Young and confused wether programmings a good choice at A -Level ( please help)

Moodle · 27 Apr 2011 at 19:46

Hey Guys,
I will be shortly moving into collage and was wondering wether I should even bother taking computing (programming) , all i love is computers and they genrally intrest me all of the time, I dont want to say im clever but, put it this way, im not dumb

I was going to take at A level: computing (programming), Physics, Maths and electronics but I thought to my self is there any point becuase there seems to be so many people who are miles ahead of me, even at the same age as me (15) . I have done some c++ programming and really enjoyed it (only basic consol stuff) and im intesested in learning PHP sometime in the near futre, but as a career I just think my chances of "getting there" will be so limited. I am also very intested at the hardware side of things (the reason I am taking physics, electronics and maths and thinking about computing comes into that aswell

) So can some of you wise programmers help me make a decision?
Thanks.

Semple · 27 Apr 2011 at 19:51

As long as you're not taking English I think you'll manage fine. I found computing at A level half-and-half with programming for the coursework side. Then theoretical stuff for the exams.

Also bear in mind if you do fancy a programming job as a career you'll have to get a degree with a relevant discipline anyway. So my advice would be to do A levels you'd enjoy/find interesting as well as learning something new.

Chaos · 27 Apr 2011 at 20:39

Nobody knows everything whatever field you are in there is always going to be someone who knows more than you, just stick to what you are interested in and if you are motivated and work hard then things will come good

arty · 27 Apr 2011 at 20:42

Semple said:
Also bear in mind if you do fancy a programming job as a career you'll have to get a degree with a relevant discipline anyway.

I don't mean to be pedantic, but this isn't strictly true

Other people studying a course should not matter to you if you enjoy it and get something out of it. Why do you think your chances will be limited? It's an extremely wide-ranging sector with a vast array of opportunities around the world and an ever-increasing demand for employees.

arty

Moodle · 27 Apr 2011 at 22:04

arty said:
I don't mean to be pedantic, but this isn't strictly true

Other people studying a course should not matter to you if you enjoy it and get something out of it. Why do you think your chances will be limited? It's an extremely wide-ranging sector with a vast array of opportunities around the world and an ever-increasing demand for employees.

arty

thanks, thats a good way to look at it , think im just stressed about the whole thing is all, what with all my exam's looming ect.

DarrenM343 · 28 Apr 2011 at 20:02

arty said:
I don't mean to be pedantic, but this isn't strictly true

Why do you think your chances will be limited? It's an extremely wide-ranging sector with a vast array of opportunities around the world and an ever-increasing demand for employees.
arty

You're right, getting a degree isn't strictly true. One of the best developers I've worked with has no degree, he walked out of his CS degree because it just wasn't challenging to him. One could argue that those with the real passion and aptitude do not need a degree course because it comes natural to them , and those that do probably don't have the passion it needs to do really well in IT otherwise they would be out there doing it rather than learning it for 3 years. Just a thought!

Chances can be limited. Yes, outsourcing is well developed and unless you can find a niche it can prove a hard career for some who end up a bit unlucky (wrong skills at a particular time for example). India,China, Eastern Europe are where the IT opportunities are for those who are of course resident. Java developers in the UK for example are 2 a penny. You can still of course do well but it's not as easy as it used to be back in the 80's - 90's.

More UK based IT workers (ex-devs etc) are ending up managing offshore people, okay if that floats your boat. And more large software co's have the option of using offshore consultancies to do work, for example, can bring Indians over to do work on projects for periods of time.

I would recommend IT based A-levels but I would seriously look at occupations that cannot be outsourced, ie, medicine, some areas of finance and maybe farming etc etc. I think even accountants and some law based jobs can be outsourced these days . Oh and a degree isn't necessarily going to open the door to riches, degree educated folks are two a penny these days also and without work. Alternative is to get on the job experience very early in what you think you want to do and then possibly get a degree later, in IT for example that could get you a niche or at least a competive edge (have actual experience very early and before the age at which degree educated IT folk hit the market)..

All IMO of course

. Althought this is a negative post, yes it can still be possible do to quite well in IT in the UK.

Zefan · 28 Apr 2011 at 20:05

Are you sure it's specifically "programming"? I did A Level computing and programming was only a part of it.

Souleh · 28 Apr 2011 at 21:51

Its not bad as a 4th but I wouldnt put it as the pinnacle. If youre going to do a degree youll learn plenty of coding there and then.

Strong core subjects would be my favouring choice - Maths, Physics, Chemistry and maybe a foreign language

jon86 · 28 Apr 2011 at 21:55

I studied Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology at A-Level and went onto study Computer Science at university, which was basically 100% programming. I went straight into a software development job at the end of my degree and have been with the company for nearly four years now. Programming A-Level was not available at my Sixth Form but I probably wouldn't have chosen it as I was doing plenty of programming in my spare time and think core academic subjects are worth more at A-Level.

dynamis_dk · 2 May 2011 at 19:29

Zefan said:
I did A Level computing and programming was only a part of it.

Yeah me too. There was a lot of work on how computers work at low level, assembly and maths.

The actually programming consisted of a very basic pascal database and some work in visual basic. At the time i'd already done 3 City and Guilds VB courses so the course wasn't what I was expecting.

A friend went on to go to uni but he found a lot of the work java and web based - think he expected a bit more of a varied workload.

I wouldn't worry about your current level of knowledge as my friend can't even install windows himself, always brings it for me to sort it. You any him about programming and web development he's a wizz so if you have the right attitude to work at it and find you enjoy it theres nothing stoping you going far in the industry.

I decided in the end programming wasn't for me - I'm now a IT tech working on the road supporting thousands of PC's which sometime lets me do a little VBScript work so keeps the programming out my system once in a while

Eagle-Eye · 2 May 2011 at 20:17

Well im revising for my last computing exam for A level, the stuff is basically about low level computers / some network stuff / the coursework is eeeeeeeasy predicted nearly full marks but its just annoying learning the theory but it will help in the future I think with learning stacks and how binary is converted two's compliment etc

Go for it, it will fit in well with what your doing!

Darkman · 2 May 2011 at 21:07

Semple said:
So my advice would be to do A levels you'd enjoy/find interesting as well as learning something new.

Best advice I can give also.

TidyWorks · 2 May 2011 at 21:27

You could take the subjects you'd really enjoy. You can always learn some programming languages outside of College, picking up a book or attending an evening class, although I find evening classes to be a waste of time, as they're not taken seriously enough, in my experience as a student anyway.

There is some great books out there that you can work your way through and pick up the basics. At the end of the day, your job will probably come from your degree, but try not to think about that for now and do what you want, and enjoy it.

fewfe3 · 2 May 2011 at 21:37

I did A level computing and i must say it was a piece of cake. dont think i actually learned anything that i didnt already know. Electronics is a good choice IMO, i thoughoughly enjoyed that.

A.N.Other · 3 May 2011 at 10:32

A level computing is a good course. There's a sizeable programming element, if that's what you're after.

nippynoo · 3 May 2011 at 19:28

Study subjects that dont go out of date as quickly as computing languages, which come and go. You can always pick up computing after. And the more maths/physics the better. Some computing qualifications are mickey mouse anyway, and employers/universities know that. If a subject is easy, it isnt worth doing.

zetec452 · 4 May 2011 at 04:06

If you want to learn programming don't start with PHP. .NET, Java or C++ would be the best to start with. Once you know one of those well PHP will be fairly easy to pickup.