[SOLVED] What should I do with my life?

[AwptiK]

I am basically at a crossroads in my life and I just wanted to see if anyone could set me off into a specific direction, or help me stage out part of my life.

 

Basically, i'm 17 years old, and 15 days from being 18. I got out of high school in May and i'm going to a USC satellite school for two years and then transferring to USC. That's the plan anyway.

 

I'll start from the beginning though. I've been into web design and coding since 6th grade, when my friend and I started playing with ProBoards forums. I've always leaned more towards coding than the actual design, being that i'm not creative with images and layouts and I guess because I love math.

 

I stayed interested in coding until about 10th grade, then got into other things for a while... now with college starting and all, my friend and I decided to make a portfolio site and get back into all of this, I guess to prepare for college and make some money as well. Right now, I would love doing this for a living and i've chosen to major in Computer Science at my college. There really wasn't much choice as far as stuff like this, so I hope that was a reasonable choice. (Others were Information Systems and Engineering)

 

Basically, over the years i've learned html, javascript, java, visual basic, c++ and php. I don't remember much javascript and never use java, vb or c++, but I plan on re-learning javascript soon.

 

I'm trying to get a few freelance jobs on various sites, except it's difficult to get a start without a decently sized portfolio AND php is so popular that everyone's trying to get the job I would like to get.

 

The crossroads that i'm at and the questions I have are..

 

Is this worth keeping into? I LOVE coding and I will always be interested in it, but I don't know if it's going to be able to support me. (Not that money is everything, but I consider myself to be very proficient at coding and not really above-average in anything else.)

 

Is Computer Science the kind of major I need to be a coder/programmer and even a web developer? The field of Computer Programming I hear is going downhill, I assume that's because of all of these applications that basically do all of the coding for you, you just point and click (like frontpage or dreamweaver).

 

Should I look into an online school, just for a specific study in web design/development?

 

Currently, I plan to keep going with my friend and freelancing. It'll be a hard start getting jobs but eventually it will pay off. I will continue to develop my php skills and learn Ajax, hopefully that will allow me to perform harder jobs, where there is less competition.

 

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this and anyone who posts their opinion.

 

[Zane]

Is Computer Science the kind of major I need to be a coder/programmer and even a web developer? The field of Computer Programming I hear is going downhill, I assume that's because of all of these applications that basically do all of the coding for you, you just point and click (like frontpage or dreamweaver).

 

Well, someone had to develop these applications that are apparently sending the computer market "downhill."  Being able to duplicate such point and click applications is what would set you apart from a beginning programmer.

 

Is computer science the best major? No and yes.

Unless you plan on learning how to code an operating system or retail software package, Basic programming and logic and math is pretty sufficient for a web developer.

 

When it's all said and done and you have graduated with your Associate's/Bachelor's/Master's...that's the end of the question of "what did you study in school?"  Simply putting on a resume that you have a Bachelors degree in (Arts, Applied Science, or the Medical study) will let an employer know that you're reliable  You could have a bachelor's in Underwater Basket Weaving and still get a job coding somewhere so long as you know how to do the work.  If I could start back I would be majoring in something like Biotechnics, Bioengineering, etc technology.  I've been in college for Web Technologies and Computer Information Systems and every class I had seemed to easy to me...no challenges...just constant lectures about things I read about everyday on the net itself. (teaching myself).  As awesome as it may seem to know it all in a class already..it's not and after awhile it becomes like a chore to go to class ... well..to at least get the attendance grade.  You find yourself coding things without thinking, cutting corners, etc, etc, etc...and for no money!

 

Find what interests you and use your coding background to complement your decision.

[Daniel0]

If you want to do web development, chances are you don't need a CS course. As a web developer, you probably won't care how a compiler works, how the memory is managed on OS kernel level, how a database works (as opposed to how you use a database), how to write multi-threaded programs, what sorting algorithm is best for certain purposes, why a linked list might be better than array (or why it might not), how AI works, how asymmetric encryption works and many of the other things you might learn in CS.

 

PHP is at a much higher abstraction level, and you can easily be a successful PHP developer with a degree in CS. If you want to sort something, you just call sort(). Searching is implemented for you as well. You also have automatic memory management and garbage collection. The kind of math you will have out of a high school will also be sufficient.

 

As far as I'm concerned, computer science is not "just" programming (though many computer scientists end up working as programmers). Programming is a tool in computer science. There are some CS fields that use programming to a significantly lower degree. You might be more interested the users' interaction with the computers, the field of HCI (human-computer interaction) which intersects with psychology as well. The Wii and the EyeToy for Playstation are examples of a TUI (tangible user interface) as opposed to the regular GUI (graphical user interface). Here the user interacts using his own limbs and movements instead of using a virtual cursor via a mouse. Does the user like what he is doing, or is it a pain in the ass?

 

Most people can learn how to program. However, much fewer people know why something works and can justify why they do X instead of Y (or similarly, why X is better than Y in the case of Z). When you're done with a CS degree, you have probably learned a lot of things you will no longer actively think about in your daily life as a programmer, but it should have made you a better programmer nonetheless.

 

Most people can learn the syntax of PHP and get the computer to do something. Especially the wide adoption of things like rapid deployment frameworks it has become much easier. However, as zanus said, someone wrote those frameworks and libraries, someone designed the language you are using and someone wrote a compiler/interpreter for it. But maybe you don't care about those things, which is fine. There is a need for all sorts of people with all sorts of interests. Fortunately, all those different kind of people exist.

 

In short, if you want to do web development, perhaps a CS degree is overkill. Perhaps you would be better off with a vocational education, or depending on how you think you learn best, even a good collection of books, online resources and communities like this one. Or if you already have some skills, maybe try to get an internship or junior developer position in a company and work your way up? Or perhaps try yourself as a freelancer. There are many brilliant autodidact people as well, and some of those are better than some of the people with papers from some university. What you get out of the courses also depends on yourself. Do you do any optional reading and learn additional stuff on your own initiative, or do you limit your work to the absolute minimum required to pass the course? A university/college sets a framework for learning, but whether or not you will learn anything depends on yourself to a much greater extent that the kind of schools you've previously attended.

 

What you will want to do with your life right now depends on what you're interested in doing, and what you want to end up doing. If you acquire web development specific skills, then you'll be a web developer (obviously). A CS degree (or any academic degree) is much less focused and you won't be anything specific. It opens up more pathways to choose from and you will gradually specialize yourself as you go.

 

While I personally have a preference for academically oriented educations rather than vocational ones, I don't think there is anything wrong with the latter. I think it will be better to take a less higher education in something you really want rather than just being highly educated for the sake of being highly educated. It would be a shame wasting time (and money if you're in a country where tuition fees are the norm) on something that is not really what you want.

 

What you might want to do is to check the course listing for the CS department you had in mind and evaluate whether or not you will need the skills acquired in those courses. Maybe there is even a day where they offer people to visit them so you can talk to the lecturers and students there so you can see if it's something you want.

 

I hope what I wrote was somewhat helpful. It's some of the considerations I've made in regards to my own life and education anyway.

[AwptiK]

Thanks for the replies and weighing the pros and cons of a CS degree.

 

I think, if I understood right, I will probably continue majoring in CS. Since a degree is more general, I can specialize more in the programming aspect as I go.

 

I'll mark this thread as "topic solved" since you two covered everything.

[seventheyejosh]

You could have a bachelor's in Underwater Basket Weaving and still get a job coding somewhere so long as you know how to do the work.

 

LMAO