Need your help guys!!

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Hey guys, if you didn't know anything about computer information systems (CIS) but had to choose one what would it be and why? (or another suggestion maybe?)

1. Internet Authoring

2. Networking

3. Programming

https://catalog.msjc.edu/instructional-programs/computer-information-systems/computer-information-systems-associates-degree/#requirementstext

I'm having a mid-life crisis. I'm getting tired of what I'm doing and trying to find something more interesting, but not completely daunting either. Something that pays good and that I can get done in 2 years and not need any math skills!! I hate math!! Thoughts?   

Blud.

[=VG= Connor]

I would personally go for programming. Now I don’t know much about any 3 of these options so take what I say by a grain of salt but - I believe programming can most likely introduce a larger variety of things to do, which if you’re not looking to be bored then is probably a good idea and is probably not the hardest thing to do. And depending on what you do in programming you can definitely get something done within 2 years. As for a specific course I can’t recommend one unfortunately. Again I really know nothing so this could all be incorrect and make no sense but yeah, hope it helped!

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

I thought programming required stupid math skills. I'm taking math 96 right now and it sucks balls. I'm not doing anything that requires math, calculators, or counting fingers. 

Thanks Connor.   

[=VG= 0100011000101]

9 minutes ago, =VG= BLuDKLoT said:

I thought programming required stupid math skills.

networking needs a few math skills... you can of course have everything calculated using "apps" but it makes sense to know how many network addresses are available at 172.0.20.11/24... It's similar with programming. you rarely need math, but you follow a logic similar to math and sometimes have to think in binary logic for hardware-related matters. with java or flash you have less math...

So networking needs an understanding of math. programming depending on which language and in which area.  internet authoring I think  has to do the least with math. but that should perhaps be confirmed by an professional...

[=VG= Connor]

42 minutes ago, =VG= BLuDKLoT said:

I thought programming required stupid math skills. I'm taking math 96 right now and it sucks balls. I'm not doing anything that requires math, calculators, or counting fingers. 

Thanks Connor.   

Yeah that is true, but I’m not sure you will get away with doing no maths when it comes to these professions, at least a bit of it will definitely be needed for them. 

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Ya I'm not sold on it either Connor. Just curious to see what others think because I know some are currently doing it. I'm still looking at other stuff too. 

 

[=VG= XOR]

I'm in 'Systems Automation' (CompSci major), so I've got a bit of a bias but here goes.

 

1. Is easy, pays well, requires little time, hardly any math if ever but is mindlessly boring & in the age of squarespace,wix,wordPress,... can be done with no effort by #2 & #3 or anyone with some common sense ftm.

 

2. Similar in ease & time taken, but no less boring, if as you say you're looking for something interesting, scratch this one off too, it's as interesting as watching paint dry. And you can do it any way as #3.

 

3. Pays most, boring - what's that even mean - certainly not this , Sure it needs some math, but unless you're going into data science or algorithm design(actually fun for us sociopaths who like math), 99% of programming is operational logic(if,else,while,for,and,or,blah blah blah), basic arithmetic & GOOGLING SHIT, sprinkled with some high school level linear algebra & geometry at most in that order,hate calculus not to worry, 'every one' does & you don't need it, though you'll certainly have to take classes on it regardless, in a traditional college course at least. And yeah you can do #1,#2 & ofc #3 having learned this as a matter of course. 

 

So if your motivation is looking for something more interesting which by definition translates to challenging & fun, you certainly won't find that with those two, but if you want to unleash your creativity, question reality, and learn how to think instead of what to think, programming is the way, because it's a mindset that pays well instead of  just a job that does, while the other two are just that, jobs & little else. It's also one of the few skills in life that can earn you a living with out you having to seek out employment or even formal education from the comfort of wherever whenever, take a week & teach yourself, see how that goes, Derek Banas 'Learn In One Video' series gives you a pretty good idea what programming actually is

 

, If you enjoy it take it up, If not take-up YouTube 

 

6 hours ago, =VG= 0100011000101 said:

 internet authoring I think  has to do the least with math. but that should perhaps be confirmed by an professional...

I asked my 7 year old niece, in her blog on dogs & cats  powered by wix, SHE CONFIRMS, no math.

 

Cheers.

[=VG= keed]

Yeah man now is the time to jump into website stuff. It's not hard, no math required and there are many free and easy platforms out there to learn and just try it out. I work in the field professionally (CMS, PIM, MDB) but never touch any code. But those acronyms are just interesting for enterprise folk.

What I am talking about is the small car shop around the corner, the hairdresser from down the block or the Italian place next town. They have no clue how to design websites and even less time for them but need one. Nowadays there are tools out there that do most things for you. It's easy as creating a Powerpoint presentation.

What helps are connections. Maybe you know a photographer, a copywriter or some marketing guru for questions. The rest is always a google query away. These are some platforms that do everything except the content for you.

https://www.wix.com/

https://www.jimdo.com

On the pro side you get to learn a lot of people with businesses and all you need is a computer to start. Zero monetary investment.

[=VG= Nyther]

Don't do programming then. If you hate math not because you might be bad at it but because you just don't like math at all then avoid programming.
It mostly is about logic problems but you usually need a bunch of math to help with those problems depending on what you are doing.

"Hmmmm how do I make this thing work 10 times slower?" - you multiply it by 0.1

Computers and @=VG= 0100011000101 work with 0's and 1's and a bunch of those numbers together makes things work, so you are basically playing with math.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

12 hours ago, X0R said:

3. Pays most, boring - what's that even mean - certainly not this , Sure it needs some math, but unless you're going into data science or algorithm design(actually fun for us sociopaths who like math), 99% of programming is operational logic(if,else,while,for,and,or,blah blah blah), basic arithmetic & GOOGLING SHIT, sprinkled with some high school level linear algebra & geometry at most in that order,hate calculus not to worry, 'every one' does & you don't need it, though you'll certainly have to take classes on it regardless, in a traditional college course at least. And yeah you can do #1,#2 & ofc #3 having learned this as a matter of course. 

  ↑  Teaching myself programming, I can at least concur that I have used very little "extreme math" in almost all the projects I've done.  It all really comes down to logical problems like "if this then do that" in whatever syntax is required by a particular programming language.  I think it's the most empowering thing you can learn with regards to computer work, since it can translate into personal projects as well as a career.  When I need a simple task or tool for a VG server, I can just create it myself and have some new button or executable to instruct VG Admins to use.  Took years to slowly learn, but when you are driven by personal motivation, it's much easier.

Check out this, some programming can look like this and it's easy to look up any of these things online for more info once you know where to look.  I'd say some of the craziest math in any of my programming projects merely amounts to number conversions, and for that, I simply googled my problem and had an example I could easily follow and apply to my needs:

	elapsedTicks = Math.floor(currentTicks - previousTicks)
	
	elapsedDays = TimeSpan.FromTicks(elapsedTicks).TotalDays
	elapsedMinutes = TimeSpan.FromTicks(elapsedTicks).TotalMinutes

(programs can tell time in "ticks" which is a very accurate measure for elapsed time, where one millisecond is 10,000 "ticks" - here I use a previously save value of elapsed "ticks", subtracting the current "ticks" to get elapsed time, and then had to look up some maths on Google to convert that to seconds/minutes/days of elapsed time using pre-made functions embedded in the C# "Math" library).  So, you can see here in this example that I didn't even "do" the math myself, I just used pre-made functions that are part of this programming language already.

Later in that program above, I can recall the variables "elapsedDays" and "elapsedMinutes" to refer to how long the program has been used for (this is part of the timer for limited use beta tests, for control of my versions etc.)

This is an example of a C#  ("C Sharp") snippet from my voice control stuff -- this is the sort of stuff you may use in programming, some conversions and equations that turn one number into another, and unless you're creating physics engines, it's prolly not gonna get too deep on you.  There are some people that can keep all this stuff in their head; personally I'm an amateur self taught tinkerer, and I pretty much rely on methods or snippets of stuff I find online and change/alter to my needs, or I use examples from previous works I've done that are similar (and again, change it up for whatever I'm working on at present).

Like others have said here, programming is like working through logical problems to achieve a goal, so I personally think it's very rewarding (even if dull and boring at times) because it's essentially problem solving.

 

Another example of the type of math that may be needed - I had a problem when I created my rotary dial controller for BMS, once it circled back around, all the numbers were wrong and the dial in-game jumped all around.  I needed to correct that rotation to "reset" once it turned a full 360 degrees (back to zero) so it worked properly - and for that I had to apply some basic math, but nothing too extreme or crazy:
 

  //Correct Rotation within 360 deg.
  if (val < 0) {
    val = val + 360;
  }else if (val >= 360) {        
    val = val - 360;
  }
  return val;

This little function let me provide the value, and it returned the value corrected within a 360 degree range ... if it was too high, it subtracted 360, if it was below 0, it would add 360.  Not so much hard math as logical problem to sort.

 

I think it's important for you to sample a little bit of each of these jobs before you decide which one interests you enough to keep driving you forward, see what they do and what that looks like, and talk to more people in those fields if able.  I hope we have some more career computer guys here with actual jobs in these fields who can post up advice.  I had a personal passion to learn programming, because when I was a young man in my 20's with an interest in computers, someone told me, "You were bad at High School, you'll never be able to learn the math you need to learn computer programming".  IF I COULD GO BACK!! I would only tell myself to dive right in, avoid certain types of programming that require calculus-levels of math, and focus on object oriented programming and application development.

It's really not that hard once you get down the basics, everything builds on previous knowledge, so you start out small, and within a few years you are blazing through thousand line scripts to make your visions into functional reality.

[=VG= Kavelenko]

You won't really know what you want to do until you try it out so its probably a good idea to do some short courses in Web Development, Networking or Basic Programming. The creative types tend to get into Web Design, Networkers tended to be hands on technicians who like connecting and trouble shooting hardware, programmers are the guys who build the programs for business. These are generalizations but these days its handy to know something across all three streams, there is a demand for Networkers who can also program due to the need for more cyber-security.

I was an Electrician before I went back to school (TAFE) at the age of 35 and got into IT. I started with Web Development, got bored with that after 15 years and switched over to the "dark side", and did a Bachelor in Information Technology (Software Development) at 57. The problem with IT is that you never stop learning and its almost impossible to keep up. If you like reading and studying IT is for you, the money is not bad too.

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I am no closer to deciding than I was before, thank you. I think I may just finish out my associates with business administration and then figure out my next moves. I was trying to get into diagnostic medical sonography and was going to be done with my prerequisites this semester, but they just added two new pre reqs math 105 and 140. I'm in math 96 right now and hate it more than anything I've ever experienced before. I can't do any more math. It's so frustrating especially since I've been doing this for 1.5 years already and I was just about to be finished and apply for the program. Ugh. Blud

[R-CON LangMaster]

Programming definitely, also, if you get into it, there is a game called screeps, it is on steam.

In short, simplistic graphics, real time strategy, buildings units and everything is run by your own code, so you make code that will repeat mine this mine that build this here attack there make this unit upgrade that, it is very fun and fun is the best way to learn stuff.

It is not really for starts but it is definitely great for people that knows a slight part of coding and just wanna remember it and make it bonded into your mind.

[=VG= Skiddles]

Went through a mid-life crisis. Not that big of a deal!
I spent weeks, months trying to work out what to do. Then someone who I know only a little said something and it hit home in a huge way.
"Do what you want but make F'ing sure you love to do it!"
For me, it meant giving away the need to have more and discovering how having less pleases me. I focus on what I need not what I want and the result is I want less and less every day. 
I worked my ass off for 40 years and lost the lot to an evil wife that planned her exit from the marriage for a year. She got all her ducks in a row and blew me up. It nearly killed me until I understood it was her that wanted everything. NOT ME. I'm happy with the friends I have here and in my life. I don't have a garage full of cars anymore or the fancy house on the best street. 
I'm happier for it!

My advice, do what earns you the lifestyle you need, not what everyone says you should have. Make bloody sure you love to do it. 
Happiness, for me at least was found in loving everything I have, not loving what I don't.

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Women are ruthless lol. 

[=VG= Kavelenko]

5 hours ago, Sciddles said:

My advice, do what earns you the lifestyle you need, not what everyone says you should have. Make bloody sure you love to do it. 

Amen brother, and find a partner that thinks the same way!

[=VG= Solar]

I'm a network architect (network engineering) at an ISP/Cloud company in the UK.

 

Definitely requires reasonable fundamental math skills. Understanding how the protocols work require it a little too. But the day to day of the job barely has any math. Nothing complicated anyway. Its a good career. Glad I chose it. Some cool stuff happening in the field too. But it might have a reasonable amount of math at uni.

[WCCBadploy]

Have you had a look at AWS Cloud Computing Careers?

https://aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate/students/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-wants-to-train-29-million-people-to-work-in-the-cloud-11607621622?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter

[KilRoy-]

Brother.  Not in your list, maybe you would like to look at SAP ERP.  Two possibilities, SAP Functional or SAP ABAP.  The SAP functional is a systems analyst (architect is the more modern term) while ABAP is a programmer.  SAP ERP Functional is either (1)  Materials Management (Supply Chain / Inventory) or (2)  Financial Management.  ABAP is SAP's proprietary programming language and will do coding for custom requirement of either SAP Supply Chain or SAP Financial Management.  The pre-requisite, IMHO are (1) Fundamentals of Computer Programming and (2) Systems Analysis and Design.     

Another consideration, if you want a more generic platform.
- Java SE /Java EE technologies using Spring Framework (Core, MVC, Security AOP)
- IDE such as Eclipse / IntelliJ
- Javascript, CSS, HTML and other client side technologies
- Advance knowledge on Web Services (SOAP / REST)
- SQL with databases (Oracle, MySQL)
 

 

 

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Guys I totally changed and decided finish my degree in real estate seems more promising right now thanks tho. 

[Minisgtsolid]

Dude I haven't read any posts from before and I just joined but what did you do in the military?

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

0311, 0369, 8411 USMC