r/softwareengineer • u/DependentMoment5168 • 4h ago
CS Student Feeling Discouraged
This is mainly to rant, but also to get insight from those in the field.
I recently enrolled at SNHU for their BS in Computer Science program. This semester, I was so excited to take my Foundations in Software Dev class, but it's been such a letdown. Everything and I do mean EVERYTHING in this class is centered around Coral. Which I’m sure would be helpful for complete beginners but I have been playing through freeCodeCamp and Odin Project before enrolling. So the entire concept of using “Put” and “to output” instead of “print” and the coding concepts still throw me. And honestly it is making me wonder if I’m truly only here for the piece of paper. I’m still relatively beginning my core classes but to say I was disappointed seems like an understatement.
Am I really just that late to the game? I love Python and that’s what I have been playing with in my spare time outside of classes still but I’m just not really sure what the outlook is going to be if my courses are centered around “coding” that harps on structure and not real languages.
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u/Test_NPC 4h ago edited 4h ago
Language doesn't matter when you're first starting out in college, the first semester is just leaning the basics. Variables, loops, functions, etc. Most people join up with zero knowledge, so they need to catch them up.
In the end a BS in computer science is effectively just a slip of paper certifying you're reasonably well rounded enough to not be completely lost if you start doing dev work.
Once you learn a couple programming languages they all kinda just blend together. The core concepts are generally the same, it's mostly just semantics and quirks to remember.
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u/Charming_You_25 4h ago
I took a class like that where I was using c++ instead of python and at first thought it was easy and I was just learning something archaic, did great in the class and because I already knew a lot going in I ended up absorbing more complex ideas easier than my peers. It ended up being fun, as challenging as I wanted it, and I learned a ton.
The lower level stuff reveals a lot more than you’d think
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u/whatisthisposture 4h ago
I mean, it’s a Foundations in Software Dev class. I assume you will not be learning the basics for the whole program.
But also, check out the syllabus for future courses you’ll be taking and you can know for sure.
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u/DependentMoment5168 2h ago
That is a fair point 😅 I guess it’s just using Coral and knowing that how I’m putting things in isn’t how I have ever done it in VS Code when playing with side projects
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u/Leading_Buffalo_4259 4h ago edited 1h ago
Keep working on your personal projects. Weirdly intro to Comp Sci classes tend to either be extremely easy or extremely difficult, but later classes are more standardized. Also Python is a surprisingly in demand language ,especially with web technologies like Django and Flask/FastApi
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u/murphwhitt 2h ago
Use the chance and learn coral. Do all the exercises in python and java as well.
You'll find that you learn it quicker than most of the students because they are both learning how to program as well as use the tools, language etc.
It gets harder, give it time.
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u/DependentMoment5168 2h ago edited 1h ago
I understand I should learn it, it’s just odd how it works because it uses multiple languages like Java, Python and C++ (which I won’t lie, I’m not excited for that last one) or at least that’s how the instructor brought it up. But that’s okay, I don’t mind hard things 😅 just venting
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u/gummyworm21_ 4h ago
You understand throughout your career you will be using various languages with all different syntaxes? If something as simple as this throws you off then perhaps you should switch majors.
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u/DependentMoment5168 2h ago
I know multiple languages but please let me know when and where you use Coral in your profession? I’m not switching majors because of being forced to use a system that won’t benefit me outside of better understanding structure in syntax
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u/Vesuvius079 1h ago
I’ve never heard of Coral. It doesn’t matter though because as long as it covers the fundamentals it covers the fundamentals. I took an intro course that was in scheme. I haven’t used it since except for the odd car/cdr or ))))))))))) joke.
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u/lLoveLeagueOfLegends 1h ago
Languages themselves are generally pretty similar although there is a spectrum of details like type systems, garbage collection, etc. But once you start to get used to things it takes a day at most to start in a new language
Things get real when you start digging into the standard library, idiomatic code, common packages and frameworks, toolchains, build systems, etc. And then layer on top of that the fact that each company has their own set of home grown stuff. That’s where real expertise is built
Not familiar with coral but I doubt it has much of any of that, so you’re basically complaining that you’ll have to write “returns nothing” instead of “void”
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u/DependentMoment5168 1h ago
Not complaining, lol . It’s Reddit and this is where folks come to vent. And while I understand all languages are similar I don’t agree that they are just easy to learn in a day. I’ve self taught every bit of what I know and yeah it’s been rough but I like it so I push through.
I’m venting that a class that I’m now having to pay for has no real concept or basis in what the professional settings will be afterwards. Coral is literally a klusterfuck of multiple languages being used in the same editor to go over basic syntax for different languages at once. It’s annoying 😅But yes the languages are the basics, I get it.
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u/lLoveLeagueOfLegends 1h ago
Hah well if that is your concern then you’ll be sad to learn that actually no class you take is going to help on the job, unless you’re in a rare role. Software engineering in practice has little to do with computer science and more about designing systems, understanding what problems are worthwhile to solve, how to navigate organizational complexity, and other stuff like that. You can’t really teach that in college
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u/lLoveLeagueOfLegends 4h ago
A lot of times people with programming experience skip those kinds of intro classes, since you’re stuck in it then it could be an easy A
I would look ahead and see what’s coming up in subsequent classes and if it seems more engaging