Which CS Courses Should a Physics Major Take to Enhance Programming Skills?

[cscott]

I'm interested in taking some CS courses to show basically I know half what I'm talking about to employers when it comes down to coursework. I'm a physics major who's taken first year CS (In my case "Designing Functional Programs", "Elementary Algorithm Design and Data Abstraction").

Ie. I recently had an interview for doing real-time visualization of catheter devices and they do their programming in python. They know I can handle the image processing details but I can't really say know anything about programming or theoretical CS.

I'm really limited in my electives right now because I have quite a few from the phys department that I'd take over CS so which ones do you recommend?

Here's a link to our undergraduate calender: http://www.ucalendar.uwaterloo.ca/0708/COURSE/course-CS.html#CS134

If you could reference this it'd be great.

Thanks.

 

[Asphodel]

Take CS electives that teach you something you don't know. There are other ways of showing an employer that you know something besides taking a class, so taking a class just to show you know the material is a waste of time and effort that would be better spent learning something new.

Which classes are good will depend primarily on your interests and career goals. Physics majors tend to get jobs in scientific computing, numerical analysis, stuff like that...they would make good topics to try and get some experience in. If you have an Applied Math or Computational Science department, they may have relevant courses as well - don't just look to the CS department. I also strongly recommend you talk to your adviser, professors, upperclassmen, grad students - there are tons of resources there that will have significant experience with your institution's offerings!

Of the ones on that webpage (after a brief look), I would be looking at CS 370 or 371 (I would ask around for more info on the differences between these), CS 372, and CS 437.

 

[Mene]

As a physics major, taking some CS courses would definitely be beneficial for you in terms of enhancing your knowledge and skills in programming and theoretical CS. In particular, the courses you have mentioned, "Designing Functional Programs" and "Elementary Algorithm Design and Data Abstraction", are excellent choices for building a strong foundation in CS. These courses will provide you with a solid understanding of programming concepts and data structures, which are essential in any field of computer science.

In addition, since you have mentioned that you are interested in real-time visualization and image processing, I would recommend taking courses such as "Computer Graphics" and "Image Processing" from the link provided in the undergraduate calendar. These courses will not only give you a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of real-time visualization and image processing, but also provide you with practical skills that can be applied in your future career.

Furthermore, I would suggest considering courses in artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" and "Machine Learning", as they are becoming increasingly important in various industries, including medical technology.

Ultimately, it is important to choose courses that align with your interests and career goals. I would recommend speaking with your academic advisor or professors in both the physics and CS departments to get their insights and advice on which courses would be most beneficial for you. Good luck!