Computer Science Major

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11-16-2006
Dark_Oppressor

Computer Science Major

I have been taking gen ed courses at a couple of different colleges the last year and a half, and have finally decided that I definitely want to go into programming, specifically gaming related. I want to major in comp sci, and I had planned on going to OU, Oklahoma University, because it's not far from my previous college and all my friends, and it is where I had originally planned on going anyway. After checking into things a bit more, I found that OU's computer science degree goes through the engineering department. Some people I know told me that it might involve a lot more math and engineering related courses than I would need(or want), and I might want to look in to a school that has a computer science degree going through a science department. I honestly don't know what to do in this regard, so I am asking to see if there is anyone who does game programming that got a computer science degree that could tell me if I'd be good with the engineering based degree, or if I should find some other school.
11-16-2006
g4j31a5

If you want to be a game programmer, you'll need your math (and physics for that matter) as your basics.
11-16-2006
Dark_Oppressor

So I'm thinking perhaps the degree being in the college of engineering is good after all? I would think engineering based stuff would have more math.
11-16-2006
Perspective

A comp sci degree is going to have it's fair share of math indepenent of what faculty it's from, engineering/science/math.
11-16-2006
QuestionC
I looked at the course plan for a CS degree at Oklahoma University. It covers pretty much everything you need. The engineering classes seem a bit odd, but I can't judge not having gone there. Remember that University isn't a trade school though. If you want to become a game programmer, you just need to write some games.

That said... pretty much any job you get with a CS degree is going to be quite nice provided you actually understand programming.

I can't speak for game programming per se, but this is what you'll need if you want to really understand graphics programming:
- Linear Algebra
- Analytical Geometry in 3 dimensions. Usually this is taught in Calc III.
- Data Structures
- Analysis of algorithms
- A computer graphics class.
I didn't notice Comp. Graphics listed as a course when I looked, but you should double-check. Honestly, I would be very suspect of a school that offers a CS degree without a Comp. Graphics elective.
11-17-2006
PING

I dont know about what happens in the US, but over here, we get two different degrees, one is a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering and the other is a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. The engg degree is a four year course and includes various aspects of computers like microprocessors, networking, and we have maths for about 2.5 yrs of the 4 yrs. and there is lots of maths, and its ugly too :) The comp sci degree on the other hand is more oriented towards programming and stuff like that..so in short, if u want knowledge about the different aspects of computers, get into the engineering one. If you just want knowledge about programming and software related stuff, take the Science one.
11-17-2006
taelmx

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark_Oppressor

So I'm thinking perhaps the degree being in the college of engineering is good after all? I would think engineering based stuff would have more math.

That would be good for game hardware. ;)
11-17-2006
Salem

1. Visit game developers web sites
2. Click on their "recruitment" links
3. Read up on what they consider to be viable skills
4. Balance that against what your chosen college / course provides.
11-17-2006
indigo0086

Quote:

Originally Posted by PING

I dont know about what happens in the US, but over here, we get two different degrees, one is a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering and the other is a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. The engg degree is a four year course and includes various aspects of computers like microprocessors, networking, and we have maths for about 2.5 yrs of the 4 yrs. and there is lots of maths, and its ugly too :) The comp sci degree on the other hand is more oriented towards programming and stuff like that..so in short, if u want knowledge about the different aspects of computers, get into the engineering one. If you just want knowledge about programming and software related stuff, take the Science one.

Same over here, we have computer science and Engineering. it's 4 years in that it's 4 years worth of coursework, but some people can take longer *points to self* depending on load.
11-19-2006
Tonto

He's referring to whether the college administers computer science through the engineering or science departments, not computer engineering vs. computer science. I'm also doing this college thing now, and looking towards computer science, and honestly, I don't think I'm going to let this factor weigh into my college choice. I also heard what dark_opperssor did from this crazy guy at calpoly, who loved the fact that the school was administered CS through the science department at the school rather than the engineering one. His reasoning was basically that I would be working much more with computer engineering if it was administered through the engineering department. I'm not sure if that's true, I haven't done side-by-side comparisons of course plans for CS majors across colleges, but it certainly seems like I'll get plenty of compsci and dabblings of engineering anywhere I go. Whatever.
11-19-2006
Dark_Oppressor

That's kind of what I've been thinking, and thanks for clarifying that for me Tonto.
11-20-2006
indigo0086

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonto

He's referring to whether the college administers computer science through the engineering or science departments, not computer engineering vs. computer science. I'm also doing this college thing now, and looking towards computer science, and honestly, I don't think I'm going to let this factor weigh into my college choice. I also heard what dark_opperssor did from this crazy guy at calpoly, who loved the fact that the school was administered CS through the science department at the school rather than the engineering one. His reasoning was basically that I would be working much more with computer engineering if it was administered through the engineering department. I'm not sure if that's true, I haven't done side-by-side comparisons of course plans for CS majors across colleges, but it certainly seems like I'll get plenty of compsci and dabblings of engineering anywhere I go. Whatever.

Ah, at our school we have a dept of egineering and computer science together, I have taken some what I would call engineering geared courses even though I'm in computer science.