Choosing Careers in Technology? 107
Salandarin asks: "Until recently, I was convinced that my destiny involved a degree in CS, stemming from my love of video games. I've really enjoyed what I've found so far, and I enjoy the art of programming and the study of algorithms. However, from what I'm told, more advanced study requires a strong knowledge of mathematics. Mathematics, much like the hard sciences, are not my interest. Although I'm not ready to abandon CS just yet, I'm starting to examine other options. I enjoy the world of technology more than any other, and as such I would really like to stay here, no matter what field I choose. I am specifically curious about jobs that involve some form of journalism, writing, and/or communication, but I'm open to everything at this point. What other careers are available in technology, for a person like me?"
Some Advice (Score:5, Insightful)
Other careers: one which does tech AND journalism! (Score:2)
You might fit into the little niche for writers who talk about upcoming trends in coding and solution development.
We are programmers because we don't like math... (Score:5, Insightful)
The notable exception is most areas of machine learning. ML is for computer scientists who were too smart to be statisticians. The math there can be obscene.
I've always liked that CS isn't rigorously scientific, but not so towards the liberal arts that anyone can get a degree in it. You need to be creative but you need to think about the structure of things. You need to think outside the box, but also work within limitations.
Sometimes CS is engineering, many times it is artistry, in some ways it is a true science, and occasionally there is some math.
The nice part about the math, is once you (or somebody) gets it right, you don't have to think about it anymore. Make it a function, use it a million times, forget the math.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:2)
If you look at Concrete Mathematics [powells.com], isn't it fair to say that discrete math is relatively more important than continuous in a CS setting?
Maybe you don't fret about the what so much, but isn't the why of it what matters?
I've been getting more into math lately because it's useful and almost completely free of the nonsense going on within 'culture' these days.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:2)
Of course, you could be like me, a total math geek but didn't know it in Calc I --- didn't show up until I got past the calculation stuff and did real math.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:1)
Reading that made me sad.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:4, Funny)
Ummm
All I can remember about DifEQ was that it was like the Star Trek of wild ass math - you have a seriously nasty equation that you need to take the derivative of, but nobody on this planet can do it so you get Scotty to beam you to a planet in a parallel time space continua, and in the process the nature of the equation transforms slightly into something you can calculate. You do your math there, get an answer, have Scotty beam you back to Earth and the answer changes form into the Earth form. I believe there were drugs involved in the process, but it was college so we may be talking correlation, not causation.
If the OP sucks at math, he can still do 'computers and tech' but perhaps a bachelors degree in 'software engineering' isn't how he is going to get there. It doesn't take a BS/CS from the Dept of Engineering to program Java or design a network, current HR requirements not withstanding.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:2)
Please, Scotty, lay off! (Score:2)
Sadly, I wasn't required to take it, went down the wrong road of prereqs until I found myself staring at my first F ever. Once that happened, I had to retake it (summer school, similar F) then next year (different instructor, A-)
Math had been fun and easy for me until then. It truly hurt my brain to sit through class, homework was utterly impossible. I had a breakthrough (or
OTOH, you might discover you love math (Score:2)
A BS in Computer Science should be easy to get with only average math talent. Can you get a B in Cal I? You can handle the math in CS. Once you get out, you can probably forget it.
As an EE, there are a couple of things I've noted. I went back to school because I knew I could do it, though I thought the math (and electrical engineering is notoriously math-heavy) was going to simply be a bitter pill that I had to swallow.
With a 52% in Grade 12 math, I went back ten years later and got a 71% in OAC (effecti
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:1)
You just described my Liberal Arts Degree. Advanced thinkers in any field think about these.
Re:We are programmers because we don't like math.. (Score:1)
Re:Some Advice (Score:2)
Re:Some Advice (Score:2)
As for what ki
Re:Some Advice (Score:1)
Re:Some Advice (Score:2)
Ditto. I can't even split the bill in restaurants.
In practice, the only time I've had to worry about math is in determining which algorithm to use and some awareness of how primes work in hashing. I've had to do some permutation and combinatorial stuff, but nothing Knuth couldn't destroy before breakfast.
Re:Some Advice (Score:4, Funny)
COBOL, right?
-1 off topic (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Some Advice (Score:1)
There's always working at Best Buy (Score:1)
If you find you really hate it, and can't tolerate it being apart of what you do everyday than I would suggest journalism. I'm currently considering getting i
Re:There's always working at Best Buy (Score:4, Insightful)
It sounds like you got into comptuers because you liked games and playing around. Then you got into programming and liked some topics and now that you've come up against something hard, you want to pack up your bags and go home to Mommy.
Journalism, like many jobs, is hard work (if done right and well). If you think you love a field, but don't love it enough to go through the hard stuff, the subject is a good line: you can always work at Best Buy.
If you're just starting out and you're going to give up, turn tail, and run from what you think you love because of temporary adversity (it'll be over when you graduate -- you know that), then please, quit now. I certainly don't want you ever working for me.
On the other hand, you can face the Math, get a good tutor, and you might find that it can be different than what you expect. When I worked in education, I found many students hated math because they had rotten teachers and had not done well. They came in with such a poor attitude, they never gave it a chance.
But if you don't want to face some classes that will be over when you graduate to do what you think you love, then start right now practicing the words, "Would you like some fries with that."
Re:Hard Classes (Score:2)
What level of study? (Score:5, Informative)
On the other hand, if all you want to do is program, you don't need that much math. What you get in a typical undergraduate CS curriculum should be enough.
Re:What level of study? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What level of study? (Score:1)
Re:What level of study? (Score:1)
Skip the IT/CIS degrees (Score:2)
Re:What level of study? (Score:2)
Spend some time looking for the 'softer side of CS' in your department. The easiest way to do this is to look at department staff list, and see what each prof has a degree in. If it's Math, Engineering or Physics, they probably believe that CS=Math. I
Structural thinking & complexity vs. math (Score:2)
It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:5, Insightful)
At work, they hand you a pile of poorly written, undocumented code and tell you to fix it. Programming is often not so much about creating something new, but tweaking what already exists.
To translate (Score:3, Insightful)
In real life you got to fix peoples old smelly peeed on wobbly chairs.
In school a mechanic gets to build a car from scrath with the whole class.
In real life you will be changing the oil on cars that never been washed.
In school a nurse... well nurses pretty much know their job is going to suck.
School is nothing like real life. EVER.
As for CS. Lets be ho
Re:To translate (Score:2)
Not to quibble - but I don't think that there is such a thing as a "simple tax change." Especially so when changes to the tax code aren't put into place by the IRS until at or after January of the next year (like the form 8903's were this year).
At my first job after college, I did some programming in RPG at a hosp
You are misinformed. (Score:2)
No. Computational science (computer science is a bit of a misnomer, since computers are just the physical representation of a Turing machine) is loaded with lots of information that is not out of date or wrong.
If you are in a job situation where all that you learn and use regularly is something easy to pick up from a book and changes periodically, you are in a t
Re:You are misinformed. (Score:2)
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:1)
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:2)
But you can get a taste for this; I've done some work as a "support" developer, figuring out arcane bugs in other peoples' code. I find it immensely enjoyable, and it's delightful when you finally figure out the cause-of-problem in some convoluted interaction of multiple bugs.
The only problems with it are the bureaucracy of getting fixes into production systems, and the poor pay. I do developme
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:2)
Students should be required to maintain their own websites. Starting with the basic HTML and CSS until they can implement a content management framework using LAMP, and then keep updating and revising the code with new features as they continue to study programming.
I been going to school part-time for the last five ye
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:2, Interesting)
Working on IBM mainframes, I used to tell people I read manuals for a living. IBM have seriously good manuals.
A little math helps sometimes, but for the vast majority of practical problems the math is done; graph theory and Markov chains were fun, but I never needed them. More important is a feel for what's going on under the covers of your runtime library; Knuth's belief that you really need to s
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:2)
This guy saying he should go into computers becuase he lives in video ga
Re:It's not the math, it's the maintenance (Score:2)
Principle application: reasoning about multithreaded processes. It's HARD. Lots of state machines (yes, finite automata). Another problem, we wanted to prove a tree doesn't deadlock. (Yes, trees can deadlock when parallelism is insufficient. It sucks.) How do we avoid a deadlock?
advanced math? (Score:2, Informative)
Don't dismiss software development just yet. There is much more involved in building good software than mathematics. You might see some beyond-basic math in a CS degree, but in the real world, most of the time that stuff will be useless.
However, the fact that you like playing videogames or find technology amusing is not any good indicator you will like the stuff. The good thing is that you can get your feet wet before you make a decision. There are some introductory books that teach general programming co
Algorithms are mathematics (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm having trouble understanding this comment. First you say that you enjoy studying algorithms... and then you go on to say that you aren't interested in mathematics.
Since these two statements don't really fit together, I see two possibilities:
1. Your idea of what the "study of algorithms" is doesn't match mine. Are you interested in finding new algorithms, analyzing how long it takes them to run, and proving that they work? That's all computer science, and thus a part of mathematics.
2. Your idea of what "mathematics" is doesn't match mine. What exactly do you find uninteresting? If the only things you dislike are vector calculus and complex analysis -- hey, join the club. Fortunately, very little computer science needs those.
Re:Algorithms are mathematics (Score:2, Interesting)
Heh, depends on what you want to do:
If you want to write accounting software and device drivers, then you don't need calculus, linear algebra or analysis. Otherwise, you better get on with taking the upper-division math and psyhics classes. I've been trying to read papers to understand new algorithms and I keep bumping into the problem of the writers using nota
Re:Algorithms are mathematics (Score:2)
Not so easy (Score:4, Informative)
On the other hand, programming, by itself, is not really worth all that much as a skill by itself outside the actual field of CS. Somebody who only have skills as a programmer is not going to find themselves in any great demand. You need to have something else that is relevant for the business field you will find yourself working in. A "programmer" is always going to lose out to a "[chosen field skill] with documented programming skills".
What I mean is, if you aim to work with programming in, say, the financial sector, then having a solid, documented skill set in economics or revision wil be at least as important as programming skill. If you're aiming for some technical field, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in subjects relevant to the field, whether it means a degree in chemistry, mechanical engineering, combustion physics, medicine or whatever. And always, always, "people skills" matter and are important, no matter what field you choose, since you will always be dealing with people.
Programming skills are a lot like mathematical skill. for most fields, it is a tool, not an end in itself, so you need to know your target field first and foremost. The lone exception is if your chosen field is CD (or mathematics) itself, but then you need to go a a lot deeper into the field; a doctorate will not hurt at all at that point.
Got paradox? (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, if you don't want to get into that field but do application development, then you don't need any more math knowledge than what the basic undergraduate degree will get you.
Re:Got paradox? (Score:2)
From the little I've seen, it may be more accurate to say "graduate-school level math". Simulating the real world does have its drawbacks.
Re:Got paradox? (Score:2)
I guess what I'm trying to say is just that even if you're not uber strong in math, you can still work in the games industry... you just probably won't end up working with the rendering guys. There's a lot mor
Re:Got paradox? (Score:2)
Hey, what's going on here?
I thought "co-op" was an American thing. I'm American, and when I went to college for engineering (92-98), I did 4 co-op terms. "Co-op" was a commonly-used term back then, and I knew many other students who did co-ops, and everyone I went to school with knew what it was.
Now, I'm on the west coast, and we have students doing semester-long "internships" at my megacorp. Nowhere do I hear the term "co-o
Re:Got paradox? (Score:2)
Re:Got paradox? (Score:1)
Agreed with your post. Even just in designing the mechanics of a game, you will most likely want to use some kind of mathematics to help you out
You're in the wrong field (Score:5, Insightful)
The hacker spirit is an undying desire to know; a hacker never settles for 'black box' explanations or shies away from knowledge because it's too hard.
What confuses me most is how you reconcile your proclaimed love for algorithms with your disdain for mathematics: that portion of CS, more than any other, is pure mathematics. I ask you to check your claim and trying to read, and more importantly grasp the essence, of Knuth's "Art of Computer Programming" without a strong background in mathematics.
I ask you to check your claim and try to design, and truly understand the workings of, a simple full adder circuit without a fair knowledge of quantum mechanics.
Without a love of physics and math you can never become more than a code monkey, the desk jockey equivalent of a construction worker, who can put pre-assembled bits and pieces together but will never gain any true mastery of the material or progress above the millions of other mindless bromides.
KBr (Score:1)
Unbeknowst to me, potassium bromide was used as a sedative; its meaning expanded to included sedative men: dullards.
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. There are plenty of good programmers who dislike the hard sciences and mathematics. As long as you know the algorithms, the data structures, the programming languages, and the APIs, and you know which tool to use at the right time (e.g., don't bubble sort a list of records stored as arrays when a mergesort or quicksort would do [we're talking O(n^2) [slow] performance compared to O(n log n) [much faster] performance, any programmer worth anything should know this]), then you should make a good programmer. You don't need to be Donald Knuth to be a 1337 programmer (although all of that CS/math knowledge surely helps).
However, you can't be a good computer scientist without an understanding (or at least appreciation) of mathematics (especially discrete math), and to a much lesser extent, physics, depending on the subfield. A good programmer, for example, knows that bubble sorts are slow compared to divide-and-conquer sorting algorithms. A computer scientist, however, not only knows these facts by heart, but also should be able to analyze those sorting algorithms and give big-O notations of their performance. If you want to do something such as computer graphics, then you'll need to learn calculus, linear algebra, physics, and graphic design. Quantum computing requires even more physics (to understand what a quantum computer is) and math to figure out how to write quantum algorithms. Numerical analysis requires extensive knowledge in continuous (non-discrete) mathematics, and the list goes on....
Another point: programmers may not be computer scientists, but I wouldn't label all programmers as "code monkeys"; as if programmers were inferior to computer scientists just because they don't do exercises from Concrete Mathematics every night before they go to bed. (This is coming from a CS freshman whose goal is to become a computer scientist; and yes, I'm a math minor and have a liking for physics). That is a tiny stench of elitism that can get you modded down here. There are many programmers out there that know how to apply computer science knowledge to create fast, small, and secure programs. They don't have to be Steven Wolfram clones, but that doesn't make them "code monkeys", either.
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree.
But I think you'll be hard-pressed to find great programmers who hold Computer Science (and yes, I'm being more specific) in contempt.
(I also think there's no shortage of people who think they're great and hold Computer Science in contempt.)
(And yes, logically speaking in the absense of hard data on programmer quality and opinions of computer science, it's hard to push this point any further because courtesy of the pr
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:4, Funny)
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:2)
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:2)
Re:You're in the wrong field (Score:1)
"The hacker spirit is an undying desire to know; a hacker never settles for 'black box' explanations or shies away from knowledge because it's too hard."
Right? Never settles for black box explanations? You've got what, maybe 40 or 60 years on this planet, you think you're going to work on a large project and not "settle for black box" explanations? That's why languages have modularity, to -empower- you to accept black boxes. Sure, ya wanna peak inside. And when you've done th
Video games (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're going to work in a large video game team, there are less mathematical jobs in the creative and design ends of the work.
If you're looking at journalism, first check out what journalists get paid, then ask yourself whether you'd be content as a superficial and sycophantic copier and paster of press releases.
Re:Video games (Score:3, Insightful)
If someone is mid-way through college on the way to a degree i
Have you considered... (Score:2)
Sysems Analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
Firstly, I have to say that a lot of the comments here should be heeded, Computer Science is a hard science, and is as mathematical as any other hard science, and more mathematical than some. In light of this, you should first think about you're statement that you do not care for hard science or mathematics. You may find that this is not true, instead you may find that what you really find is that you are primarily interested in those areas of mathematics and science which directly relate to computer science, and find it loathsome to be forced into required math and science courses which you do not see as directly related to CS. If this is true, then I urge you to push forward, you will often find that at the beginning of you're education, things seem disjointed. It is not until you near the end of you're education that those disperate elements of you're education begin to form a cohesive whole. If, on the other hand, you decide that hard math and science is not for you, then you should seriously consider changing you're major.
Computer Science is not the only technology related field of study, and it is not the only vector to working in a technology related job. I would say that you may consider looking into Computer Information Systems, which focuses less on algorithms and hard programming, and instead takes a look at how systems work together at a higher level, desiging those systems on that higher level, and resolving computer and business sytems into a cohesive and useful technological infrastructure for business. This will mean that you won't do much hard programming, though there may be some programming involved. Instead, as you expressed a desire for, you're focus will be on communication within a buisness. Writing documentation on the design of the system, interacting with people, departments, managers, and users. You act as a lieson between the developers and admnistrators and the business side of things.
I'm in a very similar situation as to yours, except I started out in CIS and realized that my interest in mathematics and hard science meant that I should have chosen CS instead of settling for CIS as my major. I'm getting ready to graduate this term and I have to say that I would suggest you don't make my mistake, and find the major that really suits you.
If analysis and design does not suit you, you may also consider other fields such as working as a technical writer, a technological reporter, or (if you're evil) working with marketing. There are a lot of areas where people need someone who can act as a translator between technological people and systems and others.
Electronics requires a solid math background (Score:3, Interesting)
If you are interested in technology, there's some fields of study that most computer geeks aren't aware of: Broadcast Electronics Technology and Telecommunications Technology. Both are typically 2 year programs at a technical institute. Broadcast engineers (actually technologists) deals with the installation, repair, maintenance , design of radio, television and video/audio production facilities. Here's a link to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology's (SAIT) website on the Broadcast Technology [broadcast.sait.ca] program with a nice short video.
Telecommunications conjours up ideas of phone systems but it is much more than that. In 1996, a milestone occured in telecommunications. It was the first time that more data then voice was transmitted via the phone networks. Telecommunication is the backbone of the Internet!
Every ISP, MAN or WAN ends up running through the telecommunications system. Computer networking ends at the router where it connects to the phone system, then the data magically appears at the destination router. The movie Warriors of the Net [warriorsofthe.net] refers to the telecommunication's network as the Wild West where networking runs wild with little rules! Quite the opposite is true but it illustrates the point on how little is known about telecommunications from the computer industry.
Every residence, business and government office has a phone system and data communication network that connects to its head or branch office. There is a major convergence going on where cable companies are offering voice service and data service along with their cable service. Phone companies are offering data and video services on their networks including cell phones. It is truly an interesting era!
Here is SAIT's Telecommunication website [telecom.sait.ca] that I am currently updating to include VOIP and PBX labs based on Astericks software. And ys, I am biased as I am an instructor at SAIT teaching these disciplines.
Good luck in your search, I hope that this information opens your eyes to other possibilities.
Re:CS is Mathematics (Score:2)
Me too. It was the perfect thing for me to study, and I enjoyed every bit of it. The jobs you tend to get offered with an MSEE are cubicle design engineering jobs - and you will often see that cubicle for 50-60 hours a week. Did not appeal.
I went into new business development, which requires a thorough understanding of technology and a working knowledge of business, and I love my job.
It bothers me that
Re:CS is Mathematics (Score:2)
I wanted to "do computers" when I was in high school, so that meant CS for me. I, after 3.5 years figured out that CS wasn't my cup of tea.
Professional gamer! (Score:4, Interesting)
And hey, your
"Mathematics" may not be what you think... (Score:5, Interesting)
It is true that you need some good mathematical foundations to truly excel. It is also true that those who never realize this rarely make it much past "mediocre", by my admittedly-high standards. However, the math you need to be good at may not be the math you are thinking.
When most people say "math", they're thinking Arithmetic (the manipulation of numbers with few or no "variables"), some Algebra, and maybe Calculus. These maths are nearly useless for day-to-day programming, unless you are dealing with a clear and obvious exception, like game engine programming, writing a CAD program, etc. This is not to say they are completely useless; at the very least they are brain exercise of a calibre hardly attainable anywhere else, and that's nothing to spit at. But in general, this sort of math is not useful to programming, and you can be borderline atrocious at all three of those disciplines and be fine.
What you really need to be good at is "discrete math", which at best gets mentioned in high school cirricula as "sets" and then ignored pretty thoroughly after that. It's still true that what you do in the classroom doesn't bear much resemblence to programming (I've only had to do something even remotely like a proof two or three times in 10 years of programming), but the things they are trying to test you on do matter a lot. Think of it like the exercises you'll do on a basketball team or something; you're not going to do a lot of running straight to half-court and right back again 20 times in a row in a real game, but it's good exercise. And you can still be good at playing basketball even if you don't do the exercises, but you'll be better if you do.
Some examples of things that the discrete math theory will talk about that I find many people are very weak on:
Re:"Mathematics" may not be what you think... (Score:2)
A tree is a type of graph. More specifically, a tree is a connected forest, and a forest is an acyclic graph.
Perhaps you meant "understanding data structures, in particular whether the graph you're using is a tree or not"?
Re:"Mathematics" may not be what you think... (Score:2)
And in response to the other reply above, yes, a tree is a type of graph but you've missed the point. If an algorithm can be coded over trees rather than graphs, then it should be, as it will simplify the design, and reduce the complexity.
couple of things to keep inmind (Score:4, Insightful)
2. Anything you decide to do will have some difficult parts. That is life. If you keep running away from challanges you will never get anywhere. If you truly like writing programs and figuring out complex algorithms, then you should just stick it out with some math that may not be as enjoyable.
Informatics (Score:4, Informative)
So far the program does not delve into the depths of detail that are seen in many of the other programs. And while knowledge of bits and bytes might help me do my job better, it is more important that I understand the concepts of what clinicians need, and what technology can provide, so that I may bridge the gap between both fields. Instead of Computer Science where you understand a computer as an entity, Informatics allows you to apply knowledge to various fields in ways that experts in one field or another would not find obvious. Consider Informatics to be the jack-of-all-trades degree that allows you to push information technology beyond the "a computer on the desk" mindset and into the future of computer technology.
You don't need the math (Score:1)
If you want to be an academic, then you have no choice
It's not all about the math... (Score:2)
I was never very good at math, never really took any chemistry or biology, but did get into physics and electronics a bit. However, I was insanely into computers. Since then I've done lots of work programming, system and network administration, and all sorts of other computer-related work. A decade ago I started a techn
Re:It's not all about the math... (Score:1, Offtopic)
I was never very good at math, never really took any chemistry or biology, but did get into physics and electronics a bit. However, I was insanely into computers. Since then I've done lots of work programming, system and network administration, and all sorts of other computer
Alternatives to Programming in CS careers.. (Score:2, Informative)
[ an understanding of programming is a huge benefit though. ]
2) Writing Articles / Books on specific topics, such as Administration of Windows Server2003
[ requires a very good knowledge of the subject, as well as excellent language skills. ]
3) Data Base Administration, which requires excellent logic skills, and usually knowledge of sql plus an in depth knowledge of the engine being used.
Systems level, graphics, and game progr
CS and Maths (Score:1)
Interests now != interests later (Score:2)
That would have been a big mistake, since it was not until 2nd year university that I discovered I had a previously unknown interest quite a talent in advanced math, and achieved straight As in all my matc
Re:Interests now != interests later (Score:1)
Since you already have an interest in tech - if you are any good, you'll probably be bored and far ahead of your peers during the
don't need it, probably never will (Score:2)
Three Thoughts (Score:1)
Choose another career (Score:2)
Go be a cop or something.
Network Security (Score:1)
A degree in CS or related and a CISSP makes a good door-opener.
And, there are so many aspects to the field, you can basically pick your fave area and self-train for it to get started and then work up to certification in that specialty.
Am there, doing that, T-shirts not allowed,
T_O_M
Lots of things you can do (Score:2)
Don't, however, give up on a technical path. People with technical backgrounds who can also write a sentence in whih noun and verb agree in number, and paragraphs witha topic sentence, and all that nasty English Comp stuff, are rare. If you like public speaking as well, you're reall
Choosing Careers in Technology? (Score:1)
GPA->0
'Nuff said.
Suck at math, but good in communication? (Score:1)
CS is a basic skill (Score:2)
Mathematics is a broad church (Score:2)
What I found astonished me. The mathematics work I was being asked to do was actually pretty interesting, and could be applied directly to programming. The terrible, terrible calculus problems I'd struggled with in high school all went out of the window. Instead we were studying things like Graph Theory, basic
Not specific to you, but... (Score:2)
What I can tell you is that many people end up working in a field that they never envisioned themselves being in while in college. Perhaps this is not quite as true with highly-specialized technical jobs, but there's always the case where your talent (measured by abilities and experience) will be paramount to your degree. And if y
Re:Advice you won't hear often on slashdot (Score:1)
In other words, if you, as I have been for much of my life, are a big fan of computer games and enjoy amateur programming, do not aim towards working in the tech sector. Why? Because you are moving yourself into a situation where your work and your hobby are the same thing.
I feel that making your passion in life your job is a good idea. An even better ideas is to make it into a business. I know it isn't possible for everyone to do this, but it is m