[nfbcs] Computer Science Career Questions

[Vincent Martin]

The typical CS degree will have almost the same Math requirements as any
Engineering degree.  It is a part of the accreditation process.  You will
normally take a Three semester / five quarter Calculus regiment, discrete
math, Linear Algebra and Statistics.  Depending upon the school that you
attend or the option you take, there may be an additional course or so.
If you do an IT degree, you can get by with less Math though.
  

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christopher
Chaltain via nfbcs
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2016 8:40 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Cc: Christopher Chaltain
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Science Career Questions

I wouldn't have thought there would be a lot of math in a CS degree. I 
actually have a Masters in Mathematics with a minor in CS, and all of my 
CS courses were pretty free of math. Maybe that's because I just got a 
minor, or I didn't need the math courses due to my major in math.

I will say that if you go into IT then math will be useful. Network 
addressing with netmasks and all really never made sense to me until I 
started thinking of them as problems in binary math.

I'd agree Linux is a good choice. The cloud runs on Linux, and a lot of 
system administration in the cloud can be done via the command line. 
Working in the cloud will also keep you on the cutting edge and look 
good on the resume.

For programming languages, I'd say learn a good structural language like 
C and a good object oriented language like Java. Also scripting 
languages like Python will come in handy as a system administrator. 
IMHO, once you grasp a few languages, picking up new languages is a lot 
easier, and you'll spend a lot of time just figuring out what the 
various routines are you have available to you.

I'd also agree that the projects you work on are key. Even more than 
that, I'd say internship experiences are invaluable. When I interview CS 
grads, I don't focus much on the course work, since that's pretty much 
the same across the board. I really focus in on any internships the 
candidate has had.

Also, don't overlook what I call the soft skills. Good communication 
skills and the ability to work in a team and work with customers is key 
in today's IT world.

Good luck in whatever you end up doing!

On 04/01/16 18:30, rjaquiss via nfbcs wrote:
> Hello:
>
>       I have a BS degree in Computer Science (1976). It had a lot of math
> courses most of which I didn't find very useful. I would suggest you learn
> C, C++, Possibly C# and Java. You should also know html,  css and
> JavaScript. For sure learn Linux and Windows programming. It wouldn't hurt
> to learn about developing IOS applications for iPhones. I would try and
take
> some robotics courses if possible. When it came time for me to interview
for
> jobs, the thing most interesting to potential employers were the various
> projects I did. I wrote a cross assembler for the Zilog Z80 microprocessor
> and also a cross compiler. The knowledge and experience you gain from
doing
> projects is invaluable. Hope this helps.
>
> Regards,
>
> Robert
>
>
>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail

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