How to become a programmer?

Question

I am wondering which course would be better for me to become a programmer. I am currently thinking either databases or web applications.

What would be better to do:

a) computer science

OR

b)

Information Technology with a major in Software Architecture.

http://www.courses.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Courses.woa/wa/selectMajorFromMain?structureID=12892&courseID=5290#12892

And if it is computer science, what level of maths would I needed to of studied. I am currently doing intermediate maths at highschool.

Thanks for your replies.

Answer 1

I was on the same path as you.  Computer Science is definitely the path to go if you want to spend the rest of your days in a cubicle behind a computer monitor.

The math level is pretty high and it is rarely used in programming but it is needed as it trains your brain to think differently at tasks that you might encounter while programming.  

Answer 2

study engineering is what i would say,

database, web apps, etc etc are all programming exercises. but a good programmer should know c, c++, c#, java, assembly and a few more languages.

be careful of the subject names!! they can be misleading, eg. 'Object oriented software engineering' has no programing at all in it.

a good knowledge of math is required obviously, but not as much as a math graduate...

Answer 3

hmmm, i started learning C and C++ when i was in like grade 6 and I found it quite easy.

If you are in high school, then you wont have any problems as far as basic programming is concerned. for advanced(very advanced) programming you might face difficulties in understanding the problems right away but once you get enough experience, everything will be a piece of cake for you.

You'll  just need to have some patience for it.

And yeah, if you want to go for database and web applications i advise you to start with HTML and Sql or Oracle. Ofcourse you'll need to have some experience in the programming before doing SQL or Oracle.But that will be taught in the courses.

Best of Luck!

Answer 4

Computer science is best if you want to do the hard stuff (device drivers, compilers, embedded systems) and of course doesn't hurt for the easy stuff.

IT is for easy stuff (database, accounting, web).

If you can handle CS, that's my suggestion, since it opens more doors for you.

As far as math, CS requires more of it (calculus, differential equations, ...).  If you haven't done trig (preferably pre-calculus) by the time you graduate high school, then that may hold you back for CS, in which case the IT path is probably a better choice for you.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Hi there,

Learning computer science does not make you a genius in programming. Most of the universities have their own labs for the students to learn how to use a computer which any 9 years old can learn easily nowadays. All sciences require knowledge in computers.

As for the programming; in a short sentence: If you know one you can do them all. If you can master C++, later you would be adapting to VB or VBA or Java. It is as if you where speaking Malaysian Malay and that you had to go to Indonesia and start speaking the language, it would first sound weird for certain terms that are used differently until you tune up your ear and brain to understand and communicate with the people.

Before looking into what to use, you should consider:

1. What is the most commonly used programming language?

2. The cost. (Since you are learning; is there any free versions)

3. Are there any books available in KL?

4. What about the net? Can you find Tutorials and support websites?

5. How powerful is the programming language?

One of the answers I have read was about the books; yes, buying one or too books off the shelf is a good thing. You can find plenty of books of teach your self XYZ programming language in 30 days or so which I find very good for a start.

I would advice you to use Visual Basic 2008 Express to quick off your learning curve, you can download it from Microsoft website and it is free. So that is one problem solved.

As for the books, there are many titles to choose from:

http://www.informit.com/store/product.as...

http://safari.quepublishing.com/97807356...

These are just examples I found by doing a search, I bet you can find more.

Once you get that in hand and you have installed it on your machine, then you can learn how to start creating forms and other simple stuff.

This is just a start to your adventure. I hope this would help.

Cheers.