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Ranks Of Campus Geeks Declining -- Or At Least The Declared Geeks
from the skipping-class dept
Fears are mounting that the US is losing its tech edge, with the Computing Research Association now adding its voice to those who say the computer-generated sky is falling. A new report by the group says the number of college students intending to major in computer science has plummeted in recent years -- not surprising considering the dot-com crash. But you have to wonder what the CRA study really indicates about current trends. Namely, just because students are less interested in computer science does not necessarily mean they are less interested in technology and, ultimately, tech careers. They grow up steeped in computing, so perhaps that makes devoting their major to it less appealing. But they still might pursue IT jobs in the future. Also, the lure of dot-com riches probably attracted way too many people to the field, so perhaps interest is returning to rational levels. Either way, we're guessing the success of Google will have more influence in boosting those numbers again than any university or government can.
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It's like studying hammers to learn mechanical engineering or architecture.
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Try health sciences/biology
You'll want to gain qualifications in health sciences/biology too, whatever they are.
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Java and C++ is the reason.
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Re: Java and C++ is the reason.
As a former comp.sci major myself, I still enjoy coding and appreciate the logical thinking it introduced to me, but I joined it for the "hacker mystique" as a freshman.
What eventually turned me away from it was the realization that you can study the languages on your own time spending US$50 on a book as opposed to hundreds of dollars on a semester-long class; and that computer science really is more about algorithms than anything else. It's *science*. Kids that aren't interested in algorithm-tuning can still learn how to code and make a great living for themselves. In most American universities that are geared for comp.sci and IT majors, these days offer other related majors that aren't actually computer science but offer courses in programming that are more practical and less theoretical. Just my $0.02.
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Go Figure
Those wacky kids today, hard to figure out how they could pass up such a great future.
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Re: Go Figure
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Re: Java and C++ is the reason.
Even the guys that wrote this monster admit that the learning curve required for Enterprise level work is insane. Several years worth to effectivly work with all that is required. And new "standards" come out every year making it increasingly more complex. For what we are doing it should be simple. We are only passing XML strings back and forth for pity sake. But having worked with several different groups now it would seem this is the norm for J2EE work and it is damn hard for what it does.
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Heh.
It is wonderful seeing the "web programmer" fleeing.
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Re: Go Figure
You can make a decent living as an engineer but you'll be expected to work your ass off. Engineering is an expense, engineers are treated like an expense. As one company president said to me "When the horses leave you just get more horses."
On the plus side I look at it as a very expensive hobby which I'm paid to enjoy- that's not bad.
As far as forecasts go, IEEE is a shill for businesses and colleges. Take any predictions of shortages or salaries with a grain of salt.
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