How come nobody ever recommends doing Computer Science for A levels?

From your thread you're emphasizing the programming aspects a lot more. Therefore if programming is your thing then you might want to look into software engineering course which isn't as maths based as Comp Sci. Infact there's little to no maths in Software Eng. All you need is to show aptitue for programming, and knowing how to code well in advance is just a bonus.

Don't listen to those that think you must take the Maths + Psychics + Chemistry route to be successful at Computing. My teachers all thought I'd fail computing and the programming sides just because I was really bad at Maths. Turns out they were proven wrong, all you need is passion, not maths.

If programming is what you want to focus on, then there's no need to even do further maths nor normal maths. Unless you want to go into game development or programming that requires lots of maths (I've never really seen any that does).

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

Push_More_Button

12

Original post by john5220

X

The computer science curriculum was only recently improved to cover technical topics and not all A Level institutions offer it now so it would be unfair for universities to say you must have a B in A Level Computer Science if your sixth form/college doesn't offer it.

Before the changes the only subjects you could do were Computing (a little technical) and ICT (using Microsoft Office) so they weren't valuable for universities to consider when making their offers so they preferred to see rigorous academic subjects to prove you were capable.

Original post by Async

Infact there's little to no maths in Software Eng. All you need is to show aptitue for programming

Hate to break it to you, but there's still a good chunk of mathematics content in a Software Engineering programme.

Reply 3

Original post by Push_More_Button

Hate to break it to you, but there's still a good chunk of mathematics content in a Software Engineering programme.

Hmmmm from my experience I've not really required much maths in the programming I do. Nothing greater than GCSE maths that is. From the universities I've look at, in the course content there were little to no maths involved. Then again I was only interesting in the universities that had little to no maths :colone:

..

The most maths I've seen in a Soft Eng course was matrices, vectors and differentiation & integration..

Reply 4

Duskstar

13

The IT teachers at my school says there are no worthwhile Comp Sci qualifictations (A Level or GCSE) at the moment, so we don't do them.

Also, you are much better off doing Maths and Further Maths, and then reading about Computer Science or programming in your own free time (which looks better for you application anyway)

Reply 5

OP

Hi guys thank you for answering my question. I tend to get a lot of response from people regarding being a programmer. What I want to do is develop software for the business sector.

One guy on a programming forum told me that you could never be a good programmer with a IT degree. He said even programming for the business sector or more complex website programming will require maths otherwise its a recipe for disaster. And that in the end everything will crumble and I won't know why.

Now where I live in Trinidad and Tobago, I have a friend who works in the IT field, and he told me he witnessed first hand that almost all the people who come in with Computing and ICT degrees does not last when doing database development etc. He says what he noticed is that over 90% of those who came in with a BSc in CIS from University of Greenwich end up having to leave. And 90% who come in with a BSc in Computer Science from University of the West Indies end up staying and can handle the job.

This is from his personal experience from working there. He still works there but he has a BSc in CIS from University of London which apparently has way more maths than anyother CIS degree. So he seems to be able to cope with it, but he is now in a IT Manager position so he no longer does programming.

But here is the thing I am an old man now. I am 29 years old and will be 30 in September. I cannot go back to high school its out of the picture. So what I want to do is self study A levels we now use "CAPE" and no longer British A levels for some reason. But say what the government will pay for it for free for me.
What I have is 5 O levels with a 2 in maths. And I have a Diploma plus a Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies from NCC of UK in Manchester.

I am reading a great book by Rob Miles the yellow book to C# Programming which teaches the concepts of programming and not just the C# language

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5019271be4b0807297e8f404/t/52ca85ebe4b04a45ef2c9c97/1389004267685/Rob+Miles+CSharp+Yellow+Book+2014.pdf

But I am worried that for some reason I would need a computer science degree to do this kind of work. I know for a fact I could get the A levels / CAPE Pure Math and Applied Math by self study on my own. I could just use online resources and youtube to learn these stuff.

Reply 6

OP

btw guys I would like to point out something, in my country most programming jobs are in .NET ASP C# and JAVA and well yeah SQL its all business related.

Do you guys think that an IT Degree is enough for this? I would much prefer just finish off my BSc IT degree which will be with a low rate London Metropolitan University which will only take 1 year to complete since I have my Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies.

Well the official name is BSc in Business Computing (top up) its via distance learning in the Caribbean we do it locally here. But I hear in a Computer Science degree when you learn algorithim analysis and data structures etc it makes you a far better software developer even for the business sector.

Reply 7

Harjot

13

Original post by john5220

I swear people say things like if you want to study computer science at University then do Math and "chemistry" or physics

How could this make sense? isn't it better to do math and computer science in A levels if you want to do a BSc in Computer Science?

Btw I have a Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies and I am currently learning Programming on my own self study. Do you guys think that A levels Computer Science and Pure Maths would be of great help to me? Or is A levels simply not high enough to be considered useful in boosting a resume and my knowledge in aiding in software development?

Seeing that IT programming has no math or computer science? Its one of the reasons I wanted to take Computer Science + Further Math for A levels / CAPE its called in the Caribbean.

Or is A levels Computer Science useless in doing real world programming?

For CompSci at a respectable uni, maths is a must. In real software engineering, yeah sure you may not need loads of the stuff you learn, but say you work for an algorithmy type company e.g. Google, that's when all the data structures etc come in. A lot of programmer who haven't done the algorithmic/mathematical stuff tend to not understand the programs they write in enough detail, and generally produce mediocre software (that is my very judgemental opinion lol)

Just do Maths, Physics and Computing. Chemistry will not aid your application in any way, and will be throw away knowledge. You get to do a practical project in A-level computing, and this is a chance to produce something that maybe you'll be proud enough to put on your resume etc. It'll also show that you have experienced computer science to the unis, and so they know that you know you enjoy it.

But Maths and Further Maths are the most important.

Reply 8

Original post by Harjot

A lot of programmer who haven't done the algorithmic/mathematical stuff tend to not understand the programs they write in enough detail, and generally produce mediocre software (that is my very judgemental opinion lol)

Evidence? I understand every program I've written in enough detail. The reason why I understand them is because I NEVER copy and paste code from Google, and if I do, it's never more than 2 or 3 lines of code and I always start everything from scratch, unless I want to reuse a class I had created previously.

Reply 9

OP

Guys I will never work for google LOL

here is what the kind of jobs are offered in my country programming wise

http://www.caribbeanjobs.com/Programmer-Job-62566.aspx

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent qualification.( this suggests they take IT or something tech related over comp sci)

Application programming experience with C#, VB, JAVA, PHP, XML, ASP and .NET.

Work experience with other relational databases (e.g. MySQL, PostgreSQL).

HERE IS ANOTHER ONE

http://www.caribbeanjobs.com/Software-Developer-Resonance-Trinidad-Job-55510.aspx

Job Purpose: Develop & support new web/mobile products for clients

Good knowledge of C#, Java, SQL required

Strong analytical and problem solving skills

Knowledge of HTML, PHP, JavaScript is an asset

So from that the one with Info Tech caribbean especially, do you need a computer science degree for that? a friend of mine says at illuminat which deals with banks etc locally he says IT grads don't last as a programmer there. They almost exclusively hire BSc in Computer Science grads from University of the West Indies now.

Reply 10

username1495504

17

My friend got uni offers for Computer Science from top unis with A levels in Computer Science, ICT and Maths with an AS in Psychology.

Reply 11

Jooooshy

17

Original post by Async

Evidence? I understand every program I've written in enough detail. The reason why I understand them is because I NEVER copy and paste code from Google, and if I do, it's never more than 2 or 3 lines of code and I always start everything from scratch, unless I want to reuse a class I had created previously.

What's the most complicated thing you have ever programmed?

Reply 12

Original post by Jooooshy

What's the most complicated thing you have ever programmed?

What's your definition of complicated.

From my point of view, a program doesn't have to be complicated because it uses billions of degree level mind throbbing algorithms/maths, a complex program to me is one that in-cooperates all different technologies, concepts to make one solution. However, once I've finished coding a program, I no-longer class it as complex because I've just proven to myself it's not by completing it.

Reply 13

Jooooshy

17

Original post by john5220

I swear people say things like if you want to study computer science at University then do Math and "chemistry" or physics

How could this make sense? isn't it better to do math and computer science in A levels if you want to do a BSc in Computer Science?

Btw I have a Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies and I am currently learning Programming on my own self study. Do you guys think that A levels Computer Science and Pure Maths would be of great help to me? Or is A levels simply not high enough to be considered useful in boosting a resume and my knowledge in aiding in software development?

Seeing that IT programming has no math or computer science? Its one of the reasons I wanted to take Computer Science + Further Math for A levels / CAPE its called in the Caribbean.

Or is A levels Computer Science useless in doing real world programming?

Most universities teach from scratch, so perhaps students decide to pick something else that they won't recover..

Reply 14

OP

Whats the most complicated program you seen someone built who was self taught and didn't have a university degree?

Reply 15

Harjot

13

Original post by Async

Evidence? I understand every program I've written in enough detail. The reason why I understand them is because I NEVER copy and paste code from Google, and if I do, it's never more than 2 or 3 lines of code and I always start everything from scratch, unless I want to reuse a class I had created previously.

That's not really what I meant, but oh well. Nothing wrong with using stuff off the internet that you understand anyway.

Original post by john5220

Whats the most complicated program you seen someone built who was self taught and didn't have a university degree?

A bin. Seriously though you'll be missing something that people who come out with a CompSci degree have. I consider myself a pretty competent programmer and think I can pretty much solve most problems in any language, but I know I'm missing out on efficiency, data structures etc. Sure, there are plenty of non-degree people (the majority of the generation above us) who do good stuff without CS degrees, but there is so much you can learn from a CS degree. Also, your definition of complexity varies. Some people consider stringing a bunch of libraries together complex (structurally it can be), others consider writing a recursive algorithm that completes in O(n) time.

Reply 16

OP