

Ask HN: Should I minor in computer science, or work more on side projects? - gusgordon

It's time to pick classes for next semester, and I'm still not exactly sure what to do. I am going for a double major in Physics and Economics, the Elon Musk route (still not sure if I plan on going the full 4 years), and I have thought about also going for a minor in computer science or maybe something else.
If I minored in CS or something, I would want to start down that road now, rather than later. I'm already pretty experienced with programming and computers. I know PHP, Javascript, HTML, and learning Python at the moment. I don't know these extremely well, but I can do anything fairly easily with them if I use Google (by the way, does this count as knowing the language well?)<p>I always have some sort of side project going, and have tons of ideas floating around in my head that I want to build (not necessarily involving computers). If I minored in CS or something, I would have less time to work on side projects because of increased workload.<p>Is minoring in CS (or something else you suggest) worth it in this situation? Will I learn anything, and does it mean anything when applying for a job at a startup/other company, especially if I tell them I learned how to program decently on my own?<p>Thanks!
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benwerd
Yes. Get the CS minor. It means something to a lot of employers, so is worth
it for that alone, and you'll probably pick up algorithmic techniques that you
might not have thought about.

There will be plenty of time for side projects afterwards. (And I'll bet
you'll still find some time to build stuff.)

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gusgordon
What if I don't want to be an engineer? Does that change anything? But thanks
for the advice.

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cyrusradfar
I'd agree w/ @benwerd, I think that an understanding of CS is a helpful
background in understanding computing. Think of it as an equivalent of taking
US History before practicing law.

Although I barely use much of the low level coding that I learned, I find that
a deeper understanding is invaluable.

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gusgordon
What if I'm probably not going to be an engineer? Like I'm more interested in
the logistics and theory of things.

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cyrusradfar
Engineers respect people who _get_ engineering. Also, whatever role you are,
if you have to decide on planning/prioritization it's helpful to have an
understanding if people are bs'ing on time estimates.

You can't really understand the complexity of a feature or shift in direction
without the computing background.

