Kollege

[RangerXLT8]

Take Programming 101. It will probably be BASIC.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

Take Programming 101. It will probably be BASIC.

Oh it will be. You can do quite a bit with basic actually.

[yurimxpxman]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Oh it will be. You can do quite a bit with basic actually.

I think schools usually use COBOL instead of BASIC now, at least from what I've seen.

[Reloadron]

Yuri, as you embark on something, that will likely involve something, let me share something.

Let me share a story with you. Years ago, well over 25 years ago, I was managing an Instrumentation department for a now pretty much defunct aerospace manufacturing company. We were looking for software (to be written in house) to perform automated test routines and calibration routines for test, measurment and diagnostic equipment.

The then buzz word was Pascal. Learn Pascal was the battle cry. Pascal, like many languages of the era is quite dead today. Programming languages change. Some change about as quick as you change socks. Todays latest and greatest is tomorrow's old news. Todays programmers face a never ending battle of keeping abreast of change. Pascal incidently is not dead, however there are better ways with newer languages to do most task.

Programming or programmer are pretty broad terms. Programming what?

Should you want to take aim at programming and an ultimate degree in something along those lines, you need to decide what it will be.

Just another $.02 worth.

Ron

[yurimxpxman]

Well, I've now completed my first semester of college, and I'm about to start the second monday. When I started this thread, I had no idea how much worse things are than what people had told me.

College is a joke. I've been seriously debating leaving the school because it's all such a pathetic waste of my time.

[Carl Martin]

NO! DON'T QUIT! Keep working toward your certifications and get your degree. No one can take those away from you and they will open up possibilities that are difficult or impossible to attain otherwise.

You're also going to find that a certain few of your instructors/professors actually enjoy spending time with students outside of class. Foster friendships with them; they will teach you more outside class than you can imagine and can prove a valuable resource even after you've been graduated.

Hang in there!

Carl

[azianai]

yuri, being a recent Information Science and Technology grad from UAlbany (may07), i can tell you basically most schools core classes required for degree is just dabbing into what you need to know. The stuff you want to take to advance in the field are electives, and its up to you to decide to take them. The thing with Comp Sci is even if you take a class and as great as it is, you honestly can do the same thing learning yourself and having the will. With the internet now and all the resources available, its very easy to find help to figure out stuff. I can tell you i basically just wanted to graduate, so i took all the general stuff, and even though i have the ITS degree, i honestly can say i can't program in C++ at all, still don't know unix well at all (took 1 yr 2 courses on it system admin), and networking is still a joke to me too. Then again i just wanted a degree to graduate since im focusing more on business so thats how i looked at it.

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by yurimxpxman

Well, I've now completed my first semester of college, and I'm about to start the second monday. When I started this thread, I had no idea how much worse things are than what people had told me.

College is a joke. I've been seriously debating leaving the school because it's all such a pathetic waste of my time.

So Yuri, other than shall we say dissapointed a little with school, how the hell are you?

Look, I agree with the others. You may find much of it boring, however, it does open doors. Just about any degree helps you get into the door with a higher salary, regardless if you work the field your degree is in or not.

Nice to see you found you way to a post.

Ron

[yurimxpxman]

Originally Posted by Carl Martin

You're also going to find that a certain few of your instructors/professors actually enjoy spending time with students outside of class.

That's just the thing (well, one of the things). The "professors" don't know jack about what they're teaching. All they do is study the material they're about to present, and they can't hold a halfway intelligent conversation about the subject they teach.

Honestly, my time would be better spent at home working on free software projects.

[Panda Man]

Some of them do, a lot of them are just reading out of a book though.

Remember, that little piece of paper you get after about 4 years will mean the difference between a 20K job and a 50K job.