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Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

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Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#81

Post by ShouldIPivot »

angarg12 wrote: post #34

My cynical take is this: if you are worried about LLM taking programming jobs away, why do you think your alternatives are safe? Not gonna lie, as an experienced engineer I'm also worried and anxious about ChatGPT (combined with the economy, tech layoffs, inflation...). But what else can I do? If my job disappears due to LLMs, I can't think of anything else I could do to pay the bills that wouldn't also be at risk. S…

What does your day-to-day work involve? I don't really know what day to day engineering looks like, I just assumed engineering would be more difficult to replace.

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#82

Post by ShouldIPivot »

rossdavidh wrote: post #36

I have been a professional programmer since 2004. I have two degrees, both in Electrical Engineering. I worked in the semiconductor industry for over a decade, then pivoted to programming when the semiconductor fabs seemed to all be going overseas (they are now being brought back). All of which says: 1) you don't need a CS degree to work as a programmer 2) you aren't going to be able to predict the future well enough…

Thanks for your reply. A lot of my concern is because I feel I need to make a decision soon. I'm taking A levels that allow me to easily change to other STEM subjects, but my impression was that a CS degree would limit my options. It's good to know that that isn't the case.

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#83

Post by ShouldIPivot »

GianFabien wrote: post #24

"translating client requirements to prompts" ( specifications until recently) is exactly what business analysts do and it is amongst the best paid IT jobs. Project managers and security consultants typically earn even more. In my experience, in both business and academia, bullshit intolerance is a severe career limiting trait. With your aptitude for physics and mathematics, have you considered some other field of eng…

Thanks for your response.

I have considered other engineering fields. My school also specialises in engineering, many of my friends are studying it, and many areas of it interest me. Nuclear, electrical, and aerospace all interest me. I'd like to learn more about them, and I'm planning to talk to some of the engineering teachers about it.

This isn't the first comment saying that programming can be useful as part of another field. What would the route be into that kind of work? Would it be a normal engineering route and adding "Proficient at xyz" to your CV?

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#85

Post by ShouldIPivot »

yunwal wrote: post #16

My advice: if you major in physics and keep getting A’s, you can still easily get a programming job, and probably in areas that are more AI-proof than webdev. The opposite is not true. IMO, taking programming classes in college is a waste. It’s nearly all the type of thing you can learn on the job or in an online course. The real reason to take CS is if you’re interested in applied math, because most math departments…

> My advice: if you major in physics and keep getting A’s, you can still easily get a programming job, and probably in areas that are more AI-proof than webdev. The opposite is not true.

Thanks, I'll consider this.

> IMO, taking programming classes in college is a waste. It’s nearly all the type of thing you can learn on the job or in an online course. The real reason to take CS is if you’re interested in applied math, because most math departments lead you into pure theory, but this depends heavily on the school.

Yeah, I'm near to a few good unis that run what seem to be high quality courses with lots of optional courses on ML/maths/etc. I would avoid doing CS at an average uni due to its reputation.

I'm alright at maths, but I really have to work at it - it doesn't come as naturally as physics and compsci. I'm not sure I could succeed in a pure maths degree.

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#86

Post by ShouldIPivot »

jmillikin wrote: post #27

LLMs automate the uninteresting part of programming, which is the physical typing of code. They are not capable of reasoning or logical induction, so the job of being a programmer is still safe. They're basically just fancy codegen. A lot of the articles you see floating around about "the end of programmers" are written by people who think software is designed by managers, which is only true in workplaces that you wo…

Thanks, that's good to hear. I haven't got much exposure to programming as a career other than a week's work experience at MS, so I think I've overestimated how much it can automate. I personally haven't used it much when programming, though I've used copilot since release as the reduced typing massively helps my RSI.

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#88

Post by ShouldIPivot »

turtleyacht wrote: post #48

Study as much math and physics as you can. Study business, accounting, finance, and marketing. Study the classics and philosophy. Once school winds down and life picks up, you'll have less time to sit down and deeply read anything. Build your mental toolkit while you have the luxury of time. At least, that's what I'd tell my younger self. I'm not saying not to study computer science, but a lot of it is free and its a…

This sounds pretty interesting, and not something I'd considered. I've got other interests (geopolitics, military aviation, history) that I've put on hold due to the level of schoolwork. You say to "Build your mental toolkit while you have the luxury of time." What would you say your mental toolkit consists of? Where does classics and philosophy come into it? What do you typically apply that toolkit to, and how does it help you?

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#89

Post by ShouldIPivot »

scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #62

You’re 17 - don’t just think about paying bills. Not yet. If this interest stems from money and ambitions then you’re trying to build your foundations in sand. It’s not really about what you choose but how you do the thing you do. How well you can apply yourself to it. You want to find work that gives you flow state. My 0.2c as a cinema studies/filmmaker turned PM - there are so many soft skills I acquired pursuing a…

> maximize risk for the next few years - you will regret not taking advantage, not developing character, not using your youth to it’s full potential (especially spectacular failure).

In what way? This sounds like pretty good advice, but I'm not sure how to practically apply it.

Re: Ask HN: Year old CS student. Should I continue?

#90

Post by ShouldIPivot »

Atlas22 wrote: post #49

I think you are worrying yourself about LLMs for no real reason. Dispite what the large LLM investors and irrational fanboys claim, it won't displace _skilled_ workers that evolve themselves like I'm positive you are. That said, you should specialize to some balance of what pays well and your interests. You should consider majoring in something other than CS, not because of LLMs or anything like that but because ther…

Thanks, I'll consider it and take a look at the available CS+EE courses.

What would you recommend for learning some electrical engineering before committing myself with a degree in it?

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