Nithin Kamath’s Weblog

I just read a blog named “Joel on Software”, got there through either reddit or del.ici.ous.com not sure which one, but it was for reading the article/post Advice for Computer Science College Students. It is a very nice writeup where in the author writes about 7 things Computer Science college students should do. The 7 things mentioned are:-

1. Learn how to write before graduating.
2. Learn C before graduating.
3. Learn microeconomics before graduating.
4. Don’t blow off non-CS classes just because they’re boring.
5. Take programming-intensive courses.
6. Stop worrying about all the jobs going to India.
7. No matter what you do, get a good summer internship.

The article starts by telling that students should learn how to write, since writing is a very form of communication, students should take into writing, it may be in the form of assignments or blogs or any other form. In the second point, emphasis is given on learning the ‘C Language’, which I also agree is one of the language which every programmer should know.

On the third point, this is something some of my classmates (MCA) would like to know, this semester we have a subject called ‘Managerial Economics’ and many were wondering why should we learn economics (which was clarified in the very first class itself), the article sums it up very nicely:-

Why should CS majors learn econ? Because a programmer who understands the fundamentals of business is going to be a more valuable programmer, to a business, than a programmer who doesn’t. That’s all there is to it.

The rest of the points are that one should do well in non-cs subjects and should not ignore them, one should take programming intensive courses, and doing some good programs during the holidays.

The sixth point which i skipped was because it was about worring about losing jobs to India, well the article mentions:

Well, OK, first of all, if you’re already in India, you never really had to worry about this, so don’t even start worrying about all the jobs going to India. They’re wonderful jobs, enjoy them in good health.

So this was my attempt at posting something interesting and at the same time something worth while.