<p>I want to go to MIT for a Computer engineering makor. Im curretly in tenth grade. Im getting my A+ certification this month and as soon as I do a company I found called Fast Teks will hire me (im 15) ,for my first job, and pay me 30 dollars an hour!</p>
<p>Well since im in 10th grade I have alot of time to get more certifications and even better jobs. So my question is what should i study for computer engineering? Do i need any background on programming for it (there is software eng. and hardware eng. but at colleges they only offer a general computer eng. major) ??? Or am I better off just studying for my sats (if i dont get over a 2200 ill probably kill myself {lol jk}) ?</p>
<p>Have you considered becoming a CCNA? I suggest starting out with some C\C++ if you do not know already, then try to expand into object-oriented such as Java. Ruby, Python, and Perl are also some other good languages. From there, Cisco Certified Networking Administrator will ensure a strong backround in CS and greatly widen your area of expertise. </p>
<p>Study math. This comes from C++ programmer with three years of experience and working part-time if you want credibility. Languages and libraries come out every other year, while you have time study theory.
Some things that you MUST know.
- Graph theory, at least basics.
- Linear algebra and transformations.
- Algorithms. For goodness' sake, study algorithms (sorting, search) and data structures (bi and N-trees, sequences, rings).
- Study C. I hope this explains it all, C has a lot of low-level mechanisms that you'll want to know.
Other tips:
- Buy Knuth and Cormen's books and start reading them.
- Read about lambda calculus and LISP, you'll learn it on first courses of MIT EE.</p>
<p>Remember I dont want to do computer science i want to do Computer Engineering. I dont know alot of programming but im learning. Im considering taking the CCNA soon but not for several months. So is programming a major factor in CE ? I thought it was hardware oriented as well. Any books you guys reccomend for a beginning programmer?</p>
<p>Jamsa's C\C++ Programming Bible will take you through every aspect of C\C++ programming. However, it may not be the best for actual exercises and implementation. I suggest Sam's "Teach Yourself C in 21 Days" along with Jamsa's. The latter will teach you the fundamental concepts, then you can execute them into programs that you make guided by the former. :)</p>
<p>Oh, right. I looked it up in MIT EE, it has a lots to do with engineering as well.</p>
<p>However, upon coming to MIT (if you're accepted of course) you'll face <a href="http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/%5B/url%5D">http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/</a> and it will beat crap out of you if you don't have good mathematical background and experience with programming languages.
So, I'd recommend you studying three things at once:
a) C++ -- Straustrup or Dejtel depending on if you had programming before.
b) Algorithms -- Knuth or Kormen depending on whether you can sketch bubble sort (Knuth is really hard :( and mathematically enhanced).
c) Mathematics -- I don't know which books to recommend to you, you basically need graph theory and linear algebra.</p>
<p>I'm recommending you to do programming because that LISP course is hard; that was basically one of the reasons why I'm currently studying physics and only using programming to earn money, not planning on majoring in EE/CS.</p>
<p>PS. You can use "... learn ... in X days" but not for long, remember to get to classics (Straustrup, K&R) later.</p>