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Computer Science Curriculum in College
Ludwig Feuerbach writes "As it's back to school for university students, including Computer Science undergraduates like myself, I look at my course schedule for this semester and I have courses with titles like: Theory of Computation, Numerical Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and History of Economics from Plato to Keynes. The first 4 courses are required in my CS program. I had thought nothing of it until I read an opinion piece by Dan Zambonini, who stresses the type of courses I'm taking are, essentially, useless for getting a job. He lists several CS courses useful for a job. Is he right? I tend to think that an university education should stress scientific topics over vocational ones, but since I'm just planning to get a job after I grad, am I in the right program?"
Agreed 110% - Information Systems work IS the "steady-eddy/bread & butter" end of this field... & there is ALWAYS work in it.
:)
No two corporate entities structure their data or use EXACTLY the same data (unless part of same company) typically, so custom information systems work (e.g.-> custom databases & such + reporting apps etc./et all) will always need to be designed & redesigned or added onto (or even modded/improved for changing conditions).
Another REALLY useful (imo) course, is "DataStructures" if it was not included in said list from the URL document: It teaches you a great many things & patterns of thought (such as which types of sorts to use, when, & with what datatypes & sizes of sets to sort thru, as one example of what you acquire/learn from it).
How much of it do you REALLY use in IS/IT/MIS work? Not much, but it is a GREAT course for anyone into computing imo!
*
APK
P.S.=> The reason I agree SO strongly with the init. poster & his comment of:
"for a job, then go into CIS."
I assume he meant information systems work/databasing in general (often called "data processing" as well)... I have made more than a decade worth of money from it, for the very reasons I state above:
Sometimes, there is NO "canned/prebuilt/turnkey" instant solution out there for various enterprises out there or their data - you HAVE to build them, for them! apk
In Canada, a college is usually what an American would call a "community college", so its primary focus is instruction with a vocational focus. University means just what it means in the US, a higher-education institution that has a strong focus on research (and obviously the extent of that focus varies from place to place). The term college is sometimes also used to refer to the units of a university, such as St. Mike's College at the University of Toronto or St. Paul's College at the University of Manitoba, so you have to get some of the meaning from the context. Without context, the first meaning is usually understood.
The easiest way to see the difference is that if you tell a Canadian "I'm going to college", he'll probably look at you a second and then either think to himself or say, "Oh, you mean university".