Computer Science or IT?

CyberGhost

first of all sorry if this is the wrong topic to post this thread

i'm going to the college have to choose between the 2, can anyone please explain what each of those include? i mean what does computer science study? and IT? i to date i can't get that term, i think it refers to all computer related stuff, something like medicine, has many options

seamus

What college?

As I understand it, Computer Science is more of a science. There's theory behind computing, theory behind certain concepts and study of algorithms and stuff.

IT is more about learning skills to use in your career, ie programming, systems admin.

Comp Sci does contain some practical stuff, and IT does contain some theoretical stuff, but Comp Sci is more of a science subject, and IT is more of a career skills subjects, as far as I see it.

quarryman

Computer Science as Seamus said is more the science behind Computing and you will study everything down to a very detailed level. It many ways it can be quite boring if you're not interested in that particular area. Computer science can also be very difficult and always has a high failure/dropout rate. Some people will not realise that it involves areas of Maths and Science and isn't about clicking the Start bar and opening Excel. Often most of your time will be spent away from computers.
IT is everything else. Its more about how to use the technology than how it works. Make sure you research the exact modules in every year to decide what you like. You won't pass if you don't have an interest in it. Not to mention Ireland seems to have an abundance of qulaified IT personnel at the moment with very little jobs.

CyberGhost

i haven't decided yet to what college, any suggestions?

and i think i'm gonna go with IT , programming or networking something like that, i have to find out all the available categories of IT then choose

Thanks for the explanations guys!

quarryman

I assume you mean you will be applying for entry next year? Are you in your Leaving Cert year now? Or working maybe? What points are you expecting/did you get? That affects your decision a little bit.

Anyways just as important as the course is the college you go to. And not because of all that "good facilities" crap. Some of the supposedly good colleges have poor IT services. If you live in Dublin U.C.D, D.C.U and Trinity are the main ones as well as D.I.T. Personally I would look at Universities in Cork and Galway. They are both excellent and have great social aspects.

Move out. Do da college thing.


that means drink

CyberGhost

yea, i live in Dublin, and my scores are fine!

Galway is GOOD!, i was there once and liked it a lot!

but whole moving out thing is kinda crap, i mean do unis offer a place to stay or something? (sorry i don't know much about university life never lived one )

anyways i gonna try UCD, and do a little research about Galway, i liked your idea

Thanks!

BloodBath

I am in the A.I.T. doing a diploma in computing.

I have six subjects, basically a mix of business and I.T.

In first year I had programming(C++), Computer Applications (Basically ECDL, word, access, exel ect, piece of piss.Did HTML in this class too) Information technology(All theory), The other three were business related, Accounting, Marketing and Quantitive Techniques(Nearly the same as higher level leaving cert maths). I could have done a language instead of marketing.

In second year i'm still doing the programming(continuing C++ then doing Visual Basic later in the year), I.T.2(More theory), Accountancy(2nd year of it, could have dropped it to do computer communications and networks), Business management, Systems Software(More theory similar to I.T.) and lastly systems analysis and design.


Hope that helps you a bit in choosing what you want to do. It's not just all computing and should open up a wide variety of job opportunities. I hope it ****ing does anyways. I'm off to the states when I finish. Marry some slapper in Las Vegas. Get my green card. Divorce her before I make any money so she can't rob me blind.:D Then get a good job there. Pays about 3 times as much for the same job than in Ireland.


BloodBath

seamus

UCD is very theory oriented. You'll go into some electronics in second year, and then some logic theory in 3rd year. Second year also is half comprised of the study of algorithms. There is no specialisation until third year, ie in first and second year, you have to choose subjects from the UCD Science faculty on top of Computer Science.
Third year is heavily built on formal language theory, and computing theory.
Some of the most practical (and interesting imo) modules in third year - Graphics, Networking and Databases - are optional. There is also a programming project, which is useful, but is only one of three practical sections. All other 'practical' sessions involve sitting in a room with a pen and paper, writing down stuff.

If you enjoy programming, and just want to learn more languages, as well as good programming techniques, and some career useful things, you can go to UCD, but be prepared for quite a bit of extracurriculur study to get yourself up to speed.

There's only 6 one-hour practical sessions using UNIX in 3rd year, and they're sessions with Compiler compilers, not actual UNIX-learning sessions. To me, that's ridiculous. Unix should be a core module, introduced at 2nd year.

Wasn't my cup of tea really

BloodBath

Sounds nasty. Feel like I have enough work atm but it's not that bad. Still the A.I.T. isn't exactly U.C.D. now.

I like the mix of business subjects in my course. It's always good to have a good understanding of business and business practices. Will always help in the future.

BloodBath

henbane

Check the modules and choices on offer and be prepared to do plenty of extra-curricular stuff if you want to be more than just another I.T. drone spewed forth who thought it might be good idea cos there's money in it.

D.C.U. has some good points - you get to make choices early and mess about with different streams to see what you might like to do at the end - compapp.dcu.ie

Trinity has ICT and Computer Science. If you're interested in computing do computer science. If it's the application side of things you want to do ICT is probably more your cup of tea. Check out cs.tcd.ie

Don't know about the other ones but I assume all have websites detailing module content and choices. Look around and don't go somewhere cos you think it would be cool to be there or so you can say you went to college there. If you pick the right course and intend to enjoy yourself, you will have a good time at college no matter what people tell you about the place and will probably get a decent degree. Then you can grow up to be another Nazi who says they went to the best college and all others be crap - Let's see, DCU is full of culchies and skangers; TCD is full of D4 knobs; UCD is an impersonal airport... I'm sure I could go on but you get the idea.

BloodBath

Right I know i,m going off topic but seeing as your on the subject.

Joke Time

Q. Why don't they have Christmas at DCU?
A. They can't find three wise men and a virgin.

Q. What do you get when you drive quickly through the
Carlow campus?
A. An undergraduate degree.

Q. What's the first thing a BESS bird does when she wakes
up in the morning?
A. Walks home.

Q. How do they separate the men from the boys at Trinity?
A. With a restraining order.

Q. What does a UCD student call a Trinity student after
graduation?
A. Boss.

Q. Why do they sell so many button-fly jeans in Carlow?
A. Because the sheep can hear the zippers a mile away.

Q. Did you hear that the library at DIT Kevin Street
burned down?

A. Naturally, the students were very upset....some of the
books weren't coloured-in yet.

Q. Why do UCD graduates put a copy of their diploma in the
window of their vehicles?
A. So they can park in handicap spaces.

Q. How do you get a IT grad off your front porch?
A. Pay him for the pizza.

Q. What do tornadoes and Arts graduates have in common?
A. They both end up in trailer parks.

Q. How many Athlone IT students does it take to change a
lightbulb?
A. None - Westmeath looks better in the dark. (lol true)

Q. How many Trinity students does it take to change a
lightbulb?
A. One - he holds the bulb and the world revolves around
him

Q. How many UCD students does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. Two - One to change the bulb and one more to explain
how they did it every bit as well as any TCD student.


Q. How many Bolton St. DIT students does it take to change
a lightbulb?
A. Three - One to change it and two to figure out how to
get high off the old one.


Q. What is the difference between a dead dog in the road
and a dead UCC student in the road?
A. There are skid marks in front of the dog.

>>Q. If you see a DIT student on a bike, why should you
never swerve to hit him?A. It might be your bike.


Q What do you have when 100 Arts students are buried up to
their neck in sand?
A. Not enough sand.


Q. What do Science students use for birth control?
A. Their personalities.


Q. You are trapped in a room with a tiger, a rattlesnake,
and a UCC student. You have a gun with two bullets. What should you do?
A. Shoot the UCC student...twice.

Q: What do u call a Limerick IT student in a suit?
A: The Defendant

Q:What do u call a University of Limerick graduate in a suit?
A: The Limerick IT student's lawyer

henbane

Originally posted by BloodBath
Right I know i,m going off topic but seeing as your on the subject.

Joke Time

Q. How many UCD students does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. Two - One to change the bulb and one more to explain
how they did it every bit as well as any TCD student.

Frigging excellent. That is the best one right there. Odds on how long before this thread gets locked/moved/deleted?

jesus_thats_gre

I gonna paste some stuff out of a CV I have about the Computing - Applications and Support Diploma in Dundalk and then the Degree add on in IT Management. Should igive you some sort of idea where some IT courses will lead you, I will see if I can get info on Software Development.

Year 4:

- Internet Computing - Middleware, Java
- Enterprise Computing - Middleware, Enterprise Systems, ERP, SAP, Web Services.
- Network Administration and Design - Gigabit, Wireless, VLANS, Media Streaming, Security
- Organisation and Management - Human Resource, Negotiation
- I.T Management - Management Information Systems, Finance. Quality and Strategic Mgnt
- Dissertation - 3G Research Project - Technology and Applications




Year 3:

- Internet Application Development - VBScript, ASP, JavaScript
- Communications and Networks - Fast Ethernet, IP, UDP, TCP etc..
- Computer Services Management - Project Management, Security, Health and Safety.
- Database Administration - UNIX, SQL, Ingress.
- Support Services - E-Learning, GUI, User Consideration.
- E-Commerce
- Individual Project - Web based Application using Access and ASP to create an Online Store




Year 2:

- Application Software 2 - VBA IN Excel, Word, Access and Power Point.
- Networking and Operating Systems - Networking Basics and UNIX.
- Interactive Multimedia - HTML, Video and Graphics.
- Computers Organisation - Hardware and OS Troubleshooting (A+ Course Material).
- Systems Analysis
- Mathematics 2
- Communications 2

Year 1:

- Windows Programming - Visual Basic 6.
- Application Software 1 - Excel, Access, Word and PowerPoint.
- Computer Hardware - Basic physics and computer hardware troubleshooting.
- Information Systems - History of computers and Information Systems.
- Accounting
- Mathematics 1
- Communications1

red vex

DCU is probably the most highly regarded computing course in ireland. The have renamed the course this year to Computer Applications Computer Science Software Engineering. They give you the options of which path you wish to take. Im in 3rd year n my subjects are:
OO Design & Implementation
Networks
Operating Systems
Languages & Complexity
Artifical Intellegence
....and something else ive forgotten:D
...oh yeah....Databases

kaimera

try Computer Systems in UL.

*supposedly* the hardest comp sys course you can do

jonhate

Man the DCU CA course isnt as good as it used to be.
Its a lot of theory, and repeated theory over and over again!!!!
:mad:

CyberGhost

UL?

kaimera

University of Limerick

CyberGhost

thanks Kaimera

i'm going to DCU!

Thanks for all your help and explanations guys!

CyberGhost

just in case someone's interested here's what i wanna learn

Programming - C / C++ Java
Web Programming - ASP, PHP, J-S
Web Designing - Flash, FW, DW
Networking
Graphics - Photoshop, PSP
3D - Maya, 3dsmax, lightwave3D
Video Editing - Premiere
OS - Unix, Linux


so i think what jesus_thats_gre listed suits me the best, that is IT

jesus_thats_gre

The material you listed in your most recent would be covered in three different courses. If you were lucky enough to find a course that covered all those topics, you would only touch lightly on them and wouldnt get much time on each.

You really need to decide whether you want to Software Development, Web Development that is Soft Dev orientated, Web Development that is art orientated or IT like the one I listed.

CyberGhost

i defenately prefer Software Development over Web Development

can you please tell me what the software development course is called in UCD is it Soft Dev? i sent them emails but they didn't answer

Imposter

Cyberghost,
Why do you want ot study IT/Comp Sc.? Do you have actual reasons?

I get the impression you've decided you want to do Comp Sc in UCD but you don't seem to know anything about it! Don't get me wrong i'm not trying to discourage you but I'm just thinking you need to know exactly what you're getting into. Get the prospectus's from all the colleges. Investigate what's involved in each course and perhaps try and get your hands on some of the notes from the beginning of first year (these might be on the web). That way you won't be going into it blind. Most college depts also have open days (around this time of year too I think). Go to these if you're in any way interested.

I went to college completely blind as to what my chosen course involved and it took me 2 years and a lot of money (afterwards) to rectify the bad decision I made in my course choice.

So basically what I'm saying is why do you want to do software development? What do you intend to get out of it? And why UCD?

jesus_thats_gre

One final thing, dont ignore some of the smaller ITs over the big Universities. If its a case of doing a course in an IT 5 mins down the road or doing a similar course in a big University that involves alot of travel or grief, choose the local IT.

I have the choice of going to an DKIT or doing similar courses in a few places in Dublin, I am glad I picked DKIT now. I have lost count of the amount of people i know who moved to Dublin and totally lost the plot, i.e. drank the face of themselves every night and didnt go to college at all and failed the year. This is as much to do with drop out rates as the difficulty of said courses.

CyberGhost

Imposter

---

"Why do you want ot study IT/Comp Sc.? Do you have actual reasons?"

yes, i'm obsessed with computers

"So basically what I'm saying is why do you want to do software development? What do you intend to get out of it? And why UCD?"

because i like to create, i like codes, scripts it comes pretty easy to me, i want to work in some software development company, or if i become a good programmer, i mean really good, i'd like to go to game industry, man that would be good!

and honestly i don't know where to hell i'm going yet i'll just have to visit all the unis and check them out myself

jesus_thats_gre

---

"One final thing, dont ignore some of the smaller ITs over the big Universities. If its a case of doing a course in an IT 5 mins down the road or doing a similar course in a big University that involves alot of travel or grief, choose the local IT."

I don't know mate, i prefer to suffer 4 years and get a degree from a more respectable university than from less known but more convenient one

seamus

Originally posted by CyberGhost
I don't know mate, i prefer to suffer 4 years and get a degree from a more respectable university than from less known but more convenient one

A degree is a degree. Anyone who looks down on you for not going to Trinity or UCD is full of ****.

Businesses couldn't care less. You stick "B.Sc. (Comp. Sci.)" on your CV, and that's all they look at. All talk of 'real universities' is old boy bull****, and not something you want to get caught up in.

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by seamus
A degree is a degree. Anyone who looks down on you for not going to Trinity or UCD is full of ****.

Businesses couldn't care less. You stick "B.Sc. (Comp. Sci.)" on your CV, and that's all they look at. All talk of 'real universities' is old boy bull****, and not something you want to get caught up in.

I couldnt have said it better. Those times are passing.. There are still a few who think its superior, but alot of organisations are critical of the bigger Uni's as they do offer as much practical material as the ITs, thus when a graduate leave college, all they have is theory and do not know how to put what they no into action in real life.

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by CyberGhost
I don't know mate, i prefer to suffer 4 years and get a degree from a more respectable university than from less known but more convenient one

If you are relatively happy at home and dont think you would have any probs living there for another 4 years, go to a local college. Especially if its your first time living away from home. That 4 years could easily turn into 5 or 6 if you dont have someone dragging you out of bed in the morning. Its surprisingly easy to stay in bed and skip a day of college and if you dont attend, you fair my friend.

The_B_Man

a lot of the stuff u said u wanna do is covered in Carlow IT.
Look up course Computer Networking & Optical Communications (CW020). thats wat i did and now im gone on to do the National Diploma in Computing (CW036) and next year the degree in software engineering (CW082). they cover pretty much all of it!

joc_06

Do Elec Eng/Comp Eng - UL. Excellent course/facilities/gym etc.
Can't beat the lodge on a thurs nite- heading there now in a minute