Im starting on computer science at university after this summer.
Is there anything special I should look out for or stay away from?
What are your horror stories?
>>54563797
just hope that you're not actually a business major lost in the cs department with over half your class
>>54563797
use large monitors, at least 32 inch, for your work.
dont jerk off to porno, this will decrease your brain function
drive, if you havent started to drive yet, so you can go out and buy the 32 inch monitor
If you can't already, start learning to program
>>54563797
>>54563879
This. If you actually like CS you won't drop out by the 2nd year.
Start programming now. If you're stuck on something read your book or Google, don't just ignore it. Indians smell like curry and BO, avoid classes that are 90% Indian. Don't be stuck-up or pompous and try to outsmart the teacher.
>>54564798
remember you are learning to be used by other people
>>54563797
Have 2 monitors, one portrait, one landscape, this is the most important thing you can do
Make sure you learn to hack mainframes like zero cool, they will quiz you on that movie 9 times a week just to let you know, so watch it.
Prepare for a difficulty curve if you have never programmed before, you will have probably half a year just learning shit like variable types and bullshit easy conditionals and loops, after those you really have to start listening.
Make sure you are prepared for a lifetime of depression too.
>>54564891
>Make sure you are prepared for a lifetime of depression too.
This. The most important skill you need.
>>54564891
>portrait
enjoy you're lack of subpixel rendering
>>54564746
Is there a special reason for monitors at least 32 inches?
>>54565101
don't question the authority, just do it
Work hard, study hard, even the classes that seem like pointless theory with few real applications are worth it. Learn everything, you actually will use it one day.
Also, you're going to think that you have no free time. You do. I look back at college and am amazed at how much gaming and anime watching I did. Enjoy it, but only when your studies are done. I didn't learn how to study until it was almost too late.
Don't get sidetracked by /g/ bullshit either. Mac vs. PC, text editor wars, language fanboying, etc. I spent too much time configuring tiling window managers and it almost cost me failing classes.
>>54565191
Also, get an internship in your field for the summer. Some extra $$$ and the experience are great. It also sets you apart from all the classmates who spend their summer flipping burgers or traveling when it comes time for the real job hunt.
If your curriculum of choice is 'theory' heavy (functional programming, complexity theory, algorithms, calculus, etc.), DON'T fuck around regarding study groups and homework: Stay on top of it! It's a lot more like math than 'programming', and you will NOT have fun trying to bang out assignments the night before ;-)
The theory and math classes will be the most important classes, no matter what you think about them when doing them. Take them seriously.
>>54563797
Go to website: inhousepharmacy.vu
Buy estrofem 2mg and spiractin 100
these drugs will help prepare you for your new life as a worthless programmer fuck toy
>>54565420
That sounds really sketchy, I think I'll pass.
>>54563797
Expect shitty Indian professors with accents you can't understand and a lot of self teaching desu
>>54563797
there is a zen koan about the prince who comes to the zen master...
he wants to know all the memes
so the zen master says lets have some tea
and the prince is rich he already has tea so when the master pours him some tea is overflows and spills all over
and the zen master says you cannot into memes go back to lebbid
>>54563797
Gonna get educated so you can get all those jobs out there?
If you can't already program, start learning NOW. The non-retards who don't drop out is majorly people who could already program.
Remember that you are up against people who have been programming for years, and the classes will move very quickly because they can't just cater to the lowest common denominator and allow the people who actually care about CS to be doing trivial shit.
>>54565224
This. Don't go back to whatever minimum wage job you were doing in high school.
>professor speaking with strong foreign accent
>>54565951
Any suggested sites to learn how to program. I went last semester with no prior knowledge and am retaking the class this semester. I found the hardest part to be creating functions. As in "you need a function that pulls every other instance of the letter 'g' and sorts it into one of these three files depending on what letter follows" or some shit like that. Any suggestions on how to learn to get good with things like that, most sites seem to focus on how to use different special words and assignment operators and left me feeling kinda left out when it came to actually building something. Also my professor refuses to let us use pre-made functions in any language if that helps the suggestion at all.
Two things I wish I read a long time ago are:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/CodingStyle
and cracking the coding interview.
>>54566417
>you need a function that pulls every other instance of the letter 'g' and sorts it into one of these three files depending on what letter follows
write out all the steps you need to solve your problems, then write the functions
example:
1. create count variable initialized to 0
2. read a 'g', if no 'g's are left then you are done
3. check to see if count is even
4. if it's even, then read the next character after 'g', then put it in whatever file
5. if it's odd then do nothing
6. increment count
7. go back to 2
>>54564798
>Don't be stuck-up or pompous and try to outsmart the teacher
This advice is applicable for all situations.
>>54566417
If you've done enough coding, you can come up with the solution pretty quick. This is the only way to become good at it.
>>54566670
What if the instances of 'g' are at an odd position?
>>54566810
then you skip them
since he said he wants every other instance
>>54566810
>See 5
If you're looking for 'g' in odd positions, then swap all instances of 'even' and 'odd'.
>>54563797
>Im starting on computer science at university after this summer.
Unless it's a major university with a highly-respected, rigorous CS program, then you're wasting your time.
Better plans from hardest to easiest:
* Get a real engineering degree. Mech-E or EE.
* Get a mathematics degree. CS is literally babby math.
* Get a linguistics degree. CS minor, or just learn CS on your own.
* Get a business degree with a CS minor. You'll be better prepared to communicate with your superiors, move into management, and start your own business.
* Get a business degree and go into accounting, forget about CS. If you're just "good with computers" then you could easily become the most productive person on your team by actually understanding how to fully use and automate common software.
A CS degree from a no-name university (like mine) is nearly worthless. You could learn pretty much everything useful (structures & algorithms, basic graph theory, not really compilers because that has never been useful aside from understanding edge-case weirdness in C++). Most of the people I graduated alongside were profoundly incompetent. They had virtually zero actual programming experience, and had demonstrated no ability to actually get real work done.
>>54567050
school means literally nothing for CS majors as long as you have a good portfolio
you are making excuses for being shit
>>54567156
This. If Indians and Chinese can do it without speaking English any anybody can do it.
Have a master's degree in cybersecurity, A+ 801 802 C|EH tons of shit and I work writting essays for people in college for about $35,000 ish at this time. I need it certs to get a job pass all of that shit means way more than college. Try to look into learning about bug bounty go to thinkful.com and take their courses in addition to yours. Python is a great thing to start.
Here is my email [email protected] I can send you so many programs or tips on writing an APA format essay as well for your projects if you need help email me thanks
Buy a Mac
>>54563797
avoid any module to do with formal methods. Complete waste of time.
>>54566417
awww mate you are fucked haha.
>>54567156
>school means literally nothing for CS majors as long as you have a good portfolio
You've slightly missed the point.
Knowledge and performance are what matters. The only value in a CS degree is in assuring the employer that you have gone through a rigorous program. The vast majority of CS programs are not, at all. They're mediocre, they cover minimal theory, and they try to be more of a tech school than a computer science program.
The only schools that have any value as indicators are those which are well-known to have a rigorous CS program. Berkeley, Cal-Tech, MIT, Stanford. Probably some others.
>you are making excuses for being shit
1) What compels you to be aggressive and mean spirited like that?
2) How is that even vaguely supported by what I wrote? I'm talking about the actual VALUE of a CS program. If anything, your first sentence agrees with my points.
>>54567497
you still need the degree, even if it's from a lesser school since companies just throw away resumes from people who are "self taught"
>>54567612
what is your job title and description?
>>54567612
>you still need the degree, even if it's from a lesser school
So get a degree in something that school is competent at teaching. A math degree from a no-name school is more valuable than a CS degree from the same school.
As has been stated already, your demonstrated value will be FAR more important once you get past some HR drone.
> since companies just throw away resumes from people who are "self taught"
Given the number of self-taught people I've worked with, I'm going to say that's not entirely true.
Rate my C averaging function:void swap(int *x, int *y)
{
int tmp = *x;
*x = *y;
*y = tmp;
}
int average(int x, int y)
{
if (x > y) {
swap(&x, &y);
}
while (x < y) {
x++;
y--;
}
if (x == y) {
return x;
} else {
return y;
}
}
>>54568032
http://betterexplained.com/articles/swap-two-variables-using-xor/
>>54569128
>Would you really use this?
>No way
>>54565890
What is the original image?
>>54569128
THAT is what you think is wrong with the code?!
>>54563879
>business majors lost in the cs department
holy fuck as a ta for undergrad programming I've never read words more true
Is CIS worthless vs. CS or pretty much the same thing? If I did that + self learning would I be able to do software development or engineering
Also is it too late to learn to program as a Uni freshman?
Do all your programming homework assignments in two languages. If the class is using Java, do them again privately in C++ or scheme or python or whatever. It's a good way to learn things.
Hey, not OP but in a similar situation. I have been programming 6 years and I am about to enter an undergrad program at a good uni (top 20 in the uk iirc).
Basically, I want to go into academia as a career. I like the idea of researching and writing books as well as educating.
Any tips?
>>54570611
so what's the tic-toc for that fucking garbage
>>54570826
the tic-toc?
It should fill out all the necessary forms to change majors.
>>54570808
You have a major advantage by having so much software experience. Supplement it by learning basic logic and proofs. Learn propositional calculus, first order logic, how to do basic proofs, then build up to graph theory, combinatorics, basic number theory and abstract algebra. All this is extremely useful. After you are familiar with proofs move into data structures and algorithms. MIT OCW has a good series on mathematics for computer scientist. Start with those videos and build up your math background
>>54563797
>What are your horror stories?
I graduated top of my class and I am a NEET sitting in my bedroom. No one owes you shit just cause you have a degree.
>>54570840
>>54570854
How long do you think that'll take me to do?
>>54570889
oh yeah sorry long day
actually not terrible, took points of for not learning how to use loops.
>>54570907
>not terrible
It's a travesty
What does terrible look like in your world
>>54567050
He thinks Mech or Elec Eng is harder than a maths degree.
Are engineers really this deluded?
>>54570900
what he said is about 3 (undergrad) college courses worth of material. You can study any of those topics at great depth at a graduate level.
>>54570961
I wish I still had access to the course, once the semester is over I'm locked out.
That assignment was like 4 weeks in, I wish i could show you some of the final projects.
>>54570900
start with Mit Math for CS I explained to you.
Other guy is right about it being several semesters worth of topics. Focus on discrete math
In my humble and honest opinion the hardest degree one can undertake is Physics. Apparently the classes on magnetism and electricity are witchcraft.
>>54571028
>>54570971
Thanks anons
>>54564798
>read your book
Not either anon, should I read my technical books page by page like a novel or skim for important parts and skip a lot? I've been trying to learn C from K&R and want to know if I miss much skimming or not. Also I'm a slow reader.
My advice? ABC: Always Be Coding.
You will sort of learn to code at university,but like others have mentioned, you should know at least a little bit before starting school. Find a free online python course like code Academy and learn the syntax. If you can consistently construct a for loop in your language of choice, I think you're sitting pretty. Don't get comfortable just learning code from classes, there is an absolute ton of literature put there about programming and programming languages that you could easily self-teach programming without going to school at all. But also don't blow off your classes entirely, especially math and higher level theory courses. Learning the right way to do something, is just as important as learning to do it in the first place
>>54571491
It's just fine to skim your first read-through. I usually skim the first time, and then use the book as a reference for when I have questions later
>>54571570
That's what I suspected, even the intro of K&R has me hanging on pages for some reason.
>>54563797
>Ctrl + F ``math''
>Found 11 instances of ``math''
/g/ didn't let you down, OP.
>>54570611
What if two of the numbers are equal
>>54571674
It will still display what the lowest and highest value is, it doesnt matter when it was input.
>>54571048
>gives an opinion about a major he never took
>>54567050
>* Get a business degree with a CS minor. You'll be better prepared to communicate with your superiors, move into management, and start your own business.
Start your own business by getting a business degree? Nothing you learn in school can prepare you to run your own business. I'm not knocking business degrees (I have a master in accountancy and work as a tax accountant) but this line of thinking is silly.
>>54571776
What actually goes on in business majors? I hear people knock them a lot (my grandpa subbed for an MBA professor and was embarrassed by it), but I never knew what they covered aside from basic bookkeeping.
Study hard so you can be replaced by H1B Pajeet slave labour. Eventually the companies will drive the wages for IT staff down to the point where you'd be better off studying burger flipping.
focus on your data structures class. you'll get a job mastering it without knowing other things
>>54571859
>but I never knew what they covered aside from basic bookkeeping.
leadership
business economics
communication & PR
management & corp organization
business law
obviously not 100% of human knowledge in every single one of those areas, but enough to function.
CS isn't the same as programmer
>>54573473
Good luck getting a job James.
What were some of your /g/uys' first internships?
Will start looking for one since my semester just ended, I really hate being a grocery store cashier.
>>54563797
>Is there anything special I should look out for or stay away from?
get an internship or some form of part-time comp sci job. Talk to professors to build up references for a resume.
also when you reach the optional courses try and expand into the weird fields. for instance I took these courses:
Artifical intelligence
intro to databases
web design
pervasive computing
cyber security
all of which were very eye opening and can lead to great jobs. I thought databases was going to be boring as shit but the project and course content made me want to be a database analyst(I am applying at amazon right now).
so you never know try out the weirder comp sci courses.
also be prepared for operating systems design, finite automata, file system design. Those courses are terrifying.
>>54571859
Honestly a lot of fluff. I have an MBA and I think everything covered was pretty fucking useless. My company loves it though...
>>54573956
>What were some of your /g/uys' first internships?
never got a real internship but I got a job developing a website for a biology grad student for $10 an hour.
was fun since I used an MVC-framework and developed the entire website from the ground up in PHP.
only problem is the HTML is a little fucked making some pages not visible to the search engines but other than that the website is in great condition and my boss is happy with it.
>>54573956
First internship was a programmer at a big videogame place (think ubisoft, ea, etc)
>>54574024
> intro to databases
If you have a CS degree and can't use databases, shot yourself.
> web design
Everybody can do this.
> Artifical intelligence, cyber security, pervasive computing
l i t e r a l l y meme tier
>>54574163
>If you have a CS degree and can't use databases, shot yourself.
my school doesn't enforce that it's optional.
>l i t e r a l l y meme tier
end yourself you filthy degenerate
>>54574163
There's absolutely nothing wrong with taking an AI class. It's a very fundamental area of CS. I agree on cyber security though.
>>54574163
>thinking a databases course is how to use database
Hello Rajesh.
>>54574344
Remember, an Introduction to Operating Systems class is how to install and use operating systems as well.
>>54563797
stay away from colleges
and universities
and professors
>>54574132
>>54574083
I think I'll just kill myself
>>54574388
Why?
>>54574163
t. Pajeet
>>54570970
as an EE all the math majors I worked with were intimidated by my major, and I was intimidated by theirs. they're roughly equivalent
>>54563797
Don't listen the majority of the advice given here. The job market for software engineers is only growing, having a CS degree will help you get a nice paying job.
Before you start university try your hand at learning how to program something, using something like codeacademy, the free parts are fine, will help you.
Your first language doesn't matter as once you have the basics down its very easy to pick up another one very quickly. That being said I'd try out Python first on the site as the syntax is simple and forgiving and there's lots of support and documentation online.
I'd recommend taking at least Algorithms I and maybe II on coursera (it's free) and it's taught by the writer of the book Algorithms (currently in its 4th edition) which is used by a lot universities for their undergraduate courses, so you'll have some understanding and be ahead of things. The book and course uses Java so learn that a little as you go.
Learn some functional programming, object oriented programming, a little on databases, brush up on your math.
All of this will greatly help you as you'll want to stay ahead of things as much as possible, that way you'll have more free time to do other things.
Make friends with your professors. Make friends with people that have already done the classes you're doing and ask them about what you should be reading, etc.
As you progress through university make sure you sign up to github and create some software as you go to show potential employers later, take internships at companies when offered or go out and get them yourself, it's very important to have some sort of work experience and a portfolio. Put your GitHub on your resume.
Join stackoverflow and start answering some easy questions, employers like to see this. Yes, really. It shows you know some shit and that you're passionate about programming in your free time.
>>54574517
Also, when you go for your interviews read Cracking the Coding Interview which teaches you the types of problems you'll be asked in interviews. It's basically going to you and the interviewer writing algorithms on a whiteboard, do practice with your uni friends with one person being the interviewer and the other the interviewee.
>>54574397
Because I'm honestly not that good at programming, I just finished my first Data Structures class.
There's easily better candidates than me.
>>54573956
https://youtu.be/YJZCUhxNCv8
>>54568032
what the fuck?? whats wrong with adding x and y together and dividing by two?? also that shit wouldnt even be right because youre returning an integer when the average could be a float
>>54574535
>Because I'm honestly not that good at programming, I just finished my first Data Structures class.
neither am I. I didn't get a web dev job until my 4th year at college and even then the HTML I made was fucking terrible I only really succeeded on the PHP and database end. I did get lucky in that my boss was lenient as all hell (I got ER surgery, had a few delays in coding due to unforeseen shit coming up and a bunch of other bad shit).
also I highly recommend an internship since you will have a person knowledgeable in the area teaching you the ropes.
Doing that web dev job I had no one to go for help other than google searches and my boss saying it looks good or looks bad.
>>54563879
Can someone seriously explain this for me, I don't understand or get it. (English not first language but I am attending university next year as computer science major in United States as well).
>>54571859
I have an accounting degree which is different than a straight business degree (I'm not even sure my school offered those, I think you were supposed to pick a concentration).
I had a bunch of classes on financial accounting, some on auditing and tax, a business law class, and some finance classes.
You don't really learn basic day to day bookkeeping like payroll, bank reconciliations, sales tax, and using something like Quickbooks. You're probably better off taking a few community college or adult learning center classes that cover that kind of stuff if that's where your interests are.
Sports business was our school's joke business major. It wasn't even offered through the business school, and I don't think most of the students in that program could have gotten into the regular business school. The b-school professors despised it.
>>54574844
introductory computer science courses tend to have a lot of people who are just trying out CS and not really into programming and algorithms. those people drop form the cs courses fast because that shit can be hard even at the introductory level.
many people who drop CS go into other majors like business.
>>54574897
Where I am going to school everybody is going to do business. The schools students are a majority of business majors. I am not into programming but I have big ambition to learn, which is terrifying yet also really exciting to know. I am confused yet scared at the same time.
>>54574929
>I am not into programming but I have big ambition to learn
wait you're not into programming but you're gonna attempt a comp sci major?
>>54570808
forget a lot of what you know. The golden standard in academia is elegance, not efficiency. This is true in all areas, not just your coding. You have to become one of them, by networking to get people to read your shitty papers and write letters for you, to treating every single class like it's very important and is your full time job. Because hey, it will become your fulltime job. My advice, get very hardcore about your studies, live drink and breath every class you take. Spend all your freetime on it or something related to it.
>>54571530
This. Please don't be like every other kid in my major. Avoiding math because it's hard.
The upper level theory stuff is so good at hammering home fundamentals. If you don't it'll always be a crutch anytime something with remotely "hard" math comes up.
>>54574437
I'm a EE math double major and life is crazy
>>54574968
actually, comp sci isnt all about programming
you can learn networking, less-heavy programming (database) and shit
BUT STILL
yeah, in the end it's all about programming
>first day CS
>prof using something called 'emacs'
>stand up
>call him a macfag
>turn 360 degrees and walk away
>>54574083
>developing a website
>$10 an hour
I wouldn't do it for that wage. Are you living in India?
>>54575548
He said it was equivalent to an internship for him. Pay attention.
>>54575579
My first internship after freshman year was $35 an hour.
I j-just like computers and math but I n-never really tried p-programming are you g-guys saying CS is not for m-me
>>54575607
He couldn't get one. Read.
>>54565117
Actually "question everything" would be the best advice you could give in this thread.
>>54574163
>If you have a CS degree and can't use databases, shot yourself.
agreed
>l i t e r a l l y meme tier
not agreed, cyber security is quite important nowadays
>>54574306
>>54574163
Cyber security in CS should be filled with math theory. Pervasive computing is also an interesting application of CS problem solving.
>>54578602
i'm studying cyber security and it's basically 60% discrete mathematics and cryptography
>>54579064
Sounds good. Not only are you learning some nice math theory, you're also learning how that theory is applied in something that's used in the wild. The IT world always needs people with some formal training in this field.
>>54570611
>no brackets in the if statements
>relying solely on line termination to designate control flow
FUCKING TRIGGERED
Seriously though, this shit is how Heartbleed happened.
>>54579121
exactly, that's the point. i don't even think you would make a good cyber security expert without the mathematical knowledge, just imagine these guys trying to find weaknesses in encryption algorithms without knowing how they work in detail
>>54568032
Wow i didnt know c was so similar to java
What if the result is a double and not am int?
>>54574517
>>54574529
Based advice.
>>54563797
1. You should either be good at programming or math before starting, if you suck at both you'll have a bad time.
2. If Math's not your second language spent most of your time learning on math instead of programming stuff. At least here in Germany you'll have math for 2 semesters and then you're done with it, the rest is IT-specific and actually interesting.
3. Dont ever get behind.
4. Dont skip classes except you already read the script and know every single point on it.
5. Consider going to class even though you know everything on the script. Profs will drop knowledge bombs here and there that you'll need for finals.
6. Get a job so you can affort buying nice things.
7. Get a job in the field, this increases the chance of employment after youre done studying.
8. Have a hobby that keeps you active. Play team sports, run, cycle, or even better lift.
9. Spent money on a good laptop. I dont mean a gaming laptop, i mean one for actual work that easy taking with you. Keep in mind youll spend a lot of time on it, dont buy cheap shit.
>>54563797
This are som actually good tips:
>>54579823
>>54574517
>>54574529
It can't be stressed enough:
NEVER EVER GET BEHIND!
Also i recommend you to not visit /sci/. Most of them just as arrogant as they are incompetent (a lot of them are barely able to do Calc I proofs). Some people on /sci/ and /g/ will try to meme you into taking a math degree, even though this is an extremely bad idea unless you are into math.
If you want actual help visit a <topic>Overflow community; they know their shit.
>>54563797
do computational mathematics instead. you'll be much more employable
>>54580457
Agreed with everything you said, including comments about /sci/ except
>Some people on /sci/ and /g/ will try to meme you into taking a math degree, even though this is an extremely bad idea unless you are into math.
There isn't anything wrong with getting a math degree. I obtained one and have an easier time learning theoretical CS than other non-math, CS majors. I pick up CS concepts (including programming) very quickly.
>>54580476
Ok, agreed. But, according to my own perception, this is rather caused by the mathematic way of thinking (proofs;rigour;logic) a math degree will teach you, than by the actual knowledge you gain there.
I'm studying CS in the third semest, and most of my peers are almost incapable of doing proofs, while they seem often doable to me.
>>54580639
Yeah, I don't disagree with that. If you want to be a software engineer then I'd recommend majoring in CS over math, unless you decide to double major and/or want to attend grad school.
>>54563797
>All these people who say you need to be able to program
I wish, i really wish this were true.
In fact the majority of your class wont be able to write a simple list without looking up how to do it on the internet even after the first few years.
Anyways for Horror stories, the prof in my programming course couldnt even code because he was a /g/-tier autist and going >imperative programming and the whole course was 50% things that were completely wrong and the other 50% just reading java documentation from his slides.
hope you bought a google glass, OP, you're going to need it.
>>54563797
Just learn.
What will matter more are your skills and knowledge, as for your school, degree, etc. It's a minor issue in CS. (as long as you're not one of those "self-taught" without any valuable portfolio)
If you plan on working in development, don't be one of those kiddos that cry every time they need to learn about systems and networking, don't cry over the baby math you have to learn. Basically everything aside your programming classes will make a big difference whether you'll be a skilled programmer or just a code monkey. Really...
There's nothing more painful than having to work on the same project as people that don't have a single clue of how TCP/IP works.
(but well, if you just want to do a shit job for the rest of your life as a worthless code monkey, don't worry, studying CS might be a pain, but you'll be in heaven once you graduated; you'll be praised and paid for making other peoples life worse.)
>>54568032
Shit/10.
Just take in the two variables, add them, and divide by two.
And make sure to use a float or double, not an int.
Or better yet, allow the user to enter in as many variables as they want, add them together and then divide by the number of variables, making sure to a varibale with a type like a double or float.
