What Computer Science concepts should I know? [closed]

Answer 1

I see several good CS concepts identified but little talk about Math.

I suggest that you look into discrete mathematics. It has a wide range of useful problems starting with logical proofs which help you write conditions in code. Graph theory and combinatorics also help with complex problem resolution and algorithm optimization.

While we are on the subject of math, linear algebra is typically a prerequisite for advance computer graphics classes.

Answer 2

Rule 1: Software is Knowledge Capture. Software means something. If you're unclear on the meaning, spend more time talking to users to understand what they do.

Algorithms and Data Structures are two sides of the same coin. Algorithm depends on data structure, data structure depends on algorithm.

Unlearn bubble sort as quickly as possible. Seriously. All modern languages (Java, Python, etc.) have collection classes that implement a better sort than bubble sort. There are absolutely no circumstances under which you should ever use bubble sort for anything. You should be looking for a collection class that includes a sort method. Better, you should be looking for a algorithm which avoids sorting entirely.

You must learn several languages.

• Programming language (Java, Python, etc.)

• Shell language.

• Database language (SQL)

• Presentation languages (HTML and CSS)

• Other data representation languages (XML, JSON)

You must learn several data structures.

• Sequences (lists, tuples, files)

• Hierarchical (like XML and HTML documents, as well as the basic file system)

• Relational (like databases, and the file system with hard and soft links thrown in)

• Maps (or Indexes or Associative Arrays) including Hash Maps and Tree Maps

• Sets

Plus some algorithmic complexity analysis. Sometimes called "Big O". Why a bubble sort is bad is that it's O ( n ^ 2 ), where a quicksort is O( n log n ).

Answer 3

LOGIC - I just overstate the importance of logic in programming. You said you did Mechanical Engineering so you must know how much mathematics can make your life easier.

Propositional Logic, First-Order Logic, Second-Order Logic: these are very powerful tools. Probably the most (and only) important things I've learned at university. Logic is like the heavy artillery of a programmer - lots of very complex problems (as well as the less complex ones) become much simpler once you have put them into an organized, logical form. It's like what Linear Algebra is for Mechanical Engineers.

Answer 4

Alot of good responses have been mentioned here already, but I wanted to add a subset of what is important, but hasn't been covered so far.

After 15 years of post-undergrad professional Software development, I find that I regularly use some of the following concepts from in school:

• General OO concepts, and modern programming language features (classes, data hiding, etc).
• Algorithm performance metrics (Big O notation). When designing an algorithm, performing a Big O analysis to determine the cost of the algorith, and looking at more efficient alternatives in bottleneck areas.
• Linked lists and other complex data structures.
• Fast sorting, and different sorting concepts.
• Trees and fast tree manipulation.

If your language/platform doesn't support Garbage Collection, memory allocation and cleanup are critical, and would be added to the list.

Answer 5

I think 3D-Graphics is something everyone should learn. Or at least how to properly use homogeneous vectors and matrix-transforms.

It can be helpful not only for creating 3d-applications but also in mechanic fields like inverse kinematics on robots, calculating moments and a lot of other stuff.

I didn't fully understand linear algebra until i had read 3d-graphics, one of the best courses I've ever taken even though our teacher was bad.

Answer 6

Take a look at this blog post by Steve Yegge (formerly of Amazon, now at Google):

• The Five Essential Phone Screen Questions

It goes into some detail about the the five most important concepts that developers should be required to know:

1. Basic programming (including recursion, file I/O, formatted output, loops etc)
2. Object oriented design (including design patterns etc). You should be able to produce sensible OO designs as well as understanding the concepts.
3. Scripting and regexes.
4. Data structures -- lists, sets, hashtables, trees, graphs, and so on -- as well as Big O notation and algorithmic complexity.
5. Bits, bytes and binary numbers -- how numbers are represented within the computer, and how to manipulate them.