Jatex’s Weblog

Computer science students are lucky because the Internet is like a living textbook, full of information and advice for their field. Many professors, experts, and other people skilled in computer science have created essays, tutorials, and resource points, all designed to make your life easier.

Advice

Are you considering graduate school, or just need some guidance on getting through undergrad studies? Look no further than the advice offered here.

1. Advice for Undergraduates Considering Graduate School: Take this information into consideration before you make the leap to grad school.
2. Why choose a Ph.D. in CS?: The Computing Research Association’s set of slides addresses the reasons why a CS Ph.D. can be beneficial.
3. Computer Science Advice for Students: This resource has a collection of good bits of advice for computer science students.
4. Graduate Student Information Guide: Another gem from CRA, this document gives advice on planning for graduate school, offering specific focus on female students.
5. Advice for Computer Science College Students: Joel Spolsky, software guru, offers his advice for students studying computer science.

Money

College is often expensive, and computer science studies are no exception. Take a load off by getting funding through one of these programs.

1. Micron Science and Technology Scholars Program: This scholarship competition is designed for high school seniors going into the studies of science and technology.
2. National Science Foundation: The NSF has a number of ongoing programs and funding opportunities for computer science.
3. CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Award Program: This program rewards computer science students with research potential.
4. Computer Science Scholarships: This resource lists a number of scholarships available to computer science students.

Organizations

Get mentors, advice, and other support from these groups devoted to computer science.

1. African-American Women in Technology: AAWIT supports African-American women in the field of information technology.
2. IEEE Computer Society: This society is the world’s oldest and largest association of people in computing, and offers a multitude of information about conferences, standards, education, and careers.
3. Association for Computing Machinery: ACM has loads of resources and support from online courses to a digital library and special support.
4. ACM Committee on Women in Computing: ACM-W supports female computer science students through mentoring, role medeling, and other programs.
5. Distributed Mentor Project: This program pairs female undergraduates with mentors for a summer of research.

Careers

Find a job and get career advice through these helpful resources.

1. CRA Job Announcements: CRA shares job postings for computer scientists, engineers, and researchers.
2. The Ph.D. Job Hunt: Check out this article for finding a career after finishing your Ph.D.
3. Computer Science Jobs: Hit this resource for a nice collection of places to find a computer science job.
4. Computer Science Jobs: Myths vs. Truths: Get the straight lowdown on the field of computer science as a career.
5. Taulbee Survey: Take a look at this survey to get salary and demographic information for educational careers in computer science.

Artificial Intelligence

Get an in-depth look into the world of AI through these resources.

1. A Definition of AI: This resource seeks for formally define artificial intelligence.
2. Philosophy and History of AI: Find the thinking and history behind AI as well as links and reading suggestions.
3. Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind: This dictionary is full of useful information in the study of artificial intelligence theory.
4. Minds Brains Programs: John Searle’s writing discusses the problems with seeing the brain as a computer device.

Hacking and Security

These resources cover the security side of computer science, whether you’re applying cryptography or cracking codes.

1. Attrition: Find loads of internet and computer security resources here.
2. Handbook of Applied Cryptography: This reference is available for free download.
3. CERT Coordination Center: This group studies vulnerabilities, attacks, and publishes alerts.
4. Cryptography FAQ: Get the lowdown on cryptography with this quick guide.
5. Open Source Vulnerability Database: This searchable database of open source vulnerabilities can be downloaded in XML.
6. Makesecure: Get network security news, alerts, and updates here.
7. Why Cryptography is Harder Than It Looks: Understand the pitfalls of secure systems by reading this essay.

Programming

Check out loads of languages and algorithms by using these resources.

1. An Introduction to Programming Languages: Check out this resource to learn about different programming languages from a neutral source.
2. Problems in Analysis of Algorithms: Get a list of open algorithmic problems as well as updates and solutions.
3. 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall: Take a look at source code implementation for the same program across more than 250 different programming languages.
4. Dictionary of Algorithms, Data Structures, and Problems: This dictionary defines a number of algorithmic terms and problems, often offering links to implementations and tutorials.
5. Codango: This resource for web developers has reviews, guides, tutorials, and more.
6. The Computer Language Shootout Benchmarks: Get performance measurements and comparisons for lots of different benchmark programs and languages here.
7. Algoritms in the Real World: Get the notes for this course from Carnegie Mellon University.

Information Sources

If you’re looking for information, these links are a great place to start.

1. Rexa: Rexa is a search engine and digital library for computer science literature.
2. TechXtra: This search engine focuses on computing, mathematics, and engineering.
3. Find White Papers: Find White Papers offers a collection of IT and computing information, available by searching, browsing, and RSS feed.
4. Computer Science Departments Across the Web: Get linked to Web and gopher servers of worldwide computer science departments.
5. Resources of Scholarly Societies-Computer Science: This listing offers access to sites created and maintained for scholarly computer science societies.
6. TechTutorials: This directory has loads of computer technology tutorials.
7. Free University Lectures: Get free CS lectures from MIT, Stanford, Harvard, and more here.
8. Catalog of Free Compilers and Interpreters: Get software for langage tools here.
9. W3 Schools: The World Wide Web Consortium shares extensive studying tools and tutorials for web development here.
10. Beginners.co.uk: This collection of information technology tutorials is impressive, ranging from hardware to software development tools.

Tools & Assistance

Get online help and tools to make your life easier here.

1. Martindale’s Calculators On-Line Center-Electrical and Computer Engineering: Computer science students can take advantage of this awesome collection of both basic and complex calculators.
2. Cramster: Check out this study community of students and teachers in mathematically-based subjects. You’ll get study materials as well as help from other members.
3. Online Research Tools for Computer Science: Visit this collection of tools to make research work easier and faster.
4. Engineering and Computer Science Tools: Here, you’ll find calculators, conversions, and more.
5. Babel: This glossary offers information on computer-related abbreviations and acronyms.