If you want to consider yourself a good software developer, it doesn’t mean that you are also considered a good computer scientist, and vice versa. There is a big difference between those two.
Computer Scientist or Software Developer?
Computer science is the study of the theory, experimentation, and engineering that form the basis for the design and use of computers. It is the scientific and practical approach to computation and its applications and the systematic study of the feasibility, structure, expression, and mechanization of the methodical procedures (or algorithms) that underlie the acquisition, representation, processing, storage, communication of, and access to information. A computer scientist specializes in the theory of computation and the design of computational systems.
Computer Science is a rapidly growing field, as the world around us is getting more and more digital, while artificial intelligence is now in the front-end. Our perception for the computers, the information and the way people use the technology is constantly changing and the algorithm techniques to resolve a computational problem or to develop something useful must be more and more optimized.
Computer Science education is relevant for Software Developers
As Software Developers, we have to develop applications and software that serve today’s needs in the minimum time possible. And as the needs are growing, it is important to write code using the right skills and techniques to have efficient results. It is not enough to just know how to program in a specific programming language; if you do not have the appropriate knowledge on programming principles, like using the right algorithm or using appropriate data structures, you are going to struggle to produce robust code.
So, every software developer has to know computer science basics if he/she wants to have a successful career path.
Are you interested in contributing to the next phase of this fast-developing field or in enhancing your programming knowledge? Check the following Computer Science courses and stay ahead of the game:
1) Cryptography I (Stanford University)
About this course: Cryptography is an indispensable tool for protecting information in computer systems. In this course you will learn the inner workings of cryptographic systems and how to correctly use them in real-world applications.We will examine many deployed protocols and analyze mistakes in existing systems. Throughout the course participants will be exposed to many exciting open problems in the field and work on fun (optional) programming projects.
2) Algorithms, Part I (Princeton University)
About this course: This course covers the essential information that every serious programmer needs to know about algorithms and data structures, with emphasis on applications and scientific performance analysis of Java implementations. Part I covers elementary data structures, sorting, and searching algorithms. Part II focuses on graph- and string-processing algorithms.
3) Functional Programming Principles in Scala (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
About this course: Functional programming is becoming increasingly widespread in industry. This trend is driven by the adoption of Scala as the main programming language for many applications. Scala fuses functional and object-oriented programming in a practical package. It interoperates seamlessly with both Java and Javascript. Scala is the implementation language of many important frameworks, including Apache Spark, Kafka, and Akka. It provides the core infrastructure for sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and also Coursera. In this course you will discover the elements of the functional programming style and learn how to apply them usefully in your daily programming tasks.
4) Build Your First Android App (CentraleSupélec)
About this course: In this project-centered course, you’ll design, build, and distribute your own unique application for the Android mobile platform. We’ll provide you with a set of customizable building blocks that you can assemble to create many different types of apps, and that will help you become familiar with many important specificities of Android development. When you complete the project, in addition to having a personalized app that you can use and share, you’ll have the skills and background you need to move on to more advanced coursework in Android development.
5) HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers (Johns Hopkins University)
About this course: Do you realize that the only functionality of a web application that the user directly interacts with is through the web page? Implement it poorly and, to the user, the server-side becomes irrelevant! Today’s user expects a lot out of the web page: it has to load fast, expose the desired service, and be comfortable to view on all devices: from a desktop computers to tablets and mobile phones. In this course, we will learn the basic tools that every web page coder needs to know. We will start from the ground up by learning how to implement modern web pages with HTML and CSS. We will then advance to learning how to code our pages such that its components rearrange and resize themselves automatically based on the size of the user’s screen. You’ll be able to code up a web page that will be just as useful on a mobile phone as on a desktop computer.
