BA in CS vs. BALS w/ CS Concentration

[armstrongsubero]

Get the computer science degree, it is the Gold Standard tech degree. IT, IS, ICT, CIS and BSBA in CIS are just wasting time.

If you need the "IT" knowledge, then you can always get certs Net+, CISCO, CEH, CISSP, CISM etc. You may regret not doing the CS degree if you do anything less.

If you are interested in software development (web etc) then no degree is necessary, but CS will give you more of the knowledge you need and is more respected by the software dev industry than IT, and for good reason. Calculus, discrete math, computer architecture and data structures really get you into the "CS minset" which is required for some jobs where you are doing full stack work or backend development.

The internet of things is also hot right now and that CS bacground will give you an edge, you can even go as far as developing deeply embedded software on far edge nodes etc. Something that I've seen people without EE or CS knowledge struggle with and they are stuck from moving past trivial examples.

With the rise in AI, I would say most of the "code monkey" jobs are going to be phased out. The industry will need extra talented engineers and scientists and not so much someone who simply knows how to copy and paste code, as AI will handle that. The industry needs more problem solvers, not guys to browse stack overflow and throw up websites. In that regard you'll be safer with the CS. Though doing a masters will set you apart from the crowd and lets you specialize.

A lot of old devs will say this isn't true or whatever, but look at networking jobs, a lot of companies simply don't need the "cable and crimper" Network+ or CCNA guys who got into the job after high school. With cloud computing and the killer Software Defined Networking (SDN) you need less devs with more skills.

The "everyone can code" movement in the software world will see a similar shift to the "anyone can do networking" which is occurring right now and you'll get a collapse.

In all the choice has to be getting a CS degree and an MBA and move into management or getting that CS degree up to the MPhil or PhD level an being an expert in a technology niche. Anything else will only yield short term rewards.

I may be wrong, but even a developing country like mine is seeing the shift toward SDN and cloud computing, and a lot of the "cable and crimper" guys are being phased out with CS grads taking their jobs.

Also a lot of support jobs WILL be phased out by AI, it's not a matter of IF, its a matter of WHEN so unless you are like 45+ look into being more skilled than just support.

Coding is evolving, there are a lot of tools that auto-genetate code and coding today is simply finding the right code to solving your problems. When someone codes in java with an ide like intellij, it's like the code rights itself. What this means is that coding isn't "special" anymore and salaries will drop lower and lower, until coding is at the point where some basic logic constructs will be all that is needed and it is like writing, required by everyone who is employed in a corporate capacity.

There will however be a need for computer scientists and experts to design AI's and tools, to push the cutting edge. We'll need more programmers and problem solvers, not more "coders".

Of course guys who come up with new ideas, entrepreneurs and business leaders will benefit most from this change, so I think it's safer to be on this end for the long term.

So for short term goals (< 5 years) aim at the "coder" hype jobs that give you a good salary, but in the long term (> 5 years) aim at becoming a super expert in one CS niche (AI, IoT, Quantum Computing, VR, Gaming), or move into the business side of things.

I decided on the business side of things a few months ago, and I must say, it's an easier run, I feel less pressure to keep up with all the buzz words and hype and my life feels more relaxed. It also gives you the freedom to learn the technology you want to learn rather than what you must learn.