Mc Lake... Whats software engineering like at UNSW? (2 Viewers)

[wogboy]

I think calculus & algebra are useful for programming multimedia applications or games, as well as other stuff (e.g. take something simple like the 3D pipes screensaver in Windows. To determine which way all the pipes would go, and to display this on the screen would most likely require thorough knowledge of vector geometry etc)

 

[SoFTuaRiaL]

i should add ..... haskell's a killer .... though the exam yesterday dint go too bad, ey

 

[SoFTuaRiaL]

i think i've mentioned this elsewhere ... i attended the unsw executive committee meeting (on behalf of sesoc) in wk 13 and following are the details of the be/bcom degree :
be/bcom, as yoshi said, isnt available currently, but will definitely be available from next yr (ONLY FOR SENG). for other engg degrees, u will have to wait until 2005 for the double to be approved.
those of u in first yr seng interested in transferring to be/bcom neednt re-apply thru uac. just go see ken robinson sometime towards the end of next session (preferably after the uac guide 2004 is released)
cheers

 

[freaking_out]

i wanted to do software engineering but now i am having doubts. i am hearing from people that the computer jobs has gone down and due to pirating and the fact that there are lots of people in the job market. so i wanna know what are the prospects of a graduate to find a job once they leave the uni? also is the uni
software course anything like hsc sdd????

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by freaking_out
i wanted to do software engineering but now i am having doubts. i am hearing from people that the computer jobs has gone down and due to pirating and the fact that there are lots of people in the job market. so i wanna know what are the prospects of a graduate to find a job once they leave the uni? also is the uni
software course anything like hsc sdd????

A few responses:

- Yes, pirating is a problem. And this is EXACTLY where some of the work will come from, combating pirating of software with better ID keys and the like ...

- As for job prospects, who knows where computers will be at in 4 (5) years, maybe there will be another boom, and even if there isn't there is bound to be an increase in IT spending by companies and computer game demand ...

- Is Uni software like SDD? Well, since I didn't do SDD (or IPT for that matter) I can't say, but from what others have said, no its not, its much better ...

 

[freaking_out]

As for job prospects, who knows where computers will be at in 4 (5) years

thats kind of why i was a bit nervous, anyway i was wondering what courses i can combine software engineering with- perhaps science (physics)?

 

[Rahul]

from what i heard, computer science at uni is very much like sdd, esp the sdlc (software design life cycle).

is it possible to combine such with something business or commerce?

 

[Toodulu]

my sister studied software engineering, and now she's doing her masters in commerce

just a bit of useless information for you

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by freaking_out
thats kind of why i was a bit nervous, anyway i was wondering what courses i can combine software engineering with- perhaps science (physics)?

You can combine Software Enginnering with ANY Science (except Computer Science) or ANY Arts degree. As Da Monster has mentioned, there are plans for a combined Commerce degree, but that is not finalised yet ...

Originally posted by Rahul
from what i heard, computer science at uni is very much like sdd, esp the sdlc (software design life cycle).

is it possible to combine such with something business or commerce?

I would say that the SDLC is more like Software Engineering (as I know a few people doing Computer Science). As I said above, there is no combined degree with Commerce yet ....

 

[freaking_out]

hey Mclake, what degree have you combined your software engineering (SE) degree with??

anyway with this combining degree stuff - does this mean that if i (for example) combine SE degree with physics, then does that mean at the end of my years i will have two individual degrees for physics and SE? and also would this allow me to get the same jobs of people who usually did the physics degree (through bachelor of science) on its own?


and another thing is that you said that you do 20 hours per week at uni i was wondering how much was your workload at home?? is it more workload that the hsc?

 

[McLake]

Originally posted by freaking_out
hey Mclake, what degree have you combined your software engineering (SE) degree with??

At the moment, nothing, but I am considering combining with science ...

anyway with this combining degree stuff - does this mean that if i (for example) combine SE degree with physics, then does that mean at the end of my years i will have two individual degrees for physics and SE? and also would this allow me to get the same jobs of people who usually did the physics degree (through bachelor of science) on its own?

Yes. You have 2 degrees, a BSc and a BE. You have actually completed 2 FULL degrees, yiou have just used the elective components in each to complete the other degree.

and another thing is that you said that you do 20 hours per week at uni i was wondering how much was your workload at home?? is it more workload that the hsc?

How much do I do at home? Probably about 2hrs/week/subject (4 subjects). But they say that you should do about 1/2 the time you spend at uni (so 10 hrs, at lot isn't it ...)

 

[yoshi]

Originally posted by freaking_out
i wanted to do software engineering but now i am having doubts. i am hearing from people that the computer jobs has gone down and due to pirating and the fact that there are lots of people in the job market. so i wanna know what are the prospects of a graduate to find a job once they leave the uni? also is the uni
software course anything like hsc sdd????

Haha, pirating? Not likely. The software business is very profitable, there are big profit margins. For example, the games industry pulls in more than the movie industry per year. Think of the costs of producing a game; programmers, designers, manageers, not too much else after distribution costs, etc. But a movie? You've probably heard in the press the astronomical prices an actor will demand, and the costs of producing a movie.

If anything, the problem with lack of jobs was the influx of money-seekers during the IT-boom of 1998-2001. These are people that were in it for the money, clueless, and gave IT a bad name. All IT businesses were dramatically overvalued, and you hear from a lot of people now that they thought during those boom years that this couldn't continue for long. Now regular business is skeptical about IT and its benefits. It's very much a buyer's market for employment, so they dictate prices. It's not realistic to be telling you it'll be easy to get a job, but you have to decide what's more important; doing a job you don't enjoy for decent pay, or a job that you love for what might be significantly less pay. Since you will spend most of your waking life at your job, I'd choose the latter.

SEng at uni is not like SDD. The things we do here are a lot more practical. And things like the "software development life cycle" are not the be-all and end-all for software engineering. There are lots more interesting things they don't teach you in SDD (and I dunno if they do in uni), like design patterns, extreme programming, and the like. I found the SDD course to be over-reaching, impractical, and too theoretical. I haven't had the same feelings at unsw yet! *knock wood*

 

[freaking_out]

It's not realistic to be telling you it'll be easy to get a job,

thats why maybe i should combine my SEng degree with a science one like Mclake, in that way, if i don't get a IT job then atleast i can work in a nuclear plant (like homer simpsons ) or as a stupid lab assistant like the one in my school:mad1: .

 

[Beaky]

Can ask you... when you come out of the course... are your qualified developers sitting coding all day or part of team creating a system rather sitting 9-5 coding...

This is a stupid question cause it depends on the job u choose but i wanna hear your view..

Cause i dont want be stuck programming all day

I would like to design interfaces, help with sound... etc...

 

[McLake]

Well, you answered your own question. it depends on the job you pick. And there is enough flexibility in the course to choose electives that suit what you want to do.

 

[freaking_out]

oh yeah i forgot to ask, what is the best and most popular degree that people combine SEng with? also does this combination also give you the best chance of getting a job??

 

[McLake]

Umm, hard to say. I think the BE/BCom will be popular 9when it comes into existance). At the moment the only choice is BSc or BA, so it depends on what kind of person you are ... (both are useful)

 

[freaking_out]

SEng being a logical subject is completely opps. to BA so why do people do it 4?

 

[yoshi]

Originally posted by freaking_out
SEng being a logical subject is completely opps. to BA so why do people do it 4?

Variety! I would do a BA if anything else, I mean why do a boring BCom degree? All it will get you is a better chance at a more boring job. Maybe you could do BA specialising in languages and get a job that takes you overseas.

 

[freaking_out]

Maybe you could do BA specialising in languages and get a job that takes you overseas.

i never thought languages was under BA (i realise now) but i think its a good idea to combine with SEng.