Any Computer Science majors(or similar) out there??

[xploiitz]

Figured I'd start a thread for us College guys....

sometimes our class mates are idiots, and homework can leave you staying up till 5 in the morning the next day!

so maybe we could give each other a hand... besides homework, who knows what we could come up with

Besides that, I'm always willing to hear what advice others have to offer about classes / jobs / internships / opportunities etc. College is one of the best / crucial times for networking!

oh and im a Computer Science major my self (duh) ...

 

[Fleep]

Hm I'm not a studying computer science as I had to change from engineering to Computing and that wasn't available. Because of this we don't do too much low level stuff like C etc. what I do is Computer & info systems which isn't as cool. Hoping to do a masters in a few years in Software Engineering though .

Is CS Major a university or college thing, I'm not very aware of how you're studies are in the US?

Fleep

 

[ndani14]

I'm studying Information Technology (Software major [closest to CS we have]), currently in my 3rd year. (btw i live in Australia)
I also spent a year doing physics and maths at Uni. Before deciding to go IT.

What kinds of units are you guys studying this semester at uni/college?

 

[xploiitz]

Hm I'm not a studying computer science as I had to change from engineering to Computing and that wasn't available. Because of this we don't do too much low level stuff like C etc. what I do is Computer & info systems which isn't as cool. Hoping to do a masters in a few years in Software Engineering though .

Is CS Major a university or college thing, I'm not very aware of how you're studies are in the US?

Fleep

Well I go to a university also.... a University is just a collection of many colleges, and at my College the CS Majors are a part of the Natural Science and Mathematics College!
So this is my first REAL semester at this Uni (I took a 5 week data structures class over the summer) so right now the classes im taking are Linear Algebra (lots of matrices) Computer Organization & Programming, and Algorithms & Data structures.... next semester I'll have some more intense classes, these classes arent too bad, but I'm particularly interested in Compiler design course and Operating systems course , but those classes are 2 or 3 semesters away .... I really love the math classes alot! I loved taking Calculus 1 and 2.

Infact I loved it so much, I've considered making a video explaining the aimbot math (3D Distance formula and the world 2 screen formula) but im really strapped on time with classes! and being part of a Robotics competition team too .

I'm studying Information Technology (Software major [closest to CS we have]), currently in my 3rd year. (btw i live in Australia)
I also spent a year doing physics and maths at Uni. Before deciding to go IT.

What kinds of units are you guys studying this semester at uni/college?

at my Uni we offer all the majors fleep listed and ndani14 listed, and also Computer engineering and Computer science xD.... its a very big Campus.
Im a transfer student from a Community College to this Uni, so Im classified as a Junior (3rd year) but I feel like a 2.5 yr student lol.

Here is an image that shows the required classes for a CS major (these obviously aren't including the first 2 years of just basics)

https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/csmajor.png/
(bb code wasn't displaying the image)

I currently have Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Intro to CS 1 , intro to CS 2, and Data structures completed, with currently taking Linear Algebra, Algorithms and Data Structures , and Computer Organization & Programming.... so I dont have to much to go !!! just 11 more classes for me

 

[Fleep]

Wow just by looking at that you have so many maths driven modules, I remember when I was doing Engineering it was almost has tough as that.
So how much actual programming do you do and what languages have you been taught?

Fleep

 

[ndani14]

what content does your uni cover in data structures and algorithms?

i'm having a lazy semester and only taking 3 units.
-systems programming (operating systems) [programming in C]
-advanced algorithms and data structures
-business of it ( core unit really not enjoying it =( )

for actual programming units
- SEM1 basic intro to programming (python)
- SEM2 intro OO programming (c#)
- SEMX software development (java)
- SEMX algorithms and data structures (c++)
- SEMX systems programming (c)
*X - anytime after the first 2 semesters

@xploiitz robotics competition?? awesome! what is the challenge ?

@Fleep what about you what programming and languages have you been taught?

 

[xploiitz]

well except for the actual math courses them selves, every other class is basically programming in one way or another, just depends what level class you take and what the professor does with it. This is not very much math in my opinion. The people who go after engineering Degrees do so much math that actually they are only a handful of classes away from getting a math degree too. Engineering isn't taken lightly here xD.

The other thing to note is in that graph I posted, you have to pick an option, so if you are a CS major, then you do everything that is in the middle of that graph, plus the extra from your option (the left side, right side or bottom of the paper) you can Pick from the science option with requires 1 extra Calculus, and 2 physics, or Business or Software Design. My option is Software design!

What about your classes / requirements man?? What kind of classes are taught for your degree? Have you had any favourite classes or a topic you really liked above the rest?

 

[ndani14]

i did post something, maybe the "at" symbol caused it to need a admin to approve it =\

anyway xploiitz, what content are they covering in your data structures and algorithms unit ?

 

[xploiitz]

i did post something, maybe the "at" symbol caused it to need a admin to approve it =\

anyway xploiitz, what content are they covering in your data structures and algorithms unit ?

Im thinking your post needed approval too cuz I didnt see it earlier lol... unless im blind, so I'll reply to that too.

Well data structures was a prerequisite to this data structures & algorithms class, so I'll start by explaining DS first.... in that class, we basically took all the different types of containers that is offered to us in the STL (standard template library) or JCL if you're in java (I hope you know what Im talking about) and we had to create our own containers or data structures, so we basically learned how / where All the different searches came from (like Binary search, linear search etc) and made our very own from the ground up. Then we also reproduced and understood all the different sorting algorithms like Quick sort, radix sort, heap sort etc. We made our own Linked Lists, Vector containers, stacks, queues. It was a very intuitive class, after we learned how these worked we had to implement them in a project that was due every week! it was a really intense class but I learned alot. this class consisted of Java and C++ programming.

now in my DS & Algorithms class, I can't say too much about it as this is only the second week into the semester, but basically it is a really intense algorithm analysis class, since I'm only a week into this course I haven't done much work yet, but our first assignment requires us to write some algorithm(s) to solve a towers of hanoi game with "N" amount of discs being the input, and we have to time / document our findings about the algorithm such as the time it took, why it took that long, and what order it is.

what content does your uni cover in data structures and algorithms?

i'm having a lazy semester and only taking 3 units.
-systems programming (operating systems) [programming in C]
-advanced algorithms and data structures
-business of it ( core unit really not enjoying it =( )

for actual programming units
- SEM1 basic intro to programming (python)
- SEM2 intro OO programming (c#)
- SEMX software development (java)
- SEMX algorithms and data structures (c++)
- SEMX systems programming (c)
*X - anytime after the first 2 semesters

@xploiitz robotics competition?? awesome! what is the challenge ?

@Fleep what about you what programming and languages have you been taught?

Now that I've answered your question, im curious about your class, how is your DS & Alg class? What topics/ concepts are covered?
Also Systems programming sounds really interesting too, is that an Operating systems class?

The Robotics Club is typically filled with engineer people at my College, however its an open club, and I was looking for ways to get more involved with the University and that was one of the clubs I joined. Today me and a few others will be forming a team, and we'll have to stick through till spring until our first competition. The kinds of challenges there are typically races, but not just any races, usually they'll take a big table and put a board on it with colored tape, and other colored objects, and depending what the theme for the year is, you will have to program your bot to interact with the objects accordingly, so there's alot of pattern scanning / color finding going on. I'm really looking forward to this one !!!

 

[ndani14]

I've done 2 algorithms/ds classes, i did the advanced one first then the normal one just for the high grade.

in the normal class they covered:
- algorithm analysis (big O mostly, only looked at for a week or so)
- basic container (list, stack, vector, heap, priority queue, binary search tree, tree)
- sorting (quick sort, merge sort, radix sort, etc..)
- graphs (representations, bfs, dfs, minimum spanning tree, dijkstra's, floyd warshall's, topological sort)
- hashing

the advanced one i took before the one above went over:
- math algorithms (gcd, primes)
- string seaching (brute force, KMP, Horspool, Rabin-Karp)
- graphs (representations, BFS, DFS)
- dynamic programming (edit distance, counting paths on a grid)
- graphs II (minimum spanning tree, dijkstra's, floyd warshall's)
- searching techneques (Combinatorial Search | Backtracking | A* Search)
- computational geometry (line segment intersection, convex hull)
- graph III (cycle detection, topological search, vertex colouring)
- graph IV (bipartite matching, assignment problem)
- networks (max flow, min cost max flow, stable marriage problem, travelling saleman problem approximations)
- Tries and suffix trees

the advanced one was a really fun unit, we had a 5 hour programming exam where they gave us problems and we had to solve the and pass the judge test data (pretty much like the ACM if you've ever heard of it)



Systems programming is about operating systems. The first assignment is basically to do with pthread and the second will be sockets.

 

[ndani14]

The Robotics Club is typically filled with engineer people at my College, however its an open club, and I was looking for ways to get more involved with the University and that was one of the clubs I joined. Today me and a few others will be forming a team, and we'll have to stick through till spring until our first competition. The kinds of challenges there are typically races, but not just any races, usually they'll take a big table and put a board on it with colored tape, and other colored objects, and depending what the theme for the year is, you will have to program your bot to interact with the objects accordingly, so there's alot of pattern scanning / color finding going on. I'm really looking forward to this one !!!

Awesome, i'm a part a robotics club at my uni. It's still in it's infancy though, we mostly use arduinos and NXTs, with simple challenges. I did a unit last semester though where we had to map out a graph by following the lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8zSJCeFZVY&feature=player_embedded
that was pretty fun =P

 

[xploiitz]

I've done 2 algorithms/ds classes, i did the advanced one first then the normal one just for the high grade.

in the normal class they covered:
- algorithm analysis (big O mostly, only looked at for a week or so)
- basic container (list, stack, vector, heap, priority queue, binary search tree, tree)
- sorting (quick sort, merge sort, radix sort, etc..)
- graphs (representations, bfs, dfs, minimum spanning tree, dijkstra's, floyd warshall's, topological sort)
- hashing

the advanced one i took before the one above went over:
- math algorithms (gcd, primes)
- string seaching (brute force, KMP, Horspool, Rabin-Karp)
- graphs (representations, BFS, DFS)
- dynamic programming (edit distance, counting paths on a grid)
- graphs II (minimum spanning tree, dijkstra's, floyd warshall's)
- searching techneques (Combinatorial Search | Backtracking | A* Search)
- computational geometry (line segment intersection, convex hull)
- graph III (cycle detection, topological search, vertex colouring)
- graph IV (bipartite matching, assignment problem)
- networks (max flow, min cost max flow, stable marriage problem, travelling saleman problem approximations)
- Tries and suffix trees

the advanced one was a really fun unit, we had a 5 hour programming exam where they gave us problems and we had to solve the and pass the judge test data (pretty much like the ACM if you've ever heard of it)



Systems programming is about operating systems. The first assignment is basically to do with pthread and the second will be sockets.

Your advanced course seems ALOT like the Algorithms & Data structures course im currently enrolled in Sounds like its gonna be a fun class, but my teacher is really really boring :/. our Data structures class (your normal one) was pretty much the same as mine. I thought it was a fun class....

I'm new to the robotics thing, but that video you posted is similar to some stuff we will be doing too... path finding is always a competition. We have 3 categories of robots here for competitions, the NXT category, VEX category, and the Pi-bot Category..... Pi is pretty advanced stuff, but those are extremely fast robots! I thought of doing it since it was most appealing to me, but since this will be my first time dealing with it, I'll stick to easy first lol...

Gonna be a fun semester

 

[ndani14]

if you find you need a different explanation to what your teacher gives, try some of these sites or give me a message i don't mind explaining algorithms and data structures =)

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electri...algorithms-sma-5503-fall-2005/video-lectures/
https://www.udacity.com/
https://www.coursera.org/

Udacity also has a really good course on robotics
all the sites are completely free! =)

 

[xploiitz]

I'll keep it in mind bro, extra help in these courses are ALWAYS a great thing...
I use coursera already, its an AWESOME website, I love it!
I will check out the other two after I knock out some homework


So if i may ask you both, Fleep and ndani14

You guys picked computer science/ CIS/ Computer engineering etc something with computers for a reason.... what are ya'll goals in life, what do you hope to achieve with your degree and knowledge you will attain?

 

[Fleep]

Wow that's an interesting question, I never though very much about this other than working as a programmer.
Like anyone else I guess the idea is to get a decent job that pays well whilst doing what you enjoy.

What about you xploiitz?

Fleep

 

[ndani14]

Don't really have any goals. Mostly just learn what i find interesting whilst having fun.

I'm mostly at uni to learn, no idea where it will take me (still so much to learn!!). I'm going to do honours (hopefully mid next year) and probably master at some point after that.

The knowledge i'm mostly interested in is
- algorithms + data structures
- machine learning
- robotics
- security

What about you?

 

[xploiitz]

Wow that's an interesting question, I never though very much about this other than working as a programmer.
Like anyone else I guess the idea is to get a decent job that pays well whilst doing what you enjoy.

What about you xploiitz?

Fleep

Don't really have any goals. Mostly just learn what i find interesting whilst having fun.

I'm mostly at uni to learn, no idea where it will take me (still so much to learn!!). I'm going to do honours (hopefully mid next year) and probably master at some point after that.

The knowledge i'm mostly interested in is
- algorithms + data structures
- machine learning
- robotics
- security

What about you?

Yeah it was a hard question for me at first.... It took me a couple years after high school to realize I gotta pick something! and I picked computer Science.
So here's my story, I went to a community College and got an Associates Degree in automotive technology, and I worked as a mechanic for 4 years for Toyota. In 4 years I learned ALOT about cars, but even more about me. That I absolutely hated taking orders.... I always had a problem with superiors, I was a good mechanic and made very good money when compared to my friends. But I always had a problem with team leaders / managers (even when I first started working at restaurants and grocery stores etc) Some of the problems were, I wanted to things my way, I tired my methods, and was more successful, or faster for the customer, or I had better ideas than these team leaders, and because I was younger then them, they found it offensive that I could find better ideas/ methods than them, they didnt like that very much. I was never one to let some one walk all over me in work, especially managers or team leaders, if they wanted my respect then they better had treat me with respect to. I have some funny stories about this.

but what it all boils down too, is I learned that I can't stand taking orders, and all those different methods I could always come up with to fix motors / cars / electrical problems etc... were quite creative. So with that being said, I'd love to make my own game one day. something nice that sells well. Im a big first person shooter fan so that will probably be the category . in the mean time, i'm learning some android programming, and I'm working on an App/game to put on the Google Play(android) Market... I hope I can come up with something Innovative, and become an "appilionaire" like some others have over night !

On top of all this, I will be attending alot of career fairs this year (2 next week infact) in hopes of getting a sweet job. Our University can round up many big businesses from around the USA at these career fairs, so if you have a promising resume (CV) and you can sell your self to these recruiters there's a good chance you can end up with a job at the end of the day. Next week I'll be going to a conference with some recruiters from chevron(a very big oil company), they come to college looking for young interns like me! this conference is geared towards people studying about the IT/CS industry. so thats right in my field. we'll see how it goes next week!

Making games is what I would LOVE to do. Unfortunately it doesn't always work light that, thankfully I have a variety of interests in many things. and this Computer Science Degree makes us very marketable!

Now that I've answered, can you guys think of anything? A Dream job? an App? A Game???
Fleep? you ever considered selling your hacks or your knowledge?!

 

[saebur]

There's so many things I wanna come up with and do aside from you know: traveling, visiting, tourin. I wanna try making my own game. Even my own security system (IS/AV/FIREWALL) but implemented differently than most companies. I also wanna go into cyber security/information assurance. But i beleive a CS major or some sort of programming/engineering knowledge would be very helpful in understanding security archetecture. And i beleive getting more advance would to then advance reverse engineering skills. It's a huge field and every bit of concept, knowledge, completes better understanding the technology world.

I also wanna become pro at gamehacking, software cracking, and maybe even produce a team for cracking if possible. But as of now, still in that learning process and trying to finishing up school and stuff. THese school loans are fucking me up so im trying to get a job that benefits and leads me to my future career

 

[xploiitz]

Good luck man, i too have some dreams I hope to one day achieve, and being a badass game hacker is one that is currently in progress!
I cant thank fleep enough for such an awesome website!

Your post doesnt clearly state it so Im gonna ask.... what is your major?

 

[Darkraven]

Hi xploiitz, I live in germany and I do a education as IT specialist(system integration) its similar like a computer science...