CS Major hating CS

Got a question for you guys Sup Forums.
I've been programming with "Legacy" languages my entire life, mainly focusing on networking and stuff like that. Use "Build-it-yourself" distros like Arch and Alpine too as well. My math is not great so for good credits I thought I do a beginning programming class with python...except it not at all.

I absolutely hate python. It, to me, seems to unsightly especially with white space and what not. I just dont understand it or why I cant simply convert what I know about PHP, Perl, C etc into python. I told myself I just have to sit down and learn something new, it could be fun to do and use. Wrong on that too. Ive been to the classes, the professor talks about the assignments we have to do, that's fine but what about the test? I get copies of sample test problems to figure out and learn except the concepts are not on the test-its completely different than what he gave us. Thus, me getting an F in the class and it sucks. I understand the concepts, arrays, defining a function, etc etc.

What am I doing wrong here? I hate my major and I am starting to hate CS in general. Don't even enjoy what I use to do anymore with little side projects. I want nothing to do with it.

sorry to hear that OP.

Anyone here know if CS is worth taking?

I sat in on a core science lecture and it looked boring asf. I got my associates in "networking" so i figured CS was the next step. Am i wrong?

Honestly looking at going to active duty with 3D1X2 (Cyber transport, its basically networking) but I fear I wouldn't even get a job coming back to civilian life

\Honestly CS is growing so damn fast and EVERYONE wants a damn BS now when certificates are much more direct I feel. However, its also the "soft skills" that they want too. Just go to class and do your work and dont be like me

Also BUMP for more answers

CS is only worth taking if the program is actually CS, not just programming. If you look at the schedule of a CS program and you doublecheck it's CS and not applied math, then that CS program is worth it.

If you actually know one language then you can learn any other language
I don't think you're as good a programmer as you think you are

This is bizarre. I started in uni with Java, then over time learned C++, Racket, and bits of some other languages.

I picked up python as I went for an open source project, and it was easy as hell making the transition. The syntax is simple, and resources are plenty. I think you just didn't do the work...probably got overconfident with your prior experience, and didn't actually sit and down and program enough in python to be comfortable with the language. That or you're not nearly as effective with the other languages you listed. There's no other explanation for why you couldn't pick it up.

My uni is teaching c# and it's such a retarded language compared to c++ and python. Maybe it's the way they're teaching it, but i'm hating this a lot.

First year of CS sucks

It gets cool in systems and digital design

Plus discrete is fun

The language is literally inconsequential.
whitespace is annoying, but writing C and and writing python is basically the same as far as cs50 type shit goes
you dont "know" languages you "know" programming so it shouldn't make a difference whatever language is being taught until it becomes compatibility/library/hardware/runtime specific.

you must not actually be conceptualizing what youre doing in your hw and should not be failing an intro class
you need apply urself

Real CS is more about understanding the mathematical and logical principles underlying over 9000 different languages and computing systems; rote memorization of one or two languages and their common patterns is trade/vocational degree tier shit.

If you think you're good with a few specific languages but can't think about program logic in an abstract enough way to implement it in another --- especially something as versatile as Python --- you're in for trouble later.

Stop posting frogs and get practicing, user.

Why am I so shit at coding?

>you're bad at math
I'm the only one in the program whos taking more than the required math courses and skipping out on software engineering because I genuinely enjoy math more.

Every time I have to sit down and code something I just cant do it. My mind goes blank and I make 0 progress. I even had to drop out of the introductory java class I'm ,so shit.

Heh, i think the opposite. I checked my uni CS curriculum and then the applied math one and went straight for applied math. CS is full of useless shit that you can learn on your own. The applied math has half the number of classes and cover most of the core subjects, important stuff that it's not there (compilers, networks and whatnot) you can get with extra credits (it's not called like that in my country, sorry if i used the word wrong).

because undergrad math isnt creative. programming takes conceptual understanding of what you're implementing. undergrad math doesn't. even solving simple programming exercises requires that you fundamentally understand stuff we learned in 8th grade math, which is surprising difficult.

undergrad math and physics is like 80% rote learning.
programming forces you to think abstractly which is new for most people.

What are you talking about? Undergrad math is the only place where I feel most creative. In my programming I feel really limited and thats part of what strangleholds me into not doing anything. In my Math classes I feel way more free because I know its not a computer reading this but a human.

>too as well

your post really makes no sense
if you fundamentally understood the concepts you're trying to implement you'd breeze through it. the hardest part of programming should not be syntax limitations.
math and programming are the same type of problem solving once just actually forces you to problem solve and the other doesn't.

Now you are beginning to understand my frustration with why the fuck can't I program.

I love my math classes like:
Discrete Math,Logic, Set Theory, Number Theory, Automata Theory , Theory of Computation, Abstract Algebra

But holy shit I can't even do an introductory OOP java course. I can't program for shit

should have picked electrical/computer engineering, brainlet

Learn about assembly and how computer memory works.

If you claim to understand legacy languages but cannot understand Python, you never probably really understood those legacy languages. The same practices are applicable, even if there are nuances on to how to accomplish things.

Perhaps programming just is not for you?

The biggest meme in CS is saying how many languages you know, any competent programmer could learn a new language's syntax and make something useful in it in no time. Especially if the languages are the same type.

Yea I'd say so, you do some cool shit in 4th year. I built a raytracer in C and did some machine learning projects in Matlab. I could kid myself and say I could've learned it on my own, but I wouldn't really understand the advanced geometry behind the raytracer or the linear algebra and statistics behind the machine learning.

Go work at a k-12.

here's what my curriculum looks like, is my undergrad a meme?

So what do you strongly suggest people do? Get specific/practical what are the major mistakes and why?

dude honestly, you just have to practice. i never enjoyed math, even though I would consider my logic comprehension skills to be above average. but OOP isn't about knowing math, it's about taking processes and boiling them down to much simpler properties and methods.

if you want to learn how to program, you just have to do it. you can't just know math and immediately translate that into programming knowledge, even though a strong understand of math (more like algebra and logic) is worth a lot to a programmer.

knowing the power of programming languages and how they can be implemented is also a plus. arrays are extremely powerful and i use them all the time with functions like array_push(append to existing array), array_pop (remove and return last element), and array_shift (same as pop, but for first element). combine them with looping functions and you can do almost anything.

Nice meme. Its actually very likely I'm going o fail that class

not him but pick up one language and become really good with it. you'll eventually need to learn other languages and you should be able to translate those skills into whatever language you choose, sans a move from like python to C. but in general, it's really easy to learn a new language when you've gotten really good with one.

you'll come across a problem and you might think about solving it with for loops and multi-dimensional arrays. every modern language supports these functions and the only difference is small syntax differences.

do you see yourself working with computer hardware, writing operating systems, working with kernels, or anything like that? or do you want to write consumer applications like stock trading software, data analysis, machine learning, or web applications?

if #1, then you'll want to learn something like assembly, C, etc. a low level language with access to memory.

if #2, then you'll want something like PHP, python, or ruby. front-end is a cake walk, minus maybe javascript, but JS isn't much different from most other languages either, except that it's event driven IO bound and async.

just learn a language. pick one and stick with it. if you want to quit, maybe pick up another language and spend some time every now and then on it, but focus on your primary language.

you'd have to get comfy with most of the following:
(multidimensional) algebra
linear algebra
numerics
logic (propositional, first order, etc.)
Automata Theory
Datastructures
Programming (OOP, functional, logical)
Systems Programming/OS
Software Engineering (UML, OOP, Project Management)
basic electrical engineering (basic circuits, boolean algebra, calculating resistance, etc.)
Databases and relational algebra
Computational Theory/Runtime Analysis
and ofc Academic Writing which is a giant circle jerk.

Here's a tip: you will forget 90% of what you've seen in college within 4 years of graduating. Don't worry about it.

still gotta pass though, which is a pain in the ass knowing you spend you time on something that you won't need anyways.

>doing a math major but forced to take 2 compsci courses, one in python
>never used python, only have coding experience in java and C++
>graded solely on the final exam
>didn't attend a single lecture, no idea what my teacher even looked like
>googled 'python syntax list' the night before the exam
>96%
Is this what life is like for brainlets? Man, I'm so sorry user.

What *exactly* isn't gelling for you? Classes? Data structures?

That's because OOP is a meme. Avoid it at all cost, people spend their entire lives writing "OOP" and all they achieve is a fucking pile of spaghetti.
Just buy some spaghetti instead, it's less effort.

I did CS but switched to CE/EE instead. I really enjoy CS and I switched because I thought the CS program wasn't challenging enough.

Also got mad because we had to do webshit, literally a waste of time doing that at a university.
If people just want to make webshit and apps then they can fuck off to a trade school.

I wasn't memeing tho

:o

I know that feel, I'm doing CS too
>hate networking because Cisco shit is way too complicated
>hate programming because it's too easy and the lecturer keeps going over the same basic shit again and again
>don't even show up to a certain module at all and will probably have to repeat it if I stay in college
>hate having to make the effort to show up to college, especially as I live so far away
>hate the college itself because it's badly funded and disorganised
>will probably drop out by the end of year 1