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Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsComputer Science
Hello everyone,
I am looking into start college courses and want to know what would be the most helpful to me as far as learning programming and design, primarily programming. I'm thinking Computer Science as a major and Digital Media and Web Technology. Does that sound like It's what I am looking for?
Thanks, Ben
2 Answers
Jeremy Davis
Courses Plus Student 5,711 PointsHey Ben,
Ive been in your shoes before. Make sure to do what you actually find interesting, if you would rather focus on design aspects and interaction based definitely go with Digital Media and Web Technology. Computer Science will get mundane and extremely tedious feeling if you are not completely interested.
Just do what you are absolutely interested in and nothing else. You can always learn further.
Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsI know it's apples to oranges, but I like the idea of building a house more than I do decorating it. While I do have a bit of a creative history, such as I am a musician and growing up I was really into drawing/sketches, I feel my tastes changed over the years to doing more of the ground work on projects instead of the beautification, if you will.
Does that make sense? :-)
Dan Giles
2,243 PointsYep. Definitely give programming a try (PHP is ok, but I think Rails is better; or iOS or Android). Plus programmers make more money :-)
Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsBenjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsI went through about half of the HTML/CSS class here on Treehouse and I really liked seeing how the changes affected the outcome and layout of the mock site. I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of commands out there but I guess that just comes with time. I am really interested in designing phone apps and stuff like that.
Jeremy Davis
Courses Plus Student 5,711 PointsJeremy Davis
Courses Plus Student 5,711 PointsDon't declare a major and take a mixed semester of classes for each focus do a little interactive design and do some core programming like php, objective c, java or something that is related to the development aspect of creating phone apps (php doesn't have anything to do with app development but really helpful in the web) I have been coding web stuff for quite some time and just got into apps. It is really fun.
Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsBenjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsWell, I'm a soldier in the Army and I wan to commission as an officer and to do so I have to have a Bachelors degree. I figured if I had to go to school for something towards a degree I'd want to do it for this field.
Jeremy Davis
Courses Plus Student 5,711 PointsJeremy Davis
Courses Plus Student 5,711 PointsAh, I see. I have a buddy who did something similar. Ill ask him how he did his degree because I know he wasnt sure exactly what he wanted to do at the beginning and tested out a couple paths. Ill see if I can get you some info.
Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsBenjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsGreat, I appreciate you looking into that for me! Take your time, I still am undecided.
Sandra Weber
1,531 PointsSandra Weber
1,531 PointsHey Benjamin,
If you enjoy the design and working with HTML/CSS, you will probably enjoy the Digital Media and Web Technology program much more than you'd enjoy CS. That doesn't mean you won't enjoy programming though! Have you done any of the programming courses here on Treehouse? Try going through the Ruby on Rails courses (PHP is a lot less enjoyable, imo) to get a feel for it. You'll get to do both design and programming as you build a Rails application.
A CS program will be a LOT of programming, usually in established languages like Java and C, and almost no HTML/CSS or interface design.
Sandra Weber
1,531 PointsSandra Weber
1,531 PointsApologies, it seems I can't edit my reply. I should have said that my experience with a computer science program did not involve much design, but be sure to check the courses that your college offers as they may be different.
Benjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsBenjamin Gooch
20,367 PointsSandra, Thank you very much for your response! I do have an interest in doing programming (though I haven't really tried my hand at it) in languages like Java. I know this will probably be a marketable skill in my career field. I'm working in Military Intelligence and they always need programmers to tweak and create programs. I am trying the PHP one now, I'll give the Ruby on Rails a try as well. Thanks again!