RobEasy

Well! Let me start off by saying that this is a great forum with good people and that I am glad I signed up. That being said, I need your guys advice.

I can't decide to stay with computer hardware technology or go on to programming full time.

Let me give you peoples some background. I have always loved technology, especially computers, and as time has gone on I have found myself trying to lean a programming language then vacillating between software and hardware.

In college I was going into engineering because I liked working with my hands, but I found, to my dismay, that there was only theory and no practical experience. I stopped. I swiched to a different school and got into electronics engineering technology. That was cool because I am getting theory and practical exp. all in one.

Then, I took a programming class... Fell in love! It's crazy because I want to absorb all the info about programming apps and OS's, then I want to absorb all the info circuit design and implementation. I just want to get a feel on what I am getting into.

Please if you can, give me some advice on how you went about deciding between coding and your other loves.

Jimbo

When I was applying to colleges, I was trying to decide between Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Science or Engineering. I talked with several advisors at a couple different institutions and finally decided that CS was what I wanted.

megamind5005

I'd say it depends on whether you think you'll have the time/patience to learn on of the things you will miss, in your own time.

That's the thing with programming: a lot of people can teach themselves programming much more easily than they would electronics, because all you need are a computer and an Internet connection, plus a few bucks perhaps for a reference book. Now, for engineering (electronics or otherwise) the number of physical things is greater and I don't think it would be quite as easy to find so many resources for free.

Now if you just want to end up with a job involving computers, electronics engineering would be perfect and it leave some more doors open too. If you go and specialise in programming, your options will probably be more limited. So unless you're so "in love" with programming that you wouldn't do anything other than program, you'd be better off sticking it out with Electronics which you still enjoy.

Plus, if you really want, I'm sure you could just turn up for some programming classes, or sign up for a part-time course or soemthing. But tbh, you don't need to, because the Internet is your best teacher with the best "books".

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DaWei

If being a technician so that you may work with your hands is what flips your skirt, then go for it, but be prepared to receive fewer dollars. Programming is not software engineering, incidentally.

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commodore

OS's and you still use Windows?

DaWei

Another knee-jerk reaction....

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RobEasy

Yes I stll use windows... Its only because I haven't built a true developers machine, and I have found that if I want to dual boot I will need a better machine than what I have. Windows isnt that bad for general things though.

DaWei

I'm 65, have written a few OSes of my own, have a Linux system, am evaluating a couple BSDs, and, yes, I still use Windows -- a lot. But then, I'm just a stupid fuddy-duddy.

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a thing

You seem to be confusing dual booting with emulation with something like QEMU. You only run one OS at a time when you dual boot.

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RobEasy

I understand that, I just want to have a machine that is capable of running more than one OS. Not at the same time, but to have them resident on the same drive. When I said dual boot I meant to have more than one os on the drive.