For many of us who ventured into computer science, the reality is far from the romanticized image of genius influencers studying at prestigious universities. The biggest factor shaping our degree is often the institution we attend, with some countries offering degrees that span 3, 4, or even 5 years.
First Year:
The initial year typically introduces you to the fundamentals of programming, often using languages like Python, Java, or sometimes even C or Lisp. This introductory course is designed to weed out those who may have chosen the degree on a whim, as it dives into basic programming concepts like variables, loops, and functions, along with common coding problems.
Another introductory class delves into programming paradigms like functional or object-oriented programming. However, these are often outdated compared to real-world coding, where spaghetti code is the norm.
Sadly, that's all the coding you'll be doing in your first year. The rest is filled with math classes and unrelated science or engineering electives. It's as if becoming a software engineer from a CS degree is like becoming a chef from a chemistry degree.
Second Year:
If you've managed to persevere without switching majors or embarking on more lucrative pursuits, your second year will introduce you to other CS topics. These may include an introduction to computer systems, where you'll learn how computers work from software to hardware, or an introduction to computational logic and algorithms and data structures, where you'll draw circles and lines, play 'Where's Waldo' with Big O complexity, and maybe write a little bit of code.
At this stage, forget about sleep, partying, or maintaining your mental and physical health. Get used to late-night coding sessions fueled by Red Bull and instant noodles, while listening to Abdul Bari's soothing voice. Oh, and the math gets harder too, with discreet math, statistics, calculus, and algebra becoming your new companions.
Third and Fourth Years:
As you progress through your degree, balancing a demanding academic workload with a part-time job, you'll also need to build projects using technologies employers actually use and grind leetcode problems to land a job. Your inbox will be flooded with rejection emails, but don't despair.
If you've made it this far without seeking therapy, you'll notice the classes emptying out, with the kid with the Arch Linux ThinkPad now officially employed at Google. Lack of sleep and minimal social interaction may have eroded your fundamental knowledge, and your only social interaction might be with a certain YouTuber whose face you've seen a bit too much.
While juggling an unpaid internship and failing online hacker rank assessments, your CS classes will throw you in the deep end. You'll tackle advanced topics like creating compilers for your own programming language, cryptography disguised as programming, and perhaps even building a graphics engine. All this while trying to make sense of deep computing theory and whatever electives you've chosen.
Finally, in your final year, you'll engage in more hands-on work, like building projects for actual companies as part of Capstone projects. These projects can give you valuable experience in software engineering, complete with useless teammates who disappear, unpaid overtime, and delivering half-baked products. Alternatively, you can dive deeper into research areas like machine learning, cryptography, or computer vision.
Life After University:
Now, let's face it. You studied computer science for the life after university, which often involves watching others get into prestigious tech companies while you stress about not getting a job, despite being overqualified for flipping burgers.
If this video and the prospect of thousands of dollars in debt haven't deterred you, and you genuinely love programming and are fascinated by computing, then good luck! You're on your own now.
Thank you for your time, and until next time, keep coding and laughing.