More than half the population that gives
the competitive engineering exams in our country today has only one
goal in their mind, Computer Science Engineering. Every school student
who believes he can pursue engineering in college wants to get into CS.
The reasons for them are quite obvious. The work Computer Engineers do
seems to be easy. They get to sit in good labs and not work hard in
workshop industries, mines and on roads. And the salary, oh! The salary
they get, it’s good enough to buy a BMW
convertible and park it in your garage before you turn 25. But these
false believes about this branch is not my current concern.
Without getting into details and
reasoning behind this mad craze of Computer Science Engineering, let us
proceed to what happens next. After burning the midnight oil for 2 years
or more, a few lac students get into this fascinating branch. The
situation now gets confusing, and rather interesting. The first year
computer science and IT students experience that all ‘core’ branch
engineering students are busy learning about motors and pumps and
engineering structures and what not. So what should we study? We have
achieved more marks than them. We are supposed to be more intelligent.
We are supposed to be more ‘busy’. But that is never the case. In this
article, I will make it easier for all those future computer engineers
who are willing to learn and explore and work hard again.
Most of us start with programming.
Figuring out the logic behind so many types of sorting and understanding
the complex algorithms and what not. Whether it is Java, or C or
python! Some of us get into Android/Windows App development or even web
development. I understand that learning PHP, HTML and these programming
languages is quite interesting and easy, this approach is slightly
wrong. The approach that every computer science student must have should
relate more to the CORE concepts of computer science. The approach
should be more basic. Basic does not necessarily mean easy, it can be
complex, very very complex. And hence, here is a list of interesting
topics that you must study before diving into any specific.
- Theory of Computation: Studying the theory of computation is very important so as to understand how to solve problems. To understand how computers analyze problems. It might appear to be boring and lengthy, but this theory is like entering the Hogwarts of Binary World!
- Data Structures: Before studying any object oriented language in detail, we must be clear with the concept of objects and Data Structures. Whether it is Amazon or Google, every company will judge you on your understanding of this topic.
- Linear Algebra: Yes, Mathematics. No study of computers can ever be complete without studying Math. So if you want to take a lead and be the HERO of your class, Linear Algebra will help you a great deal.
Just three topics! So to master the
basics of computer science, all you need to know are these three topics.
After being done with these, any programming language, software
development will be a piece of cake. Not because you will be
knowledgeable enough to do it, but you will be smart enough to grasp it
quickly and easily! Many of your relatives might have told you that how
there is a scarcity of jobs for computer science engineers in the
nation, but it is not jobs that we lack, it is the skills required to do
them properly. All the Best!
