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Thread ID: 112439	2010-09-06 06:57:00	Deciding on what to do when I leave school!!!!	xyz823 (13649)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1135138	2010-09-07 10:42:00	I don't see any reason why you should end up at a tertiary institution with no idea of what you want to do in IT - it's a massively wide-ranging field, but it's all just so accessible; if you think you might be into programming, have a dabble and see if it spins your wheels. It's the same with hardware-related stuff - build a PC for yourself, and see if that's your cup of tea (you'll know). There is a lot to be said for being a generalist, but that's only really useful in a management position, or if you're a one-stop-shop IT person in a small business. And in my experience, hardware tech & coding proficiency is mutually exclusive (I think they use different parts of the brain!!) Personally, I love databases, as they just 'make sense' to me, but it wasn't until I started playing around with them at home that I really got an understanding of them. So have a play with a bunch of stuff!!	nofam (9009)
1135139	2010-09-07 11:03:00	u are CS major,i only know little about it, if you love your CS, continuing,do whatever you want, just because u are young.	faith1806 (15972)
1135140	2010-09-07 11:09:00	OK, so I guess Computer Science has different definitions at different institutions. At AUT, the Computer Science major in the BCIS is low level stuff. If you want to do programming or even project management, there is the Software Development major. I've found the first year quite good, as you do a whole range of subjects, and can decide what you would like to continue with. I started off dead set on majoring in Networks and Security, but discovered I am quite good at and quite like programming, so now I'm double majoring and doing Software Development as well.	ryanjames.powell (13554)
1135141	2010-09-07 11:19:00	OK, so I guess Computer Science has different definitions at different institutions. At AUT, the Computer Science major in the BCIS is low level stuff. If you want to do programming or even project management, there is the Software Development major. I've found the first year quite good, as you do a whole range of subjects, and can decide what you would like to continue with. I started off dead set on majoring in Networks and Security, but discovered I am quite good at and quite like programming, so now I'm double majoring and doing Software Development as well. What does the Computer Science major at AUT cover? Also, what sort of stuff did you learn in the first year and what are you currently doing at the moment?	xyz823 (13649)
1135142	2010-09-07 13:32:00	If you like programming, I highly recommend Computer Science at Vic. It's not all low level; it starts off with Java, then in 2nd year you have quite a bit of choice - you can learn some C and even assembly, and how CPUs work etc (very low level), or do more SWEN (Software Engineering) papers if you're more into the software development side of things, which teaches you software design skills. It's all very very practical which I find great. The first year papers have weekly assignments which put into practice what you learn. More interesting subjects are available in 3rd year. From what I can tell, even undergrad programming students are very employable. There are lots and lots of summer internship programs which pay around $18/hour over summer in addition to getting you a foot in the door, the main one being Summer of IT, the rest being various company's own programs. If you like the IT project management side of things, you could do what I did and take INFO as a double major. That covers databasing, systems analysis, project management etc. You can do that too and still finish in three years. Note that to a technically minded person (anyone who already has played with programming) you may find INFO papers painfully easy. The same will apply to first year COMP papers if you have done any Java or C# especially. But you will get pretty good if you do well. I also hear Canterbury is good for Computer Science. I have no idea which is better. I'm a 2nd year student at Vic.	george12 (7)
1135143	2010-09-07 13:56:00	Like ryan, I'm doing a bachelor of computer science at AUT. He's actually in most of my classes. If you're keen to do programming and want to get a good foundation in the field, then you could come to AUT aswell. So far, I'm enjoying it but I've found some of the courses are a bit disorganised, and I find that rather disheartening. As it stands, I'm 7 weeks behind in programming, despite wanting to major in software Dev. If you're not too much of a creative thinker and can nail their abstraction straight away, it'll be the course for you. It requires precise thinking within a certain set of boundaries. Unfortunately in my case, I think far too far outside the boundaries so that's probably one contributing reason as to why I'm finding it so damn hard. (That and I've been lazy, thanks to midday and evening classes as opposed to my usual morning classes.) So yeah if you're keen to go through a few baby steps to get going in Java it might be an option. Just buy a laptop before you come. They do have a computer science student lab, but the computers aren't fab, the air conditioning is terrible, there's always idiots playing counterstrike via the network trash folder and the printer is always out of paper.	8ftmetalhaed (14526)
1135144	2010-09-07 14:15:00	Ok was editing this in but took longer than 15 minutes to write, so I'll just double post. (sorry :() Oh and edit - the topics that I've taken this year are as follows, since you asked. I'll detail what's involved in each paper. Semester 1 Programming 1 (introduction to Java using BlueJ) - Introduces people to coding practices, working with objects and classes, doesn't normally require you to write a class yourself, more like learn to understand existing code, then write something as you're told to with correct formatting and commenting. The hardest thing we did in programming 1 was import randoms, generate ints and doubles and create array lists. Foundations of IT Infrastructure - Used to be called IT hardware software till last year, changed now. Covers things like writing basic dos and unix scripts, installing OSes (the lecturer LOVES linux and telling stories and not communicating with the student tutors), aswell as basic skimming of hardware stuff. (IE we had a lab saying "this is a harddrive, how it works, etc. Now you're expected to know how to use it already" sorta thing). Also covered numeracy in different bases, including binary, octal and hex, aswell as other things like FAT tables and systems and general hardware knowledge. Applied Communications - Pretty much english but more annoying. Teaches you how to write a basic essay and presentation and work in a group. The first assignment was pie for many, the second was absolute hell for everyone. Computing technology in society - Media studies in terms of computer science. Studies the interaction between society and technology and IT, such as the impact computers and other technologies are having on children, childhood and development, the implementation of RFID devices, etc etc. Really quite an interesting subject if you enjoy that sort of thing. Semester 2 - Programming 2- Carries on from where programming one should have left off about two weeks after the actual end of the course. Immediately jumps into abstraction of ideas. Caught alot of people off guard as they didn't touch programming over the semester break and thus found they couldn't create an array list, let alone figure out how to write a method and class to achieve an end result within the instruction set. Covers Regular expression, sorting, stacks, and a whole bunch of other stuff I should know but don't because I still forget how to create an array list. Also covers stuff like debugging and unit testing. Computer networking - I hear this is a really basic networking paper. The people who did communications semester 1 were put into this but shifted out after a week because it clashed with another networking paper. From what I saw of it it looked pretty boring and overly simplified. The people who did the other networking paper semester 1 seem to find this one much less interesting. CCNA1 Cisco Networking - The "real" networking paper, this one covers things like setting up networks, subnetting, IP addressing, IM and IRC chat, etc. It's a basic Cisco course which is interesting, if only slightly long winded thanks to 4 hour lab sessions once a week. Algebra and Discrete mathematics - One of two maths papers, people doing Programming or higher in the paper chain must pick algebra as their maths paper to advance. Covers logic, proofs, truth tables, circuits, hasse diagrams, matrices and a fair few other things that I'm again not fab at. Enterprise systems - An introduction into database systems and the ways in which systems can be integrated into and used by businesses and the like. Think the onecard system at foodtown and the like. Quite interesting, but timetabled late at night so can be a bit of a drag to attend classes. Much like communications in terms of subject format. Go to class, pay attention, read the textbook a bit, turn up to the exam, and you get about 70% minimum. But yes, I must get on to my programming work... ALOT of catchup to do. It's both annoying and depressing. But it needs doing. My kingdom for some motivation haha.	8ftmetalhaed (14526)
1135145	2010-09-08 04:20:00	No computers in MY future, especially ones that run on L-based OSs! There's a story going around here in SoCal that gives one pause . Seems this IT expert was standing in line at McDonald's and after he ordered his Happy Meal, he was thinking: "Gawd - I wish I had a job flippin' burgers . I wish I had a JOB!" All I can say is that I am very glad I am retired and don't work any more - I didn't like dealing with the public when I had to, and fer sure I wouldn't want to as a preference any more either .	SurferJoe46 (51)
1135146	2010-09-08 22:03:00	There's a fair bit of info on what is covered in the BCIS here: www.aut.ac.nz	ryanjames.powell (13554)
1135147	2010-09-09 07:22:00	work experience is important, I found out by going to a lot of interviews and actually working in i.t that experience kills quals any day. Go dabble in I.T and find out what u really want to do for the rest of your life and then go for it. Go do some kind of internship or some unpaid I.T work and see what you are intersted in, now a days it is really hard to get anything in I.T, so much competition, if you apply for a job the employer will get around 85 cv's on average (well in the Auckland area)	forums12345 (15197)
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