1990 they employed around 14,000 employees at this one location that I work at. They now employ about 4,000. Maybe the government cant outsource but thats becaues the amount of people that are directly employeed by the government pales in comparison to the people that are indirectly employeed by the government (like this aerospace company that I described above). How many engineers do you think the government direclty employs? Very few. If you think that outsourcing isn't a growing trend then you are being nieve. Is it the end of the U.S.? By no means. You are correct you cannot outsource many jobs. But America was built on the backs of the hourly workers that work 40+ hours a week just to make ends meet. Those jobs are easily outsourced. America has no problem giving up jobs as long as the rich are still making money. NAFTA allowed basicly free flow of jobs in and out of the country. Sad thing is most jobs were going out not coming in. The reason Europe doesnt face these problems (though there are some uprisings like the ones in Paris right now) on the scale that we do is because they require that if you are going to perform a governement job that a large percentage of the employees be domestically employed. When people talk about the steak being driven between the wealthy and the poor they dont mean that the poor arent making a good wage for what they do, they are. Thats part of the reason that we are facing this crisis in the coming decades. The thing is there are very few jobs like machining in america anymore because you can go over to china and have the same part made and pay the person .50/hr and they are happy. Think about how much they would have to pay someone over here to work that machine including heath care. The problem isnt lack of pay for middle america it is the lack of jobs for middle america. I am currently a junior studying Electrical and Computer Engineering with a Minor in Computer Science. I read as much information and try to gather as much information about furture job outlooks and talk to people about what they think is best to succeed in engineering. Know what they say? Get your MBA.

http://www.techcentralstation.com/092105B.html

^--- well written article that sums up engineering

/end rant
 
What enlightenedby42 said.

I got my BS in CS in December last year. Screwed around for ~4 months and started looking for a job in April. I started working in the beginning of May as a level I software engineer making 53.1K/year (in Phoenix, AZ).

As long as you have the skillset employers want you shouldn't have a hard time finding a job. Know your CS principles and know how to apply them. And also GET EXPERIENCE using the methods enlightenedby42 had mentioned. Experience working on teams is important because this is how it is in the real world.

And I'm going to go ahead and pimp Agile Software Development and eXtreme Programming. If you do decide to pursue a CS degree I would eventually learn about this stuff. I can't imagine writing software any other way.
 
Also, stuff like .net, ajax, ruby, "enterprise" anything, xml, squl...You may or may not learn that stuff in class, but try to pick it up at least some of it somehow, as all these things are becoming increasingly important.
Nice rant on the outsourcing. I used to have a high paying "blue collar" job in a foodservice warehouse, but got hurt really bad and had to give it up. Loading up trucks full of frozen food is one thing that's technically impossible to outsource right now. But you're dead on about stuff like machine work. Scary stuff...feels like prosperity is catching up to us.
 
And some important principles, some which I wasn't tought in school:

-Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)
-Open-Close Principle (OCP)
-Laskov-Substitution Principle (LSP)
 
mohammedtaha said:
You don't have to be a programmer.
Click to expand...

That's right. I hate programming, but there are a few other options in computer science so I will not change my major.
 
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