CS major crew

[GabeSpacely]

Got some good news CS Brahs!

After loads of interviews, and a ton of hard work, I am excited to announce that I have accepted a job offer as a Software Engineer and am moving to San Francisco, California!

I graduated in May with a Bachelor's of Computer Science and have been interviewing exclusively at places in the bay area for the past six months. Two years ago, I would not have believed that I'd have the opportunity to relocate across the continent from the east coast of Canada to the biggest tech city in the world. I learned to get the most of of life you have to dream big, work hard, be ambitious, and no matter the circumstances, never quit.

It feels very surreal that I have just accomplished my biggest dream, and I'm so excited for this opportunity and even more excited to see what the future holds!

Can you check my resume and CV for me brah?

[jek584]

Can you check my resume and CV for me brah?

I work at and do interviews for [stereotypical prestigious tech company], more than happy to review a resume =)

Edit: This is an open offer, feel free to send me resumes, brahs. Will probably try to recruit you if the resume is solid :P

[GabeSpacely]

I work at and do interviews for [stereotypical prestigious tech company], more than happy to review a resume =)

Edit: This is an open offer, feel free to send me resumes, brahs. Will probably try to recruit you if the resume is solid :P

Check your inbox, no clue how to send attachments through private messages though.

[Twice11]

If anyone needs help with assignments or understanding something, pm me. I have free time. Or if you wanna spin up a project.

[Kiwi_Fella]

What are some relatively realistic, small projects beginner programmers can build? I've dabbled, or rather tried to learn programming for years (my background is sys admin) but never really committed. I have a basic grasp of most programming terminology, but always find it hard applying the syntax/terminology into something practical, a program, a game etc...

I'd like to learn C#, as I like mucking around in Unity and obviously C# is the language choice.

[BuildUpNow]

What are some relatively realistic, small projects beginner programmers can build? I've dabbled, or rather tried to learn programming for years (my background is sys admin) but never really committed. I have a basic grasp of most programming terminology, but always find it hard applying the syntax/terminology into something practical, a program, a game etc...

I'd like to learn C#, as I like mucking around in Unity and obviously C# is the language choice.

You're going to find most examples/projects to be overly simplistic for the lone dev. You could try jumping abroad an open source project but that can be overwhelming. Furthermore since you missed the project at its infancy you'll likely have trouble understand things as the learning curve is much higher. Hence why someone in this thread wanted to start project for miscers but that seemed to die rather quickly.

[goblin6]

The misc project is still in the works if we can appropriately manage desires and expectations. Everyone wants to either create a full blown game or develop some app, service, saas to generate revenue but beyond a general notion no one has any concrete ideas. Admittedly I don't have an idea for a project and the only current side project I'm working on is an Arduino CANBus system.

[Twice11]

The misc project is still in the works if we can appropriately manage desires and expectations. Everyone wants to either create a full blown game or develop some app, service, saas to generate revenue but beyond a general notion no one has any concrete ideas. Admittedly I don't have an idea for a project and the only current side project I'm working on is an Arduino CANBus system.

My ideas were saas or subscription based content. A "how do do X."

Some ideas may require a physical demonstration. Let's say I wanted to teach someone how to hit the heavy punching bag properly, I'd need to record my videos and edit them.
Other ideas may just require recording at the computer. Lets say I'm teaching video editing in sony vegas, I could just capture screen and voice over.

Currently, I think Saas and Tutorial subscriptions are the best way to create value and make money, with low barrier to entry. An app is also a great idea, but harder to turn profit in, IMO.

[AppleWatch]

Probably gonna major in CS in the upcoming year. What are some good resources to prep for my classes? I plan to use Khan Academy to work through math, but unsure what else to focus on. I've heard most start with C++?

[BuildUpNow]

My ideas were saas or subscription based content. A "how do do X."

Some ideas may require a physical demonstration. Let's say I wanted to teach someone how to hit the heavy punching bag properly, I'd need to record my videos and edit them.
Other ideas may just require recording at the computer. Lets say I'm teaching video editing in sony vegas, I could just capture screen and voice over.

Currently, I think Saas and Tutorial subscriptions are the best way to create value and make money, with low barrier to entry. An app is also a great idea, but harder to turn profit in, IMO.

I'd still advise you guys against pursuing the profit driven model, at least at the onset. You'll quickly run into issues such as revenue sharing amongst other complications. Also the FPS game idea is another bad one as it's overly complex and I wonder if people can adequately commit to the project. Instead choose something simple. See if you can effectively work as a team before undertaking a large project.

Probably gonna major in CS in the upcoming year. What are some good resources to prep for my classes? I plan to use Khan Academy to work through math, but unsure what else to focus on. I've heard most start with C++?

Try learning the basic workings/operations of computers. Understanding how they work is critical. Then you can delve into understanding the concepts and theories of programming. C++ is an okay starting point but I'd rather choose a higher order OOP like Java or C#. The compiler is more typesafe so it's easier to spot errors while coding. Memory management is also taken care of for you. They have robust IDEs that again make things easier and there's a vast amount of libraries/APIs that allow you to work with various other languages/technologies. In fact Microsoft is making a hard push for their C# language so they''ll give you just about everything for free. Free visual studio and free (although pretty limited) use of their services too.

[sayso]

download lynda courses for free:

http://s3.bitdownload.ir/Learning/LYNDA.COM/

slow as **** but tons of courses

[vt2medellin]

I just wrote my first program with Java and I'm already hooked.

[lolbro]

Probably gonna major in CS in the upcoming year. What are some good resources to prep for my classes? I plan to use Khan Academy to work through math, but unsure what else to focus on. I've heard most start with C++?

C and/or Java.

That's the two common languages. C++ is normally not the first language.

Python also works BUT you won't understand how things are working at a lower level using that. It's fine for learning the basics though. Java's great for mastering object oriented design whilst C will ensure you learn what your code is actually doing at a low level instead of abstracting/handling everything for you.

[dan987]

I just wrote my first program with Java and I'm already hooked.

That's a good sign

I remember my first "hello world" in java made me want to go into the field

[hooty mcboobs]

C and/or Java.

That's the two common languages. C++ is normally not the first language.

Python also works BUT you won't understand how things are working at a lower level using that. It's fine for learning the basics though. Java's great for mastering object oriented design whilst C will ensure you learn what your code is actually doing at a low level instead of abstracting/handling everything for you.

What low level functions do you really need to know? Memory management? Access to memory blocks or control of garbage collection? Even most high order languages will allow you access to this. But unless you're writing to controllers it's unnecessary for the most part. Then again it seems like a lot of CS degree programs in the US like to start off with assembly. Perhaps to show off how archaic programming was compared to now. One should certainly know how computers work so you'll understand how languages interact with with the hardware but you don't necessarily have to choose some lower level language that requires more work and a steeper learning curve to understand.

[ckmiscer]

What low level functions do you really need to know? Memory management? Access to memory blocks or control of garbage collection? Even most high order languages will allow you access to this.

And any developer worth their salt will know how those things work, even if it's taken care of by the JVM.

Then again it seems like a lot of CS degree programs in the US like to start off with assembly. Perhaps to show off how archaic programming was compared to now. One should certainly know how computers work so you'll understand how languages interact with with the hardware but you don't necessarily have to choose some lower level language that requires more work and a steeper learning curve to understand.

How do you think the JVM works? Assembly is archaic? That is ignorant.
How is anyone supposed to understand the stack, bytecode, and program execution?
Just LOL at ignoring any of this and just writing code. You will get laughed out of interviews.


Directly from wikipedia:

Assembly language is still taught in most computer science and electronic engineering programs. Although few programmers today regularly work with assembly language as a tool, the underlying concepts remain very important. Such fundamental topics as binary arithmetic, memory allocation, stack processing, character set encoding, interrupt processing, and compiler design would be hard to study in detail without a grasp of how a computer operates at the hardware level. Since a computer's behavior is fundamentally defined by its instruction set, the logical way to learn such concepts is to study an assembly language. Most modern computers have similar instruction sets. Therefore, studying a single assembly language is sufficient to learn: I) the basic concepts; II) to recognize situations where the use of assembly language might be appropriate; and III) to see how efficient executable code can be created from high-level languages. This is analogous to children needing to learn the basic arithmetic operations (e.g., long division), although calculators are widely used for all except the most trivial calculations.

[BuildUpNow]

And any developer worth their salt will know how those things work, even if it's taken care of by the JVM.

You should have a general idea on how they work but it you really don't need to know the intricacies.

How do you think the JVM works? Assembly is archaic? That is ignorant.

Perhaps he meant programming in assembly is archaic to which I may agree. If you're working on a platform with severely limited resources then it may be necessary. But writing enterprise apps in assembly is simply impractical. It would be entirely too complicated for a dev to understand.

How is anyone supposed to understand the stack, bytecode, and program execution?
Just LOL at ignoring any of this and just writing code. You will get laughed out of interviews.


Directly from wikipedia:

Can you just let the VM and JIT worry about platform specific details? Do you really need to know the details of the OS or the CPU architecture? Are you going to bother with the opcode and machine code for various architectures? Isn't it better that the VM abstracts this away? Or do you want to write individual implementations for all the various configurations? Each system that has a different amount of memory needs it's own code so you can manage bounds checking or access violations yourself? No one needs to know these specifics and having the CLR or VM manage code has numerous benefits. The issue is devs relying on the GC and not understanding how it actually works. This can cause memory leaks and issues but at what level do you need to know how things specifically work and at what level of abstraction can you merely entrust the system to handle things? Or do you believe encapsulation and abstraction are evil principles and one must fully understand the inner workings and dynamics to make things work properly?

[ckmiscer]

Can you just let the VM and JIT worry about platform specific details? Do you really need to know the details of the OS or the CPU architecture? Are you going to bother with the opcode and machine code for various architectures? Isn't it better that the VM abstracts this away? Or do you want to write individual implementations for all the various configurations? Each system that has a different amount of memory needs it's own code so you can manage bounds checking or access violations yourself?

Obviously, none of these are necessary and it's why the JVM is so popular

The issue is devs relying on the GC and not understanding how it actually works.

Correct.

This can cause memory leaks and issues but at what level do you need to know how things specifically work and at what level of abstraction can you merely entrust the system to handle things? Or do you believe encapsulation and abstraction are evil principles and one must fully understand the inner workings and dynamics to make things work properly?

Noobs cause memory leak issues all the time. So yes, it is very important for them to understand how memory management works. Direct object references that don't get cleaned up will crash the jvm and are also pretty hard to detect after the fact, depending on the size of the system. I don't think encapsulation and abstraction are inherently bad, but I do think people need to understand the inner workings of things, or they are more likely to **** things up.

[Luc1fer]

Noobs cause memory leak issues all the time. So yes, it is very important for them to understand how memory management works. Direct object references that don't get cleaned up will crash the jvm and are also pretty hard to detect after the fact, depending on the size of the system. I don't think encapsulation and abstraction are inherently bad, but I do think people need to understand the inner workings of things, or they are more likely to **** things up.

Depends on the language, if you're using managed code (Java, C#) then understanding memory allocation fundamentals isn't as necessary - but still useful for memory efficient algorithms etc. Unmanaged code (C++, Python) requires this knowledge or you'll end up with potentially exploitable exceptions, segmentation faults etc. Especially in multi-threaded applications.

[imafireman]

Hey guys, I'm on the pursuit for a CS major and starting it fresh. I've only gotten my gen eds. so far and plan to switch from my business major. What are some basic/introduction books I can get before I go back into school? Like from Barnes and noble (something I can get right away)? Thanks!

[goblin6]

Hey guys, I'm on the pursuit for a CS major and starting it fresh. I've only gotten my gen eds. so far and plan to switch from my business major. What are some basic/introduction books I can get before I go back into school? Like from Barnes and noble (something I can get right away)? Thanks!

As you can see in the posts above you do need an understanding of how computers work. You need to understand binary math/logic so you can see how computes function and some of the limitations they have. Memory allocation and management, stack vs heap, etc are important to understand. Most programming books that center around a language will typically teach you these topics though. However I think it's better to learn the numerous theories and principles that govern programming rather than starting to learn a language. As such I'd recommend Code Complete and The Pragmatic Programmer. After reading those book then it's time to choose a language to learn. I'd likely pick c# or java as they are widespread and have a easier learnign curve since some processes are handled for you. But c/c++ is a good choice too. I'd avoid dynamically typed languages like python though. They lack compiler checked type safety so you can introduce nasty bugs/errors that are difficult to trace. From there you'll probably need to fully understand Object Oriented Programming so pick up Object Design: Roles, Responsibilities, and Collaborations . Also check out Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship and you should be well on your way to being a good dev.

[Basiliskboy]

Man this is crazy. I just started getting back into coding after taking a long haiatus pursuing another career. As a kid I used to try and make my own games in BASIC and then found out I could create websites in HTML after begging my mom for an "HTML for dummies" book.

Now I'm relearning with freecode camp and I'm going to start freelancing in 3 months. Feels so good jumping back into this world.

My goal is to start as a front end dev as I learn MEAN stack to eventually become a full stack developer

I'm down to participate in anything you guys are up for. Do we have a slack channel or anything?

[iEatHearts]

I worked on a RoR project (mainly back end stuff) a long time ago and pretty much forgot everything. I'm looking to relearn a couple of things and giving web development another shot. I found this website called the "odin project" that acts as a free course for web development with ruby on rails. Has anyone heard of it and if so do you think it's worth going through?

[eages]

What would be the better choice in terms of career prospects: graduating in artificial intelligence or data science? I'm currently a computer science undergrad.

[Kay4Kool]

What would be the better choice in terms of career prospects: graduating in artificial intelligence or data science? I'm currently a computer science undergrad.

I think both are admirable pursuits

I would personally recommend AI as machine learning has high demand for low supply

[vt2medellin]

So I visited Middlebury College today and sat in on CS201: Data Structures and CS202: Computer Architecture. I'm in CS180: Programming Fundamentals right now, and since my current class and the data structures classes are both in Java, I was able to understand the lecture and actually learn during the class, but the computer architecture class might as well have been in Mandarin. Is that just a function of going to a random day of class with no prep or background in EE or hardware, or will actually impossible coursework just be the norm?

[OCaml]

So I visited Middlebury College today and sat in on CS201: Data Structures and CS202: Computer Architecture. I'm in CS180: Programming Fundamentals right now, and since my current class and the data structures classes are both in Java, I was able to understand the lecture and actually learn during the class, but the computer architecture class might as well have been in Mandarin. Is that just a function of going to a random day of class with no prep or background in EE or hardware, or will actually impossible coursework just be the norm?

Almost certainly because you sat in on a random lecture. Depending on what level the arch course was, you might have been looking at boolean logic, processors diagrams, assembly code, etc. Gotta start from page 1 on that stuff.

[StrongPost]

Finally graduating with my CS degree after 5 years brahs.

Already have a job lined up too which is a great feeling. Good luck to everyone!

[goblin6]

For recent grads or those who went the self taught route how are you finding jobs? Perhaps because I'm looking primarily at .NET jobs but every employer wants at least 2 years exp. Where should I be looking at for an entry level job? Even for front end coders they want at least 1yr exp and I know nothing about css or javascript. I don't know if I should put forth my efforts learning css, html, js or pursue some other avenue.

[Twice11]

For recent grads or those who went the self taught route how are you finding jobs? Perhaps because I'm looking primarily at .NET jobs but every employer wants at least 2 years exp. Where should I be looking at for an entry level job? Even for front end coders they want at least 1yr exp and I know nothing about css or javascript. I don't know if I should put forth my efforts learning css, html, js or pursue some other avenue.

I've been unemployed for almost two years now, since I graduated. It's not easy unless you're willing to relocate.