Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with science and programming

How should I pursue a career in software development?

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:37:39 -0800

I’m interested in a career in software development. How should I pursue this? I graduated from a pretty well-regarded college several years ago with a degree in the natural sciences, and went into an unrelated field. I quit my job about six months ago and went traveling with the intention of figuring out what I really want to do or at least something that I won’t hate.

So, I’ve been considering different things, and I’m interested in software development. I’ve done some programming on my own – pretty basic stuff, using C and Python - but I like it. I’m very good at math and like solving problems. I like the mix of structured, logical thinking and creativity required of a good software developer. Problem is, I don’t have any formal training in computer science, programming, or advanced math. I’ve taken college level Calculus I and II and Statistics – all actually completed in high school (AP credit), and also Physics I and II taken in college. That is the extent of my computer science-related background. I have some savings and am willing to invest in more education provided there will be a ROI.

I’ve done a bit of research, and as I see it there are three options:

1. Go back and get a second undergraduate degree in Computer Science. I’ve looked at the requirements for my alma mater’s program and it looks like I could get through the requirements for a BS (14 courses that I haven’t previously completed) in three semesters or a BA (8 courses) in two semesters. If this is my best option, a few follow up questions:

- How important is pedigree in CS? My alma mater is ranked about 20 in US News in CS. Are the opportunities (higher salary or better placements) coming from a top 10 program like CMU or UM markedly different than those from a 20ish program like UNC? I don’t really care about working at one of the super-sexy tech firms, I’m just wondering if the average salary differences are going to be large, in which case it might make more sense to go to a higher ranked program even if tuition is higher. I’m coming from an industry where pedigree is very important, so perhaps I’m a little paranoid, but I don’t know how things work in tech.

- How about BA vs BS, for software development? Is it worth the extra semester to get the BS?

2. Master’s programs. Most CS programs won’t accept students without an undergrad CS or related degree, which I don’t have. Here are three that I have found:

Masters in Computer Science at UChicago
MCIT at UPenn
MSIT at Carnegie Mellon

Only the first seems to be a “pure” CS degree; the last seems more geared towards IT, although it has great placement stats. I’m not sure whether anyone will be familiar with these programs, but if so, how would this compare to getting a second BS?

Another option would be to complete the prerequisites for a Master’s as an extension student at my undergraduate college, then apply for admissions to a Master’s program. I’m not sure if a Master’s degree is preferable to a bachelors for an entry-level software development job, though.

3. Finally, option three: Self-teach myself programming, get involved in some open-source projects, then apply for jobs on that basis. Inspired by this post . Frankly, I don’t know how to compare this option with the others. While it makes sense to build relevant, applicable skills, I feel like I would be missing some of the formal structure that a CS program would provide. I don’t really know, though, whether the stuff you learn at school is stuff you really need to know in the real world, or just part of the program. From a monetary perspective, I'd also guess that starting salary would be substantially higher for someone with a degree in computer science and thus worth the investment...but I don't really know.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

What can I add to my math degree to improve my job prospects?

ZeroDivides — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:16:35 -0800

I have a B.S. in Math, but I haven't been able to find a job in my field. What can I add to my undergrad degree to be more competitive in the job market? I searched for math-related jobs for many months before finally giving up and taking work in the field that got me through college in the first place (high volume printing). It seems like almost everything math-related requires a master's degree or a PhD. While in school, I really enjoyed mathematical modeling, but now I understand that my grasp of it is probably not firm enough to be useful to most employers.

Since then I have worked for an online game company in my spare time, as a developer. This is about 20 hours a week and in addition to whatever else I have going on at the time. Unfortunately this is an old game and isn't well known, and the skills I have acquired there are sort of specific to that game. The language I work in is proprietary and the format isn't modern or cool. I really love the game and enjoy the work tremendously. It's basically a volunteer position, though, since the pay is very little.

I'll have the opportunity over the next few years of getting a master's degree online at very little expense. Unfortunately, it has to be online because I'm living abroad for the next few years I don't speak the local language well enough to go to school here (shameful, but I'm working on it).

What sort of degree would be best for me if I want to try to continue with game development? What about generic computer programming? These seem a little more approachable than mathematical modeling, but maybe I am mistaken about that? Is there anything else I should be doing, or taking into account? I mainly just want to position myself so that I can finally nail down a challenging job that will get me above the poverty line, and I think I could be happy doing any of those things.

Science: Sound, Percption, MP3, and Beyond

waxboy — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:50:28 -0800

I'm in need of graduate level schooling on psychoacoustics and audio compression on the cheap. What are the latest and/or most used textbooks on these topics? There are two studies involved here: the science of how humans perceive sound and the art of data compression algorithms. My aim is to understand the state of the art in the overlap of the two with an emphasis on psychoacoustics, which may very well require reading up on each topic separately. Regarding psychoacoustics, I'm looking for the most comprehensive text(s) available. Something that discusses and illustrates concepts would be good. Something that specifies the math behind various models and refers to journal publications would be ideal. Regarding compression, math/reference heavy is preferred, and I'm primarily interested in techniques and algorithms that take advantage of psychoacoustic models to exploit frequency/loudness thresholds, phenomena like temporal masking, etc. Learning the various ways to perform related transforms such as FFT, wavelet, etc is also within my sights. The idea is to gain an understanding of, say, the science behind MP3, then and now, plus the challenges/limits involved in furthering similar technology.

Getting off the ground with bioinformatics?

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:54:40 -0800

I'm a final year biochemistry undergrad, and through my internships / reading of papers / etc, I've become keenly aware that I'd like to be more conversant with computer science approaches to the field. The sheer volume of approaches and strategies in bioinformatics is a little overwhelming, though: where's a good place to start focusing my attention? I have strong maths skills, but my programming ability is limited to pecking out simple instruction sets in Python or Matlab, and my research work thus far has mostly been on isolating and characterising protein markers from serum / urine / etc.

Coding Practice

Chicken Boolean — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:34:48 -0800

Programming Filter: I'm applying for software jobs, but I don't want to forget what I know. How should I practice to keep my skills sharp? I got my BS in CS, but I don't have much real-life experience. I want to be able to answer interview questions off the top of my head, not after thinking for a minute. Since I'm not programming all the time anymore, I'm starting to forget things—I need a project to work on so I can keep programming fresh in my mind. It wouldn't hurt if I could learn something new while I'm at it.

The languages I know best are C/C++, Java, and Python, but I doubt the language matters all that much. I also don't think learning a new language (like C#) would be worthwhile, but learning new language-independent topics might be a good idea. (For example, I'm totally ignorant of databases/SQL and anything web-related; obviously those are big topics!) I could be wrong about all this, so let me know if I am.

Here are some options I already thought of, but that seem unsatisfying:

Project Euler, 99 Lisp Problems, etc. Solving these little arithmetic puzzles is very different from making structurally complex software of the kind that I'd be working on in real life.
Learn a new computer science subject by reading a textbook and doing all the problems that involve programming. Though I would enjoy learning new stuff, this seems like too much theory and too little actual code-writing.
Find an open-source project and start contributing. It seems overwhelming to just download some huge codebase and get to work without any guidance; I have no idea where to start. (Is there a way to make this easier?)
Write a web server or a raytracer, as suggested in this old thread. A web server might be good, but I don't know how a web server works or anything about networking/HTTP. Should I learn all that?

Any other ideas? Or do you think any of the above are actually good ones? Thanks!

Computer podcasts with more science?

pwnguin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:05:24 -0800

Are there any good podcasts on Computer Science research? Science and Nature have pretty popular podcasts, but I find the biology weighting to be far too high for my tastes and while I subscribe, rarely do I choose to listen to them. I subscribe to EconTalk which is a format I like; a longish interview with a published expert. But within my own profession I feel a bit underserved.

It's easy to find computer-ey podcasts, like product reviews and but I'm having trouble finding podcasts on computer science specifically. Even the IEEE Spectrum is focused on current events. When I try Google searches I mainly get course lectures, which I appreciate but is not what I'm looking for at this moment.

Am I missing something obvious? Or is this just not a popular subject / not tenure material?

Non-academic jobs for a statistician/ecologist in Israel?

JumpW — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 07:33:46 -0800

What are some non-academic jobs near Tel Aviv, Israel that would be a good fit for someone with training in statistics (MA) and ecology (PhD)? For the next two years I'll be living in Rehovot, Israel, where my wife has accepted a postdoc. I recently completed my PhD in ecology and MA in statistics. Ideally, I would also find a two-year academic postdoc, but the search has been challenging. While a postdoc isn't yet out of the question, I think it is time to start brainstorming some other jobs/careers/piecemeal work I might consider for the two years I'll be there. What are some good options?

More on my skills:
- I don't speak Hebrew.
- I minored in CS as an undergrad and can program in Java, R, and C++ reasonably well, but maybe not well enough that I could perform a job with the title "programmer".
- I like to think that I have good experience using statistics and programming as tools to meet some larger problem-solving objective (eg in ecology), and I'm most interested in a job that would let me do something similar.

Any and all suggestions welcome, thanks for your help!

University of Phoenix - Scamminess = ???

joshrholloway — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:20:52 -0800

Is there anything like University of Phoenix, except not a "scam" or a "diploma mill"? I'd really love to get a degree in computer science (specifically programming/software development) at some point. However, I feel like I would be wasting my time with most traditional university programs for three reasons:

1) My schedule and location really do not permit me to get into a highly structured, scheduled classroom environment, but I have a lot of random free time I could use to take online courses.

2) I cannot and will not take on any student loans. Anything I do at this point needs to be cash-only. My company will reimburse some education expenses, but even something like an "inexpensive" $40,000 degree is pretty much out of the question.

3) I feel like I would be wasting my time working for a degree that is probably half (or more) made up of math, English, or general education courses.

I realize that University of Phoenix is pretty much considered a diploma mill, but it certainly does have the appeal of meeting all criteria I need for a degree. So, is there anything out there that is similar to the UoP, where you take online classes just within your area of study and get a degree?

I realize I might be seeking the Holy Grail and asking too much, but what's the best I can do? Is there an online degree program from an accredited and reputable school that can offer me inexpensive classes with very few general education classes? I don't care if it's a big name or a well-known school. But I do want to actually learn and have it mean something.

Seeking clicking mechanism or design...

pallen123 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:21:02 -0800

What kind of small toys or devices click when you rotate them forwards and backwards? Seeking mechanism or design... I’m trying to help a friend design a small toy and she needs a mechanism that will click in very small increments as she rotates a small (1 inch diameter) dial that turns 360 degrees on its axis. She needs the dial to click precisely as it turns clockwise and counterclockwise in smallish increments. I was thinking a fishing reel mechanism might work, but that just allows turning in one direction. Then I thought a ratchet wrench mechanism might work, but that also turns in just one direction (and I’m not sure how the inside of a ratchet wrench works either). Can anyone think of existing toys or devices that have a clicking mechanism that freely rotate? Novel solutions? Suggestions? Thank you!

Python or Java ...

eebs — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:13:52 -0800

Help me choose between Python and Java for a specific type of programming. Background: I am a researcher in engineering with a wide scope. Mostly, I perform simulations of (mechanical) systems, behavior of which are governed by differential equations. I also develop models for biology/genetics (but not bioinformatics type stuff). I use Fortran (I know) for programming, write results to output file(s) and read them using Excel or Tecplot to visualize. I also use Matlab and Mathematica for quick models. It gets pretty cumbersome after a while, especially when you want to quickly figure out behavior change (of a phenomenon) depending on the input variables. So I thought maybe it is time for me to learn some OOP and write codes that will allow me to change input variables interactively and see the results simultaneously on the screen. Following link best describes the type of interface I am looking for:

http://cmol.nbi.dk/models/igroup/igroup.html

You see what I mean? There are buttons, sliders, text boxes to change variables and the results change immediately in the "graphics" area. As far as I can tell, it is an applet written using Java. Let's drop the ability to write applets aside because I am not looking for that.

First question: can one write a code that would provide similar interface (GUI if you will) using Python?

If so, would it be pretty straight forward after some Python learning (I understand it is hard to answer this question but give it whirl please)?

Java appears a little intimidating to me while my initial experience with Python has been pleasant. However, I could not find any applications/codes on Python sites that fits what I am looking for (suggestions are welcome).

Thanks so much.

Suggestions (books, projects, things to learn, things to do) for a 2nd year Computer Science Student over Winter Break?

Javed_Ahamed — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:05:06 -0800

Suggestions (books, projects, things to learn, things to do) for a 2nd year Computer Science Student over Winter Break? Winter Break is soon approaching and I feel like accomplishing something over it. I am a sophomore computer science student, and I was wondering what the hive mind might suggest to do with all this new time available! Any computer books, online lectures, sample projects (Im going to learn C# over break, maybe some open source projects that are friendly to noobs?) or whatever to help get an edge on the competition and have fun are welcome! Also included are any things you feel essential to learn, tech wise or not.

Right now I know C and Java, and a good level of python and use linux if that matters. I am taking functional programming languages and Algorithms next semester as well.

Ideally, my plan so far has just been to learn a new language or two, get experience coding in these languages (don't know what to code or how to find an open source project to really work on though) and get head start for next semester.

Whatever your thoughts/experiences please do tell! And happy holidays!

[Internship Filter] Help me find a programming internship (computer science student) over summer break!

Javed_Ahamed — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:37:02 -0800

[Internship Filter] Help me find a programming internship (computer science student) over summer break! Hey guys I am a 2nd year computer science student at the University of Maryland and I am just getting around to looking for a summer coding internship to help get some experience. The problem is I have no idea how to start looking/how to distinguish myself from the crowd. Not really sure what to put on my resume or what to do to prepare for interviews either. The problem is I have no real experience to begin with, which is why I am searching for a internship so I am not sure what to put on my resume... So far i just have little odd things here and there from high school, most of it not even related to programming.

The two or three interviews I have gotten, I have mostly been rejected due to "no prior experiences" or because I haven't taken junior and senior level classes like data structures or algorithms.

I know everyone says to "make something" so you stand out and while I experiment with new things almost constantly I can't seem to make the jump right now to just starting to make something as I do not know where to start.

In summary do you guys have any advice you can give me to help snag a programming summer internship, and to help stand out from the crowd? Thanks a bunch!

when does a wise man quit?

WannaBeAPhD — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:59:44 -0800

Background: I am 41 years old. I am 16 credits shy of graduating with a BS in Mathemathics. my GPA is 2.79, I have over 250 hours of attempted coursework, 144 of that is being counted towards my degree. I program and design software systems for a living. The Problem: I really love math and computer science but I am lousy at learning. when I say lousy I mean slow. It is an all or nothing proposition for me I am either a master of the material or I do not know it. When I have to study I experience psychosomatic symptoms, irritability, out of body experience, confusion, trouble concentrating. This has been happening since I was a child, I have a real aversion to studying, and it has gotten worse now in my adult years. I was diagnosed with ADHD about 8 months ago. The metadate works somewhat well to clear up the fog but when I have to study hard nothing helps.

I can perform my job well but that usually does not require me to think of the formal methods or theory about my job unless I am really pushing what I want to get implemented. To do my job I have self educated over the years I have read a large number of books because of interest in the material and the need to do my job.

I get bored at work doing repetitive tasks or tasks that don't require me to innovate or do research. I've just about reached the point where I have to become a bureacrat. I want to be able to continue to innovate, research and learn and I really want to study and become a PhD. There are jobs out there that I would qualify for if only I had a little more education adn the title. If money were no object I would simply study and take as long as I needed to in educating myself. That luxury is not available to me.

Is it wise for me to continue dreaming this way or should I simply accept my limitations and give up hope. I do fear that giving up hope will severely shorten my life. When I think of it I can feel the emotion build up. What does a wise man do when faced with the reality that he may never be what he has always wanted to be?

How to teach myself computer science?

petah — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:41:54 -0800

I want to teach myself computer science. I know that teaching myself is far from a university education on the subject, but I'd like to try. How can I teach myself? What are books/lectures/tools/websites/anything that I could use to do this? Covering everything from the programming languages themselves, to algorithms, software development, and the mathematics background necessary for this. Starting with freshman year from college, I always considered changing my major to Computer Science but I never acted on it, and now it's a bit too late for me. I took C classes when I was younger, but it was mainly as a hobby.

If you're self-taught in the field of computer science, I'd love to hear from you. If you're university trained, even better. I'm relatively self-motivated (I know it's not easy to teach yourself these concepts), and have 2 semesters of experience in Java. (I know, I know.) I want to learn it all.