programmer or engineer?

iggyman

because im in sixth year...and looking to go to college ..im wondering which type of career in computers would be better a programmer type of career such as software developing etc. or an engineer type of career like computer engineering...im looking for which is better in terms of
1)will it keep you satisfied
2)is it well paid
3)is it hard to get employed when you complete your degree

thanks for any replys

StRiKeR

Computer Science cover both, but going by the way things are going, you might be better off going for 3D modelling and gaming development side, and it is good money in it too.

i71jskz5xu42pb

iggyman wrote:

because im in sixth year...and looking to go to college ..im wondering which type of career in computers would be better a programmer type of career such as software developing etc. or an engineer type of career like computer engineering...im looking for which is better in terms of
1)will it keep you satisfied
2)is it well paid
3)is it hard to get employed when you complete your degree

thanks for any replys

If you are doing just programming I'd suggest you also learn a language (e.g. Hindi, Polish, Russian, Cantonese, etc.) as plain programming jobs are for the most part eastward bound. I'm being somewhat sarcastic there I'll admit but the future for programming jobs does not lie in high cost economies unless you are

• really, really, really good
• specialised in some area

If I were you I'd aim for the latter (unless you're sure you are the former). Either do a degree that allows specialisation in a certain aspect or plan on doing a masters in specific discipline post graduation.

StRiKeR

I didnt know cantonese was an advantage, I now cantonese but never really bother looking for programming jobs, dont like it that much after my first and second programming jobs

ressem

Computer science covers both

?

I did computer engineering in Limerick, which had a lot of the starting modules in common with electronic engineering. This involved programming, software design and electronics (learning about and building digital circuitry, programming EEPROM, learning about how a basic MIPs CPU is designed). There was a lot of maths specific to digital signal processing.

I guess, having not done compsci, that much of this would not be part of a computer science course.

you might be better off going for 3D modelling and gaming development side

Disagree, can you give a reason for this? You're limiting your opportunities to a handful of employers, some of whom have a nasty reputation.

Of course you can experiment with 3D modeling in gmax or similar for many modern PC games, which might form part of a portfolio for a design course involving CAD.
Same for modding.

As for OP:
Re Comp Eng in UL. (Note that the courses around the country vary hugely, there may be compeng courses that do none of this stuff)

Points 1,2 depend on you. Do you have an interest in electronics as well as programming, and have pretty decent maths ability?

3. I'm a mumbling nerd, I got the first job I looked for back in the day, and am still there. So I'm not disappointed in the skills it started me off with.

Though the biggest issue is the steep learning curve between college projects and real projects.
If your preference is programming then I'd suggest looking at learnming outside of the course in two parts:
Choose a language like java, where there is real world source code publically available.
1: design and build small projects from scratch.
2: modify a few public projects like those at apache commons to add a feature that you find useful. (Intention is to introduce you to the real world of commenting, bug tracking, source repositories, and best coding practices). Even if you don't end up making a contribution back it's still useful.

iggyman

ive heard that programming jobs can be quite boring after a few years and are hard to get into in anyway...is this true?...i like the hardware side of computers rather than the software side although i do like some parts of software ...im thinking of doing a course thats called electronics and computing in d.i.t and get up to an ordinary degree and then do the last two years in the computer engineering honours degree course....because im doin ordinary maths instead of honours so thats the only real way i can get into computer engneering i think unless one of yous know anywere that does a comp eng degree course with ordinary maths...? would this way be ok for me do you think or do employers only go for graduates that have done the full course

srdb20

Im into the Hardware and networking side myself....

I have touched on programming, but it is not my favourite i.e i can write basic scripts, basic webpage design but anything after that its just not going to happen!

But ive always said play to your strengths, so if you prefer Hardware, then stay away from programming or you will get bored and pis*ed of pretty quickly.

or

Maybe im totally wrong and you could be a superb programmer, and you may end up loving it.

Try learning a bit of javascript or html, something like that and see how it goes, it will give you a taste and help you see if you like it or not!

ShiverinEskimo

I did a computing course which centred towards hardware and support which eventually led into an IT management degree.

If I could go back now I would choose to have done the software course instead. I took to programming ina big way without ever having done any before. Now this was only with VB and HTML and Scripting (Javascript and VB Script) but I lapped them up and would love to take on C or Java..

Its harder to do it but very satisfying when you get it done - You should have a look at thew computer games development degree here in Dundalk - First of its kind in the country and is in line with the plans for the digital multimedia centre planned for the campus (ie - do well and you'll walk straight out of the college and straight across the road to a job) The syllabus looks tough enough but very useful and interesting - In fact i'm seriously considering going back to do it when the course is a couple of years old - to see how it pans out..but then i'd be one of those "old guys in college". Hmm - i hate these life-changing decisions...

iggyman

but software carreers are supposed to get boring and its hard to find a job in anyways,,, so whats the point anymore...each third level computer centre have about 100 graduates a year doing a finishing a software degree and half of them dont get jobs so never mind in fours years time wen im finished mine ...i wont have a hope of gettin a job...im just asking anyione thats involved with the hardware side of computers is it worth it?

Chavster

It's up to you really, go with what you enjoy. I would bear this in mind though, the hardware side of things is relatively easy to pick up and learn at any time you like.

IMO if you do software and don't like it, switching over to a hardware related profession is going to be easier than if you did things the other way around.

srdb20

Hardware on its own isnt enough, trust me you need networking or something like that, and even then you need to specialise in a certain area if you want to move up and succeed.

Something like CCNA, N+......etc(its a ood start but you have to keep etting more certs) you have to be trying to keep up and always learning... Then lean towards Security, or Server's or whatever you're into!

Its really up to you man!

But one piece of advice,

If you take advice from programmers they are most likely to say "thats the way to go".

If you take advice from a networking guy (like me) then ill "be saying networking is the best".

But man you have to decide yourself, try and find out which one you like!

rsynnott

ressem wrote:

?

I did computer engineering in Limerick, which had a lot of the starting modules in common with electronic engineering. This involved programming, software design and electronics (learning about and building digital circuitry, programming EEPROM, learning about how a basic MIPs CPU is designed). There was a lot of maths specific to digital signal processing.

I guess, having not done compsci, that much of this would not be part of a computer science course.

And you'd be wrong.

ressem

And you'd be wrong.

Can you elaborate? To support my tentitive statement, Limericks module list: http://www.csis.ul.ie/scripts/ModuleMaterials.exe
http://www.ul.ie/admissions/newprospectus/Undergraduate/colleges/informatics/LM051.shtml
for computer science, has little apparently in the way of electronics and their design, other than CIM.

Compeng has about 50% hardware
http://www.ul.ie/admissions/newprospectus/Undergraduate/colleges/informatics/LM069.shtml


As for 'hardware on its own', I think you've got the wrong end of the stick.

This course isn't teaching designing networks or specifying & building computers from boxed components, (other than a basic intro, it wasn't covered at all. I needed to learn this separately) more like designing and building circuit boards, understanding clock skew and timing. Lots of analog to digital sampling theory.

Some of the Communications and theory maths was a bit... hairy, you'd want to keep your differenciation and integration knowledge up to scratch. There's a fair bit of overlap with signals & systems to give two chances to understand the basics.

rsynnott

Ah, right, I'd never seen UL's CS course; it's more like Trinity's ICT course, for instance. Trinity's CS course has lots of hardware-y stuff.

StRiKeR

Trinity's CS Course

https://www.cs.tcd.ie/courses/ba/WhyStudyComputerScience.php

rsynnott

Eek, forgot about the new course (brought in last year). Yuk.