<p>I'm currently a third year physics major who recently switched to computer science. I'm growing more frustrated every time with each programming assignment because I feel like I have this unique way of solving complex computational tasks, and when it comes time to implementation, the detail-requirement nature of programming kicks in and ruins all my great ideas! I have to make sure every line is "right", or the compiler can't understand my instructions.</p>
<p>This is why I feel like I'm not going anywhere in computer science. I feel like I'm wasting my time with details, trying to shape my method of solution in to the "right" form for the compiler to understand!</p>
<p>I guess what I'm asking is what kind of major is the best match for someone who relies almost 100% on intuition, tends to approach problems VERY independently, always coming up with solutions using an unconventional, sometimes unorthodox, route, and is very, very uninterested in details, like in the case of having to learn what the compiler decides is "right" so that it could properly implement my correct psuedo-codic algorithms?</p>
<p>Also, what kind of cognitive personality type do you think I have?</p>
Sorry man, but the devil is in the details. As a physics major, didn’t you have some massive problem that was easy to set-up, but then a pain to evaluate? (unless you cheated and used Mathematica or something…)
Out of curiosity, what jobs do you think exist where you don’t have to deal with the details? What if some devilish detail makes your whole algorithm fail? You’d never see it because you never dealt with the details. </p>
<p>And honestly, you just sound frustrated/a little lazy.
You aren’t fluent with a language. As a child, you probably weren’t fluent in English; but you learned after dealing with it long enough. Fluency in programming comes with a bit of time.</p>
<p>If you are not a detail oriented person, computers are going to be very frustrating for you. They are very fast but not capable of independent thinking and lack any sense of intuition. They only do exactly what you tell them to do and only understand instructions in the precise format they are built to recognize.</p>
<p>I think you should go back to Physics where unorthodox ways of approaching problems can sometimes prove to be very useful, particularly as get to more advanced topics.</p>
<p>I also dislike a lot of detail but understand that it’s very important to the big picture. Someone that is “uninterested” in the details sounds lazy. There are many things in life that you can learn without the details and let yourself believe you understand the topic but in actuality you’re lying to yourself. Just listen to someone talk about a physics topic that they learned from a Hawking book or watched on the 1 hour science TV show. </p>
<p>In all actuality, you sound like you’d fit right into a philosophy major. Those guys work independently and don’t need to worry about making sense of any math or computer program to fit their ideas. You can write arguments and ideas all day. </p>
<p>If you can’t stand details, I would do yourself a favor and drop any science related degree because it’s gonna be torture to stay motivated. Good luck.</p>
<p>Details are the bread and butter of science! If you want purely “big picture” stuff that hits like a lightning bolt go into philosophy, literature, or something that isn’t science.</p>
<p>Computer science is all about describing processes precisely; there can be no room for ambiguity when you are automating processes on a machine. Programming and mathematics are the languages used to communicate ideas in computer science, and if you cannot communicate an idea you haven’t fully understood it.</p>
<p>I’d say go back into physics if you wanna stay in science, but work on your attention to detail. Maybe work on theoretical physics and go for a PhD? If not, go applied and suck up the details.
I second philosophy as well - pure intuitition lol.</p>
<p>Computer Science is not about the details of programming languages. It’s all about your ability to understand and manipulate abstract mathematical concepts.</p>
<p>Your concern sounds similar to an aspiring novelist who is frustrated by the rules of spelling and grammar. Don’t get hung up on these unimportant details - they’ll come along for free when you put in the work. However, do take care with the important details (which are not the concrete syntax of programming languages).</p>
<p>The truth is that you haven’t yet started into Computer Science; you’re just finding your way around your first programming language. That’s one of several prerequisites for CS.</p>