DIT computer science

mickmurphy

hey lads ,

I am in fourth year now and i am going choose my subjects .
for college i want to do computer science with the thoughts of going into programming and web design or programming games.

i was wondering what would be better ?
which gets your further ?
can i go back and specialize in both ? like do programming and then go back and do gaming ?
Which is harder ?


Would a couple of 4th year students be able to tell me what its like to do there specialty and what it was like the 3 years before ?

whats your daily life like in DIT ?

Sheeps

Fourth year student on the games module here. The course is structured so that you're all going to do the same subjects in first and second year. This includes various programming modules, networking modules, database modules, hardware modules, software engineering modules and a bunch of other modules in various support fields such as maths, and problem solving. In third year you'll chose two of three available modules. These modules are the Games Programming module, Seke which is a module aimed more at software engineering and testing, and a system administration orientated module. You will do the two you chose along side a number of core modules and you will be given the choice of work experience in the second semester of 3rd year as well.

Fourth year is when you really specialise in a stream, of which there are three again. Games Programming, CSAA and SDIS. You also have to do a final year project in 4th year and write up a thesis. The Games Programming stream has Graphical Processing, Programming Game World, Game Middle ware, and AI in semester 1, and in semester 2 you'll do more AI, Image Processing, Programming Game behaviors and online mobile game development.

In terms of what you're looking for, you will do games design, web development and programming through out the course. The games modules tend to be more programming orientated than the other modules and you are encouraged through out the module to do extra curricular programming projects such as the XNA Ireland game design competition and the Imagine Cup.


If you have any questions ask away.

Creamy Goodness

you generally can't go back and specialise in both.

you'd be looking at doing Msc/MA in one particular subject.

do a search on this forum for DT228 computer science, there's a wealth of information on here about the course in general.

you can also get great jobs out of it like many of my class mates did

mickmurphy

thanks for the info guys ,

hmm well whats it like lifestyle wise ?
do you go from 9 am till 10 pm or like what ?

do u have many soc's based on your course ?

And out of all which would be more successful game programming ? or network programming ?

Which gives u more jobs ? what gives u more choices ?

which is more interesting

Creamy Goodness

generally you're in 9-4 for lectures/labs/tutorials which are scattered throughout that time frame.

you're then expected to work on your own time after that on projects/catch up work or whatever.

lifestyle wise? don't really get what you mean, if you mean the college lifestyle it's what you make of it, join societies everyone will be doing different courses etc but you'll have common interest in the society.

i've left DIT now just under a year but i think there's really only two societies that are really geared towards computing students, netsoc and gamesoc... both of which were run quite well (then again could be gone down the **** bowl since i've left i don't know).

success is generally what you make of it yourself and also how you define the term success.

again what gives you more choice is again quite open to interpretation. i'd lean more to saying the games stream gives you more options for programming jobs, because lets face it if you can code using complex geometry and schizz coding an application with a database or some back end is a pile of piss (figure of speech of course).

more interesting? only you yourself can answer that, go to the open day that's held in november, talk to students/lecturers etc and make that decision yourself cause everyone will have a different opinion on what is interesting.

Sheeps

mickmurphy wrote: »

thanks for the info guys ,

hmm well whats it like lifestyle wise ?
do you go from 9 am till 10 pm or like what ?

do u have many soc's based on your course ?

And out of all which would be more successful game programming ? or network programming ?

Which gives u more jobs ? what gives u more choices ?

which is more interesting

Well I guess it comes down to each person as an individual. I've managed to get through college in a stereotypically nerdy subject and I've always maintained a healthy social life. I have time to work a part time job which funds being able to go out at least one night a week and my whole week in college. There are on the other hand a few characters in every year who fit the nerdy stereotype like a glove, so there's a broad spectrum of lifestyles you can have in college doing computer science.

In terms of the weekly schedule, sometimes you get nasty timetables where you've got a 9 oclock start and might have to stick around till 5, but usually the lecturers themselves don't want want to have to be in for 9. If you get in to what ever you're doing and you enjoy it, you'll find yourself staying in college later anyway, especially in the games module because you'll probably end up getting involved in extra curricular projects and there is a pretty decent work environment in college. 4th year gets rather hectic though. For example, we've got a three day college week where we're in from 9-6 from Monday to Thursday, and I usually find myself staying in until the campus closes down for the night, but then I've a four day weekend in which I can relax, work, socialise or finish up on assignments or what ever. That's really as busy as it gets.

In terms of getting a job, games jobs are not that common in Ireland. It's generally accepted that if you want a job developing games in the games industry with a reputable game studio you'll need to go abroad. That being said the games Industry in Ireland is growing, so you never really know what job prospects will be like for game developers in a few years. Even if you do the game module and there are no jobs, you're still going to have the knowledge and skills required to work in a lot of development jobs because of the amount the stream lends from all fields of computer science like AI, Networking, Maths, Graphics and image processing, cryptography and security. You may not be as specialized in fields such as Networking or Systems level programming as some of the other streams, but you'll certainly have an acceptable standard of knowledge about it.

There are a few socs that are based around the IT courses such as the net-soc and the games soc to an extent, however it has to be said that DIT societies are rather poor compared to other colleges.

mickmurphy

hmm it seems to get more exciting every reply ,


and by life style i meant like daily nights ,

do u spend time a lot on computers out of school ,

and would any of you after the course consider trying to make your own company for games ,
is it possible if u had a big enough team and the cash ?
or do you need bssiness mangement courses ?

and what
and going onto masters ?

if i choose gaming programming ?

whats it like ?>

Sheeps

I spend a lot of time at my computer. I've an interest in maths, programming and computer games(to a lesser extent). A lot of time I'll come home from college having spent the majority of the day working on a project or sitting in a lecture room, and I'll watch a film or go to the pub or something instead because I've had enough. Other times I'll keep on doing what I was doing in college because if you've got a problem, solving that problem can sometimes be addictive and you wont be able to stop until you've solved it.

I think you do definitely need an interest to some degree in computers if you're going to do a computer science degree. The drop out rate in first year is usually somewhere above the 50% mark, and it's slightly lower again in second year.

The entrepreneurship route is definitely something I've considered doing. It's something my college buddies and I have discussed, doing together after college due to the diversity of our specialties in the field of computer science which would work well together. There are programs that DIT run to aid people who want to go down this route, but to set up your own software company producing games you're going to need quite a few people.

While you might be fine designing the game and developing it yourself, you may need to bring in artists, sound engineers, testers and maybe someone who can market and direct the more business side of things for you. When you're starting up your own business, depending on how much you have to lose, its pretty much always risky business, but it can pay off. e.g Havok

mickmurphy

good point

hmmm sounds like a really pursuing career for me ,

like i'm into computer a lot , i might not be a whizz and know 100% but i wanna learn it , and games i've always been interested in , i'm doing my work experience next week Monday for 2 week sin game stop liffy st. ( if u all wanna harass me jk jk )
and like im always messing about trying to make games , but i think ill go on to think more you know ,

atm im thinking off specializing in gaming , maybe one day Murphy corp will be huge hahaha
u all can work for me then :P jk jk

what are the requirements this year ?

i know its 275 point if i remember well , but like higher maths is a must do for me , and English
so that should be atelast 180 for me

lets just hope the points don't go up ,

Sheeps

Well if you take an interest now it will benefit you a lot when you actually start in first year. If you want to start programming computer games I'd start messing about with XNA studios. It's a game development framework for coding your own games.

http://creators.xna.com/en-US/education/gettingstarted

It should be useful for learning how to program in C#, and gaining a better understanding a practical use for mathematical concepts that are core to programming computer games such as co-ordinate geometry, linear algebra, matrices and simple Newtonian physics. If you're doing higher level maths for the leaving cert it should be a breeze because you touch on a lot of the fundamental maths for games in the junior cert believe it or not.

mickmurphy

well i got a B in ordinary JC and i was doing higher b4 i moved schools

so i'm really hoping to do higher ,

i was wondering is there any , well cheap would be a bad word but
good not so expensive night courses on just like a jump start to gaming for people who want to go into gaming ?

Creamy Goodness

tbh i'd start learning to code first (simple programs) to get used to programming contructs etc. before tackling any sort of frameworks especially a microsoft one (oooh yes i did go there ).

mickmurphy

sly one creamy

hmm ye well i have the beginners programming for dummies right beside me

with the real basic software and stuff

but coding seems to frustrate me so i wanna try get a night course for 5th and maybe 6th year to kinda get into all that so i'm not like :eek::pac: when i go into DIT

Creamy Goodness

well they teach you programming from the very beginning, if you know how to turn on a computer, click start and load up notepad you're ahead of some of the people that were in my first year class.

mickmurphy

hahaha i could just imagine

i downloaded the UDK last night

any one use that yet ??