Ask HN: Birthday present for a soon to graduate CS student?

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JetBrains All Product pack - these are the best IDEs on the market. Using great tools when coding will help prevent bugs and saves a lot of time.

LeetCode Premium - every big company is using leetcode-style questions when interviewing candidates. If he wants to get a well-paid job, he needs to master LeetCode.

Statistically speaking, a book on RDBMS SQL or Java EE with a urine drug testing kit.

I think it's important to realise that playing games is not worse than watching movies. Good games are pieces of art, just like good movies. Also from a CS point of view, video games are technically very interesting (it's a lot of computer graphics).

I don't play much anymore (and I'm not sure what console he asked for), but if I did I would be looking at the SteamDeck. Seems pretty interesting, as it is a Linux platform (based on Arch Linux), and therefore it can be used as a Linux computer as well as a gaming console (unlike e.g. a Nintendo Switch). Could be useful to learn Linux (which is necessary for software engineers).

You mentioned CE. Not sure how much he is into radio stuff, but the FlipperZero device seems to be quite a success, and it may fit the CS/CE profile. Could be a powerful educational "toy".

I disagree with people here about the console. I don't know how much he games, but tech can be incredibly stressful and an easy escapism mechanism like gaming can lead to some pretty major social deficits in his 30s and make it very easy to ignore the problems of early adulthood. I wouldn't want to be the person who bought somebody their first cigarette.

I don't know what your financial situation is, but CS/CE pays well, he can get his own console no problem. Once you're working "things" become easy to acquire. I bought so many things that I never used. After a while, things came to have no value.

Getting someone work stuff is like gifting a vacuum. Like, yeah, it might be useful and even practical, maybe even thoughtful, but it's a tool of work. Life isn't about work. Buy that useful work stuff for him, but not as a birthday or life event celebration.

If I were you, depending on your family life, I would go to a fancy dinner or trip with him and try to have a real conversation. Maybe talk about what you were like in college/trouble you got into, ask him how his college went. Talk about your first job. Talk about how you made friends and who your friends were. Talk about some events that made you happy or sad. Maybe he's not ready for that, or maybe he already knows it all. Of course that might be uncomfortable for both parties, but growth doesn't occur without discomfort, and closeness doesn't happen without vulnerability.

Consider investing in introducing him to hobbies (maybe dance classes, music classes, travel) where he will frequently be in contact with other people. Maybe choose some exciting activity he's expressed interest in if that's an option.

The irony of tech is that to be a good tech worker, it's your life outside of tech that sustains and powers it as well as sustaining and powering continued learning.

I wouldn't ask "how can I help my son run his engine harder," but I would ask "how can I help him stay fueled?"

Work is not a sufficient condition for life satisfaction, only a necessary one.