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I'm starting school in January and I was wondering if anyone has any advice for me? I want to do software development and have been studying quite a bit before school comes. Any advice or tips from other programmers would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm probably not the best to give advice regarding college (I *ahem* left after two years, and haven't really looked back), but I do wish you the best of luck.

The one thing I can suggest is to go to class. ;)
 
codesplice said:
I'm probably not the best to give advice regarding college (I *ahem* left after two years, and haven't really looked back), but I do wish you the best of luck.

The one thing I can suggest is to go to class. ;)
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Thanks! I plan on it :D I'm very interested in the topic (I guess you have to be if you're going 4 years). I originally wanted to do automotive but became a lot more interested in computers :)
 
When it comes to tech classes especially, don't expect the prof's to be up to date. You will have to push them as much as they push you if you want to be an employable prospect at the end of it. Remember that if you are in it for the full degree, you'll be finishing up four years after you started. Think about it ... that's the difference between Eclair (2.0) and KitKat (4.4).

Also, try to get as much real-world experience as you can with established companies, even if it's just emptying trash cans. Don't wait for an internship.
 
I started out as a Computer Engineer but quickly found out that I did not like programming so I switched to Civil Engineering.

I can tell you right now you will find out whether you like programming or not pretty quickly lol. I always took a lot of notes in those classes though and it seemed to help me out a lot when it came to creating my own programs on C++
 
Digital Controller said:
I started out as a Computer Engineer but quickly found out that I did not like programming so I switched to Civil Engineering.

I can tell you right now you will find out whether you like programming or not pretty quickly lol. I always took a lot of notes in those classes though and it seemed to help me out a lot when it came to creating my own programs on C++
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I started out as a CompE and found out I hate EE with a passion...
 
lunatic59 said:
When it comes to tech classes especially, don't expect the prof's to be up to date. You will have to push them as much as they push you if you want to be an employable prospect at the end of it. Remember that if you are in it for the full degree, you'll be finishing up four years after you started. Think about it ... that's the difference between Eclair (2.0) and KitKat (4.4).

Also, try to get as much real-world experience as you can with established companies, even if it's just emptying trash cans. Don't wait for an internship.
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Thanks for the advice! That is very true, technology is always changing.
 
Same here, I hated EE so bad. I did aerospace engineering, but I did enjoy my programming courses. Unfortunately I had an awful professor, and because it was a common final among all the classes, I went from a 98 to an 83 Because he didn't teach us the material that was on the final, but signed off on the questions anyways.
 
I have a friend that went for programming and after a year he decided he hated it so he switched to networking. Lucky for me he still had his books and gave them to me :D
 
AntimonyER said:
Same here, I hated EE so bad. I did aerospace engineering, but I did enjoy my programming courses. Unfortunately I had an awful professor, and because it was a common final among all the classes, I went from a 98 to an 83 Because he didn't teach us the material that was on the final, but signed off on the questions anyways.
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I hope I don't get stuck with a bad professor :eek:
 
Just so you know, my grandfather has engineered machine parts that were used by NASA in early lunar satellites. My brother has his doctorate in physics from Brown and has about 20 patents to his name. I went to art school. :eek:
 
I started out interested in Nuclear Engineering, but I hated thermochemistry and mechanics in my beginning chem and physics classes, and I loved the FORTRAN class (even though it was FORTRAN). So I switched to Computer Science and didn't look back.

My advice, especially if you live on campus (as opposed to living at home with parents), is to go to bed at a reasonable hour every night. Going to class each day isn't helpful if your brain is fried from lack of sleep. And when you're in a STEM field, you need your brain. Staying up really late on Fridays and/or Saturdays make it harder to go to sleep at a reasonable hour on Sunday, which ruins your Monday classes. If you live with other college age students (dorm, frat, or off campus apartment with roommates), there will be a lot of temptation to stay up late. Resist it as best you can.
 
big_z said:
I started out interested in Nuclear Engineering, but I hated thermochemistry and mechanics in my beginning chem and physics classes, and I loved the FORTRAN class (even though it was FORTRAN). So I switched to Computer Science and didn't look back.

My advice, especially if you live on campus (as opposed to living at home with parents), is to go to bed at a reasonable hour every night. Going to class each day isn't helpful if your brain is fried from lack of sleep. And when you're in a STEM field, you need your brain. Staying up really late on Fridays and/or Saturdays make it harder to go to sleep at a reasonable hour on Sunday, which ruins your Monday classes. If you live with other college age students (dorm, frat, or off campus apartment with roommates), there will be a lot of temptation to stay up late. Resist it as best you can.
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Thanks for the advice! You're right about the temptation of staying up late. I plan on putting school first and friends/social life second. This is probably the most important thing I will ever do with my life so I don't want to take a chance of ruining it.
 
Oh, one other thing. Assuming you do computer science, you will probably have some programming-heavy classes (likely with weekly program assignments), some classes that are more theory related, and a few classes that are a mix of theory and programming.

Programming assignments can be notoriously hard to time budget. Hell, I've been out of college for 10 years and I still struggle with estimating how long it will take me to do a task. I had one assignment where I ate, slept, went to classes, and all the rest of my time was spent on this assignment. For 10 days straight.

Don't take more than 2 heavy programming classes if you can at all avoid it. If you've got some other demanding classes (a hard science or math class, say), you might want to limit yourself to just 1.
 
big_z said:
Oh, one other thing. Assuming you do computer science, you will probably have some programming-heavy classes (likely with weekly program assignments), some classes that are more theory related, and a few classes that are a mix of theory and programming.

Programming assignments can be notoriously hard to time budget. Hell, I've been out of college for 10 years and I still struggle with estimating how long it will take me to do a task. I had one assignment where I ate, slept, went to classes, and all the rest of my time was spent on this assignment. For 10 days straight.

Don't take more than 2 heavy programming classes if you can at all avoid it. If you've got some other demanding classes (a hard science or math class, say), you might want to limit yourself to just 1.
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Thanks! I'm known for trying to handle too much at once and letting it stress me out so this is very good to know. I really appreciate this!
 
I started out going to community college towards computer programming. I soon realized, too much math (calculus, trigonometry) involved, so I didn't major in that. What I did find to my liking and enjoyed was Data Processing, now called MIS. The Management Information Systems major seeks to develop information systems analyst skills through development of solid business acumen and technical fundamentals. It's usually part of a University School of Business program.
 
saptech said:
I started out going to community college towards computer programming. I soon realized, too much math (calculus, trigonometry) involved, so I didn't major in that. What I did find to my liking and enjoyed was Data Processing, now called MIS. The Management Information Systems major seeks to develop information systems analyst skills through development of solid business acumen and technical fundamentals. It's usually part of a University School of Business program.
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I love math, it has always been my best subject :D I'm starting out at a community college and then transferring to University of Texas in Arlington
 
If you like math, then majoring in computer science shouldn't be an issue for you. I started college around age 35 with a family, while also working, I wanted an easier major. MIS fit me pretty good, though I never got my bachelor like I should have.

Offtopic:
I was visiting a nephew who live in Arlington area this past August. I enjoyed the area and thinking about moving there in the near future. I know a few people who live in my area went to school in Arlington. Good luck with it.
 
Programming will seem overwhelming at first.

Then you will think you know everything and piss off the older programmers

Then it will go back to seeming overwhelming.

Then you wonder why those young whippersnappers think they know everything.

Then you will wonder why you never started that retirement fund and where all those grey hairs are coming from.




Then comes Tuesday.
 
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