is computer science a meme degree or not?
Im in mechanical engineering right now and enjoy the coding part MUCH more than the physics
I actually like figuring out how to solve coding problems whereas physics is just simply tedious
Would switching majors be a good idea or nah?
You must enjoy curry to be a computer scientist.
You would like the automation stream of Mechanical engineering, I think pursuing that would be better than computer science
you dont even need a degree to be a code monkey
No, it's not a meme degree, don't let anyone tell you otherwise
If you treat it like a meme degree, it's a meme degree
If you treat it like a serious, rigorous STEM degree and study outside of class, then it will work well for you and you will make at least $100k+ at your first job straight out of college
Ignore the memes on Veeky Forums idc what anyone says, this is an EXCELLENT field and an EXCELLENT degree to get into. Mechanical engineers may do harder math but they make far less money on average
...
>and study outside of class
Or better yet, don't waste your time and money with slow as fuck classes and learn it all on your own.
I think you should look into a degree where you can transfer as much credit as possible!
I was MechE then switched to Applied Math and was able to take a lot of compsci courses while using credits from my MechE time.
I actually knew another guy who did the exact same thing and became a programmer. I stayed on for grad school in statistics/Data sci...to each his own
This post is such bullshit it's not even funny
Let's talk economics here - if a Bachelor's in CS and the career field of software engineering is so easy that mathematicians and physicists can learn it with little effort as this post says, then why do CS majors make so much more money than the average engineer of any type?
Do the best electrical engineers or mechanical engineers routinely make $250k total compensation including bonuses during their first year of work like the best computer science students do? I myself am not even close to the best and I made around $170k my first year of working
If it's so easy then basic supply and demand would dictate that these other engineering fields would simply self study CS in a few nights then flock to software engineering, but they don't because it's actually hard
Physicists and engineers have a reputation in our field for being horrible programmers, because they underestimate the value of software craftsmanship and data structures and algorithms knowledge, as well as low level concurrency and system concepts meant for optimizing performance
The only exception is EE majors who work on embedded systems who are often excellent low level programmers, but who nonetheless lack the data structures and algorithms knowledge and high level systems knowledge entirely
How much do you make a year user? I guarantee you that you couldn't do my job, and I guarantee you that you will not make as much as I do on your first year after graduation
Good luck getting your resume taken seriously
If you want shitty poorfag $80k/yr jobs sure, self study (funnily enough jobs paying that much are what engineers and mathematicians struggle for)
is $80k a year supposed to be bad? i cant even imagine what i'd do with that money
t. man who came from family with total $20k yearly salary that raised me and a brother
It's good but it's not CS level good that's all I'm saying
People talk such shit about CS but basic economics 101 says if it was easy it would not be high paying with a good work life balance
I work 45 hours a week, with only 2 weeks out of the year working on-call which isn't even a big deal. And I made $170k last year
If CS was easy I would not have made that much, these claims make no sense
I majored in CS but I have no desire to do that job
I enjoy theoretical CS and math but cant see myself PhDing
I think I'll just work at an ice cream place. That seems like a nice way to live my days.
You can just watch grad level intros to theoretical CS youtube.com
Then attempt to solve some problem in theoretical CS in your spare time for lulz, as outlined here by a guy with zero background in CS news.ycombinator.com
To make this easier, read these slides about how to go about doing Theoretical CS research like where to ask on Math Overflow, ect cs.cmu.edu
If you math sucks, here's a crash course in math specifically helpful for theoretical CS cs.cmu.edu
Now work in an ice cream place and do this on the weekend. It's what I do, I have a unionized labor job that I don't want to give up because of it's ridiculous indexed pension offering, but at the same time I enjoy the science of computation. So I have no desire to work at some asshat corporation that will just lay me off when the tech bubble bursts, thus here I am doing theoretical CS as a hobby.
Veeky Forums in general is populated by faggot-striver first-world-ish fairly intelligent young men who can't be fucked to get zyzz-tier ripped apart from the odd /fitizen/ I guess, (I myself certainly can't)*, so the next easiest dick-measuring contest left to them is salary. But we can't be satisfied with doing better (making more money in a given year means:doing better) than 90 percent of all other human beings. Oh no, satiety won't be had until we're doing better than most of /our immediate cohort/. That's why Veeky Forums men in general whine about five-digit-ish salaries (oh maybe if I'm a baller I make six digit wagecuckery or start my own business If I'm extra-dickish~), when everyone dies in a few decades on the outside and all effort is void.
You all instantly know that I speak the truth about this shit, upon reading my words.
*We are all literally better than Zyzz because we are still alive, for the moment anyway.
Part of what's going on is that nerdy thoughtful men have to salvage their egos against death. Even I myself have to do it which is why I wrote this post.
>You must enjoy curry to be a computer scientist.
Fpbp
Lrn2meme fgt pls
code monkey very simple man
fpbp
>Let's talk economics here - if a Bachelor's in CS and the career field of software engineering is so easy that mathematicians and physicists can learn it with little effort as this post says, then why do CS majors make so much more money than the average engineer of any type?
Because they don't want to be code monkeys.
>Physicists and engineers have a reputation in our field for being horrible programmers, because they underestimate the value of software craftsmanship and data structures and algorithms knowledge, as well as low level concurrency and system concepts meant for optimizing performance
Because they don't put in the effort because they don't care for programming.
What is a "code monkey"?
Just an arbitrary insult thrown at a high paying career choice with a good work life balance
"I could easily do your job if I wanted to and work fewer hours and make more money than I do, but I don't want to because that's for code monkeys"
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Being a software engineer at a high level of professionalism is very difficult, that's why the best ones make half a million dollars a year after they cement themselves as significant contributors.
Why not earn all of the degrees since you'll have the base of required technical courses already finished.
It's a meme degree. I've seen the code monkeys. They are fucking disgusting. First off 90% are pajeets. Though even the white ones are terrible. They have lowly monkey-tier jobs that are just copy pasting shitty code. There's a reason a large amount of CS graduates can't write fizz buzz.
I can't help but wonder why you keep specifying a small amount of CS majors that make it to the really high paying jobs. It's simply not true for the average code monkey. Period.
Its a great degree if you want to make money.
>physics
>tedious
Not really, you just don't know what physics is.
Real physics is about modeling, engineering takes it a step further and doesn't care about preserveing certain aspects not important for the problem at hand.
Physics models nature.
Engineering models the problem and the solution for it using/approximating physics.
CS should be a rigorous (applied) math degree.
So if your university offers a proper degree, not a softwar engineering (SE) degree, but a proper CS degree then studying CS could be worthwhile.
On the other hand, there are plenty of opportunities to model and program in engineering, hell, it's the number one application of CS and programming: control, simulations, etc.
So if your interests are broader than programming I recommend you to stick with engineering, at least for a while, until you get a proper perspective. Physics I jack-shit. Take all the CS classes you can.
My recommendation is this: you can always learn programming and math on your own. It's a question of willpower and autodidactic skills. You only need a computer to experiment with programming.
So when you take CS classes try to focus on math and theory comapred to pure programming and program in your free time. Also, you can write cool solvers/simulators for engineering and physics problems.
Oh, yeah and CS is not a meme, a good amount of your time will be spent modeling in there too.
>mechanical engineering
I'm a structural engineer working towards my PE. Everything that has come across my desk in the last three years I was able to handle with a calculator and tables. Your hardest days are behind you after graduation. The best part is I'm in the field traveling to jobsites and am only in the office an hour or two a day. The money is fantastic if you work for a contractor and the work they give you is high school tier math. Do an internship before you make a decision. The worst possible job is sitting in an office.
The common claim that physicist and mathematicians are better programmers than cs students is false. The fact so many physicists think matlab is good and use it is proof of this. It's pretty much just a shitty version of python. That for some reason indexes arrays starting at 1.
But a smart physicists is always capable of becoming a better programmer than a smart cs student due to the background of their knowledge. And the post is right about CS attracting the stupidest people.
While you could occasionally meet an idiot in physics or math at least 50% of CS students are complete morons destined only to become code monkeys. They require a team of 20 people working together to accomplish simple assignments that should be finished within 3 hours. Then when they finally solve the problem they have no idea why the solution worked, they just think they solved it and don't bother investigating or learning from their solution.
Physics and math this simply doesn't work. You can't press random buttons on your calculator till your physics assignment is completed.
>But a smart physicists is always capable of becoming a better programmer than a smart cs student due to the background of their knowledge. And the post is right about CS attracting the stupidest people.
Bullshit. The smart people in CS are as good at solving problems as people in any other field. The quality drops off sharply though.
>While you could occasionally meet an idiot in physics or math at least 50% of CS students are complete morons destined only to become code monkeys. They require a team of 20 people working together to accomplish simple assignments that should be finished within 3 hours. Then when they finally solve the problem they have no idea why the solution worked, they just think they solved it and don't bother investigating or learning from their solution.
This is true.
>no social skills
>no talent
>not smart even though mom thought so
>ugly as shit
>fat
>only interest is playing vidya
>guess I'll go to uni for CS
A good computer science programme will actually have less programming classes than engineering. Software engineering is what you're looking at. On another note, mech engineering allows you to apply theoretical concepts in practice.
A good computer science program will teach you both and then allow you to really dive into what you like more your last two years.
>FTFY
MATLAB is an array programming language. It is good for matrix manipulation and number crunching. Python is general purpose that happens to have good packages. (And clean, easy to grasp, syntax.)
>for some reason indexes arrays starting at 1
Index-1 isn't that strange on technical languages. Fortran, APL, Wolfram, Julia are index-1. Lua, awk and Algol as well.
>CS attracting the stupidest people
The problem is that most people cannot distinguish between computer science, computer engineering and software engineering. So they end up on math-heavy CS where they just wanted to be code monkeys (e.g. OP).
>then why do CS majors make so much more money than the average engineer of any type?
I'm a senior in CS, and during my time there, I've realized that the job market is so flourishing due to the code monkey jobs (say that's the majority of the industry). There's so much money for companies to make by integrating the latest programming technologies into their business (think things like big data, and in the future, AI).
All this stuff is generally the code monkey generalization, so I'm thinking of going to grad school to skip some of the more mundane work that CS majors generally receive post BS.
I'm hoping after that, I'll have a more scientifically satisfying job. I'm a brainlet so i kinda cba a PhD and going full autism.
Software engineering is about embedded systems and other control systems manufacturing.
Why do so many ignorant people like you always feel a need to comment?
Computer Science isn't only about coding. It also involves some math