[transformya]

can any software developer tell em what subjects do I actually require in IB to do computer science course or computer engineering (don't exactly know the difference )?
thanks.

[Psyk]

Maths is the important one. Not sure what subjects you can do for IB, but if you can do computing it's good but not essential, as they don't assume any previous programming experience. Really it's maths and any maths related subjects (like the sciences) that are considered good for doing CS at uni.

As for computer science vs. computer engineering, computer engineering is usually more focused on computer hardware. Where as computer science is more about abstract problem solving and programming. Although you will do a lot of programming in both.

[transformya]

WTF....my subjets are:
Physics HL (higher level)
Computer Science HL
Information Technology HL
English HL
MATHEMATICS SL (Standard level)
Language SL

What do I do I don't have Mathematics Higher level...Is there any alternative for that can I take Mathematics courses? Will it be of any help?

[Psyk]

(Original post by transformya)
WTF....my subjets are:
Physics HL (higher level)
Computer Science HL
Information Technology HL
English HL
MATHEMATICS SL (Standard level)
Language SL

What do I do I don't have Mathematics Higher level...Is there any alternative for that can I take Mathematics courses? Will it be of any help?

Not sure how the IB works, but you still have some level of maths. Plus you have computer science and physics, which are presumably quite heavily maths based. You'll probably be fine with those subjects.

[transformya]

hopefully...
thanks

[Stefanb]

(Original post by Psyk)
Not sure how the IB works, but you still have some level of maths. Plus you have computer science and physics, which are presumably quite heavily maths based. You'll probably be fine with those subjects.

Can I ask why maths is important? I've finished my first year of CS at glasgow and other than the maths module i picked ( unrelated to CS )In my whole year I’ve done no maths for CS nor can I see it applicable in programming other than the thinking processes involved. This may change in second year. I’m just wondering if you could give me an idea of the maths involved in computing and its usefulness?

Thanks

[Psyk]

(Original post by Stefanb)
Can I ask why maths is important? I've finished my first year of CS at glasgow and other than the maths module i picked ( unrelated to CS )In my whole year I’ve done no maths for CS nor can I see it applicable in programming other than the thinking processes involved. This may change in second year. I’m just wondering if you could give me an idea of the maths involved in computing and its usefulness?

Thanks

I found that by the third year, it's basically all maths of some sort. In the first year you're typically getting up to speed with programming. By the third year, you're learning how to apply that programming ability to solving problems, and that typically involves breaking the problem down with maths. You may not always realise you're doing maths, to be fair it's quite different from the maths you do at A-level or equivalent.

There's not really much point in giving you specific examples of what maths you might use because it's potentially anything. It completely depends on what problems you are trying to solve.

[transformya]

Without mathematics how can you do programming (except for those very easy and basic programs taught at the beginning[even they require bit of math indirectly]). Look I guess mathematical formulas are used everywhere in programming (take an example of a program to sort a list of names and then check what name the user requires and then add stuff to it deduct things from it and turn it upside down etc...this requires a lot of logic...so you very well require mathematics there) and yeah once you do higher level programming...you will realize where is mathematics required....you need to be really good with mathematics and your brain must work really quick to design stuff and crack stuff...

[TheUnbeliever]

(Original post by Stefanb)
I’m just wondering if you could give me an idea of the maths involved in computing and its usefulness?

Computer science is a broad field, but almost any real-world application will have a theoretical basis in some combination of linear algebra, multivariate calculus, probability and inferential statistics. Specific uses draw upon other tools, but those are probably the most common. On the other end of the spectrum, theoretical computer science is effectively pure (rather than applied) maths.

[djshine88]

If you're doing computing science - you need a pretty good understanding of mathematics (a level standard) and maybe physics because you will need to know about electrics and etc.

[Psyk]

(Original post by djshine88)
If you're doing computing science - you need a pretty good understanding of mathematics (a level standard) and maybe physics because you will need to know about electrics and etc.

I suppose it depends on the course, but I didn't have to know anything about the physics of electronics. Even the courses about hardware were higher level than that. About the only thing of that level was a brief description of how a transistor works.

For me, physics was more relevant to computer graphics courses. Stuff about how light behaves and how you can simulate that on a computer. But I think there can be quite a bit of variation in CS courses. Maybe some have more focus on hardware.

I don't think the content of a physics A-level is particularly relevant to computer science for the most part. It's a good subject because you have to use similar problem solving skills.

[violetta12]

(Original post by transformya)
WTF....my subjets are:
Physics HL (higher level)
Computer Science HL
Information Technology HL
English HL
MATHEMATICS SL (Standard level)
Language SL

What do I do I don't have Mathematics Higher level...Is there any alternative for that can I take Mathematics courses? Will it be of any help?

Are these your A Levels subjects?? if they are, what do u plan to do later on??

[djshine88]

(Original post by Psyk)
I suppose it depends on the course, but I didn't have to know anything about the physics of electronics. Even the courses about hardware were higher level than that. About the only thing of that level was a brief description of how a transistor works.

For me, physics was more relevant to computer graphics courses. Stuff about how light behaves and how you can simulate that on a computer. But I think there can be quite a bit of variation in CS courses. Maybe some have more focus on hardware.

I don't think the content of a physics A-level is particularly relevant to computer science for the most part. It's a good subject because you have to use similar problem solving skills.

A level physics probably wouldn't be necessary. Maths is tho.

I do software engineering - and part of it was hardware related and etc which had nothing to do with physics - but alot to do with algorithms which requires a lot of maths.

In computer Science - i'm not too sure but i'd say there would be a bit of embedded involved in - and it would be nice to know stuff about Circuit boards, transistors etc - hence the physics side. That's just my assumption, but defo Maths is required.