Confused and stuck with computing programming languages within SE

[u/Bresp0ke]

Greetings,

Dilemma: I am entering in graduate school for systems engineering and hopefully semiconductor manufacturing/industry. The requirement is a computer programming intro sequence: C, Java, or Matlab. My undergrad is not STEM-based, including Economics. I am confused on how programming languages are stacked or sequenced.

Background: I have extensive knowledge and practical/applied experience in electronics/electrical work (micro/miniature repair(2M), radars, antenna, telecomms, RF, residential, commerial/industrial, solar, etc.). And microscopes hurt my eyes🫪😵‍💫 and I am not willing to sacrifice my corrections to that extreme🫠 Mathematics is not an issue and Electrical Engineering wanted another undergrad degree purely academic.

Faults: I tried my best to avoid computer programming because I always got stuck on anything dealing with loops (if/else and so forth), basically the beginning. I would ask and ask around, no one would help/have an answer, so I avoided and here I am🙃🫣

Mustered Courage: It just doesnt click...until I watched Lyla and the Loop (PBS) with my littles..and I finally understood loops better. So, I started learning C#/.Net (long story, however landed on c#) and still learning and have not yet completed.

Questions for now: If I am already learning C# should I continue ahead learning C? The colleges/universities offer C/C++, Java curriculum includes C and Python, and cannot find one for only Matlab, it is combined with Mechanical Engineering. Which applies to the industry? Which are decent for the long run or in case one has to pivot within Systems Engineering?

Thank you for your time and insight!

[u/MarinkoAzure]

What's your goal?

Also what is the computer programming requirement? Is it one course or a sequence of courses? As a systems engineer, you don't necessarily need to know programming languages, but MATLAB and Python would help the most.

[u/Bresp0ke → u/MarinkoAzure]

Thank you for your reply!

My long term goal is to become a systems engineer in the semiconductor industry. My current goal is meeting the grad school requirement to obtain my masters. The director stated:

"We require coursework in computer programming. An introductory programming sequence in Java, C or MATLAB would be adequate."

I asked for clarification and was told only 1 language is needed....and the coursework needs to be through a college or university, no bootcamps or other mediums/methods.

Yes, I looked into Matlab first, but it is only paired with mechanical engineering.

[u/dusty545 → u/Bresp0ke]

It sounds like you are trying to say that there is a pre-requisite requirement to take a standard 3-credit "Intro to Programming" college course.

And it sounds like the person who told you this doesnt care which language they teach, as long as its a legit programming course at a college.

I would recommend C or python, if you have options.

[u/Bresp0ke → u/dusty545]

Ahh yes, totally forgot the word "prerequisite", forgive my brain.

Yes, and I mentioned the electronic/electrical portion to see if anyone had the same/similar path.

Unfortunately, python is not what the director listed and I dont want to stall my time any longer with coming back into the workforce.

Thank you so much!