The computer science job market has been growing exponentially over the past decade, with growth only expected to continue. Therefore, computer science has become an extremely popular choice for students. This is no surprise, considering the students of today grew up in an age of technology development including AI, programming, gaming, and much more.
Top 10 Tools for Computer Science Students
If you’re about to start on a computer science studying journey, you should consider exploring the following tools.
21” External Monitor
You might not think of a monitor being that vital to your studies. However, given that most course material is delivered online, completing your master in computer science at Wilfred Laurier University will rely on a quality monitor. Having a 21” monitor will prevent you from straining your eyes. After all, you’re going to be spending plenty of time staring at the screen. There are plenty of different screens optimised for different tasks. For example, if your focus is on graphics, you should shop around for OLED-enabled monitors. However, if your computer science niche is programming, you should find a monitor with “eye saver” mode, which will dampen the screen and protect your eyes.
TED
As a computer science student, you’re going to be coming face-to-face with some of the most seemingly impossible problems. If you ever feel like you’re hitting a brick wall, you should take a look at TED. You’ve likely seen a TED talk before, but you may not be aware that they host expert engineers and programmers on their platform. You may not be given the exact answers, but they may inspire you with working processes.
Wolfram|Alpha
For computer science students, Wolfram|Alpha is the perfect knowledge companion. The site contains an enormous wealth of expert-provided knowledge in the computational space. All you need to do is download the software, search your computer calculation question, and it will provide you with the answers. It covers everyday life problems, linguistic equations, historical information, algebra and much more. If you’re studying computer science and you’re not using this tool, you’re doing something wrong.
Eclipse
When it comes to programming, Eclipse should be your go-to integrated development environment (IDE). Through their non-profit platform, you can collaborate with others and build expert solutions. Although its primary language is Java, it can be used for other languages including PHP, C#, and C++.
F.lux
We’ve already mentioned that you’ll be staring at your computer for long hours. However, most of that will involve burning the midnight oil. The amount of time and different lighting conditions can be extremely tiring on your eyes, which you need to look after if you want to carry on practicing computer science. Luckily, you can use F.lux to adjust the contrasts of your screen. This software tracks the movement of the sun and adjusts your screen accordingly. This means that when it gets darker outside, your screen will mimic inside lighting conditions.
Slack
Slack is a powerful tool that sees messaging, file sharing, and email all packed into one package. It has become particularly prominent over the past year, with more people studying and working from home. Owing to its efficiency, many universities have integrated Slack to allow their students to collaborate alongside busy schedules. The software can be used across a range of devices, making it the perfect companion. Further, all you need is a solid internet connection and you are good to go.
Wireshark
Step up your student game and get in with the professionals. Wireshark is a free-to-download software that runs deep analytics on network traffic. This goes deeper than your basic Wi-Fi analyzer because it stores ethernet, Bluetooth, and wireless connections. Then, it will store it offline for deep analysis. If network traffic is your area of expertise, you won’t find a better packet sniffer on the web. However, you need to keep in mind that you can only analyse networks you have permission to do so. The software is completely legal, but make sure you use it wisely.
The Pragmatic Programmer
Although you’re studying computer science, sometimes the non-digital world will prove more useful. For example, you should invest in The pragmatic Programmer by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt. Within the pages, you will find a wealth of information surrounding practical processes for software development. Whether you’re an expert or a newbie, there will be information in there to help you with computer science.
Project Management Solutions
When you’re studying computer science, you’re going to have to have a mountain of projects to manage. Fortunately, you can use Atlassian’s helpful suite to complete your work. Their all-in-one package allows for collaboration, bug tracking, and software change tracking. Their flagship solution, JIRA, has evolved past being used solely for bug tracking. Now, it offers entire project management including software development.
There are plenty of other project management programs out there that perform the job just as well. For example, GitHub allows programmers to collaborate on code. Everything that you find on GitHub is open source, meaning that the code can be edited for improvements. The benefit of using GitHub is that they have version control in place, which means you will never lose touch with the original program.
Amazon EC2
When you create software solutions, you will need something to launch them from. To save you the money investing in private hardware, we suggest computer science students use Amazon EC2. You will use the Amazon Web Service (AWS). You can scale the service to suit your needs and they will take care of the hosting.
Conclusion
Computer science is fast becoming one of the most popular courses for students. The road to graduation isn’t easy and will take hard work and dedication. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools out there to help students on their way. Collaboration has never been easier thanks to the likes of Slack, Atlassian, and GitHub. Further, no equation will go unsolved with the help of Wolfram|Alpha. However, not every tool is digital because there are plenty of computer science books to help with studies. If you use the solutions above, you will be off to a flying start.
