For CA2 - Which is the better option?

bellx

Firstly, can we still choose between IS and SE or was that finalised in that form we filled out?

Do both types of job at the end yield a similar wage or do the SE poeple get paid more?

Is SE incredibly hard for somebody who struggled somewhat with architecture and programming a bit in first year?

Is 'IS' a bit boring in terms of doing businessy stuff? And are you a lot less skilled at the end in terms of computer skills?

StickyMcGinty

you can change up till the middle of third year i heard, but its up to you to convince dave donnellan

i'm doin SE this year, but if archy gets rock hard i'm gonna be in a bit of trouble i reckon

CuLT

That form we filled out was just an interest check so they could get a rough estimate on numbers.

I intend to do IS simply because it looks more interesting.

From what I can gathering, most employers are just looking for "a degree" of some sort, if at all. I understand that CA in DCU is more useful in terms of technical knowledge than some other similar courses in the country, but most of what you'll use in a job will likely be learned in the job rather than in college.

bellx

Cool, thanks lads. Does anyone know when we are back???

Ferror

We register on the 27th (Ca that is)

I'd be back then

CAIS2, oh yeah! ^^

Sarunas

We can't tell you which is "better" for you.

Personally, I find technical stuff more interesting and find business stuff boring.

It kinda does matter what stream you pick jobwise; one would be trying to get a job in the area that you know more about and like. But it does not mean that if you went to IS that you can't get a programming job.

As for pay, who knows? There are far to many variables to take into consideration. If people who graduated are getting XXX, that does not mean you will be getting that too.

BIG DAWG

bellx wrote:

Do the SE people get paid more?

Is SE incredibly hard for somebody who struggled somewhat with architecture and programming a bit in first year?

Is 'IS' a bit boring in terms of doing businessy stuff? And are you a lot less skilled at the end in terms of computer skills?

Think a yes to all kinda sums things up.

CuLT

BIG DAWG wrote:

Think a yes to all kinda sums things up.

Thus speaks the voice of experience? Or, if not experience, at least some sort of statistics?

BIG DAWG

CuLT wrote:

Thus speaks the voice of experience? Or, if not experience, at least some sort of statistics?

After finishing intra, and i reckon not that many people will pay you for writting up some report and not being able to program, although I'm mainly talking about a few years down the line, for the first couple of years of employment I'd say we'll all get the same pay and probably similar work (the work that nobody else in the office wants to do!!). IS seem to do very little programming and an awful lot of project management stuff, maybe I'm wrong at that. Anyway this is a computing degree so I plan on learning stuff on programming, I reckon if I need stuff that IS do for my job in the future it would be easier to pick than the other way around. I very much doubt there is no reason why SE is the harder option of the two.

CuLT

BIG DAWG wrote:

After finishing intra, and i reckon not that many people will pay you for writting up some report and not being able to program, although I'm mainly talking about a few years down the line, for the first couple of years of employment I'd say we'll all get the same pay and probably similar work (the work that nobody else in the office wants to do!!). IS seem to do very little programming and an awful lot of project management stuff, maybe I'm wrong at that. Anyway this is a computing degree so I plan on learning stuff on programming, I reckon if I need stuff that IS do for my job in the future it would be easier to pick than the other way around. I very much doubt there is no reason why SE is the harder option of the two.

I see what you're talking about alright, I've been mulling over the course options over the last couple of days myself (little else to do in the dying days of summer work!), SE definately has more of a focus on serious programming stuff.

I guess it just depends on how you want to use the degree; I don't intend to spend the rest of my days coding up part of an OS etc. I'm more interested in the practical application of computers in modern life - and business, I guess.

When you say IS stuff would be easier to pick up than SE stuff, I think you're generalising heavily I know a few programmers who couldn't sell water to a man dying in the desert.
I'm out on a limb here (and I hope nobody takes this as an insult), but I'm under the impression that SE is for the people who will make reality the ideas that artsy-businessy-computer IS people come up with. They complement each other (there are certainly people who can do both).

Also a little pointer I think: if you were programming before you went to college, you're probably going for SE.

Now, I don't want people to be under the wrong impression here; personally, I want to be an excellent programmer, however, I don't want to be a programmer... if you get me. Jobs from CS-type degrees are not fantastic; the demand just isn't there, too many people can program. One needs to find an innovative way to apply themselves.

Bruce Fan

First off don't mind big dawg, you are no less skilled in anyway if you do IS over SE, in fact if anything you are more qualified for doing IS as IT companies are crying out project managers and the like at the moment.
It simply depends on what kinda work you'd be interested in.
I've finished my 3rd year of IS and I like the course a lot. I'm glad I choose it over SE because it give you a better understanding of software development, management, databases etc but it really depends on what you like I guess.
In SE you do a lot more programming like Assembly and C but there a load of crap anyway. Java is the only one really worth learning and even at that there's not that much demand for programmers at the moment.
Also I know people that switched from IS to SE and vice versa as late as the start of third year, but it can be difficult to do.

Click here to see what kinda jobs you can get out of each stream.
IS is far more general and covers alot of different fields.