Questions and advice to pursue an IT career

Hi everyone, i've just got a diploma in information technology and soon i'll be getting ready to enter university.. Therefore, i need some advice such as...

1) I sucks in maths, should i continue to pursue a degree in Bsc?

2) People tell me programming job sucks, no life + pressure from difficult problems to slove... what do u think?

3) I have great passion for games development.. but im no gd in maths :(

4) Where should i start if i want to brush up my intermediate c++ programming to expert level.

Hope u guys can answer my questions or give me additional advice. thanks.
[633 byte] By [norphos] at [2007-11-19 12:06:42]
# 1 Re: Questions and advice to pursue an IT career
1) I sucks in maths, should i continue to pursue a degree in Bsc?You should look up your University Curriculum.
If you major in Botany, Zoology or similar subjects, you might be able to avoid Mathematics alltogether.
2) People tell me programming job sucks, no life + pressure from difficult problems to slove... what do u think?I think what they told you is Bullshit.

(As far as difficulty of problems go, one faces problems in every possible career path, and solving them is what makes one "earn" his/her cash.)
3) I have great passion for games development.. but im no gd in maths How did you acquire this passion for games "development"? Is it a result of "playing" games?

Well, developing a game and playing it are two different ball games.
Depending on the kind of game you are intending to develop, profeciency at mathematics may be an essential requirement or might be absolutely not required.
4) Where should i start if i want to brush up my intermediate c++ programming to expert level.There are many books you can read (search CG for names).

I would also recommend you to make test applications aplenty - one that achieves every little tiny programming goal you can think of
(for example: a test application that manipulates containers like vectors, etc.)
Siddhartha at 2007-11-9 12:54:15 >
# 2 Re: Questions and advice to pursue an IT career
Oooh a questionare! I loooove answering these... :lol:

1) I sucks in maths, should i continue to pursue a degree in Bsc?

No, I would not worry too much about it but rather avoid low-level programming. Specialise in something like GUI's or application development using whatever your favorite visual IDE is.

2) People tell me programming job sucks, no life + pressure from difficult problems to slove... what do u think?

They'll say that but see how many would swap their jobs for a physical labour type of job which makes you work harder and pays less.

3) I have great passion for games development.. but im no gd in maths :(

I'd stick to just playing games. The way the libraries are for games development you need to be a bit of a genius to figure it all out. And the competition is fierce.

4) Where should i start if i want to brush up my intermediate c++ programming to expert level.

%90 of my knowledge was gained "on the job" so I'd say finish your education & concentrate on getting a job and parking yourself next to an experienced C++ developer to learn from him.
Deniz at 2007-11-9 12:55:07 >
# 3 Re: Questions and advice to pursue an IT career
Well, before I answer your question, let me ask you a question.

Questions: Why you wanna pick IT as a career?
Answers:
1) For money (like Bill Gates) ;)
2) To prove myself that I'm not a wimp :cool:
3) I don't know, my friends/family members etc they all say to do it :ehh:

If your answer is same or similar to 3, run away right now. Many people come into computer sciences because newspapers tells them that IT people get good salaries like U.S $ 1,00,000+/annum with benefits and medical (specially dential) insurance. And half way down the road, they realize that they were not built for this **** at the first place. So now what? Some quit, some just move along, and when they do not keep the pace and face the challenges of being an IT expert, they quit. Nobody like to take the blame or accept that fact that he wasn't good enough, so they have there own excuses.

"Err...man computers sucks, I don't wanna spend the natural days of my life with a ****ing machine", "Well, IT is not of my type" and bla bla bla. Honestly speaking, these kind of people have no place in IT, they are misfit and eventually they quit. :sick:

If your answer is 1, think again. Exceptions are always there, but don't think like just after graduating, you'll be offered a great job (like mentioned above). You have to prove yourself that you are worthy enough and it takes alot, I really means, alotttttttttttttttttttt. The key is, keep improving yourself, don't stop, keep moving, if not keep shaking, but don't just freeze, and when you'll be good enough, oppurtunities will look for you themself. :thumb:

If your answer is 2, then don't worry if you are not good at maths or anything, if you have the passion and you think that it runs through your body with your blood, then nothing can stop you, just try again, if it didn't work, hit it agian & hit it hard, keep doing that, until you get it. Welcome abord, you have come to the right place in this case. :)
Ejaz at 2007-11-9 12:56:15 >
# 4 Re: Questions and advice to pursue an IT career
Well it all depends sometimes on what options do you have. Like you said you have a diploma in IT is your current EQ then I think that probably you dont have any other option. (Basically depends upon you education system, you country etc etc)

There are always good sides as well as bad sides of any job...and there enough competition everywhere so to go ahead well with your job you got to like it..enjoy it. If that is not there you cannot go much ahead. You have specialize yourself fast to something or you will end up with little accomplishments.

Important note - You say you are not good at maths.. you suck at it. First thing - you need to find out what are the reasons for this lacking? Is it that you havent put in effort and hence your performance is bad..is it that you dont like it or is it that you have put in effort but nothing happens...If the case is 3rd Man..you are in trouble...how good are you with the analytical skills? Physics ? Chemistry? in general science? Logic? Answer these and you will know cause you thinking level and maturity sure do come with time but you need to have these good coz these are the meters to measure your quality at the moment...

I wish I could sit with you and do some counselling...but I will not be able to...I wish I could write more .. but I am tired now.. but a suggestion - keep thinking ... analyze your options that you have...you can always come back to IT from any field but not go from IT to another field...you will hate it... :thumb:
exterminator at 2007-11-9 12:57:17 >