1. Discovering the Need for Software Engineering A personal experience Kinga Dobolyi

2. Outline How I got started in CS Working in Industry Coming to grad school What my research is about Advice

3. Remember… This is just my opinion You don’t have to listen to me (yet) because I don’t have a prefix and suffix to my name My perspective

4. How I got started in CS I like art I like science I like organizing things I like producing things I like being creative My family was into this stuff

5. The ‘brilliant’ plan Get a BS in Computer Science for the job of ultimate mastery: –I get to produce awesome things! –I get to produce useful things! –My field is not too subjective or too constrained –$$$$$$ –I get to be creative!

6. The ‘brilliant’ plan Get a BS in Computer Science for the job of ultimate mastery: –I get to produce awesome things! –I get to produce useful things! –My field is not too subjective or too constrained –$$$$$$ –I get to be creative!

7. What happened? A little background: –Programming is not my favorite thing –I had the ideal job: Smart, very nice, mostly talented people Small team Worked on a project from end to end Worked with all modern technologies

8. What I didn’t know 9-5 jobs are not my thing Commuting in DC area not happening –Metro made it worse There were lots of problems with our project

9. Software Engineering in Practice NOT ENOUGH TIME: either for real, or manufactured People don’t know what they’re doing –Writing bad code –Using tools to avoid thinking –Not understanding their problem –Nothing is organized –Customers looking for developers to have all the answers

10. What are the application problems? Lack of communication Lack of training Overcomplicating Lack of documentation and standards

11. What are Kinga’s problems Didn’t like sitting in an office (for the rest of my life) Creativity was a nice feature, but all the rework to constant disagreement and confusion Didn’t get to interact with people at a deeper level Didn’t like working in DC –Then, one lucky day, on the Metro…

12. What is this ‘Software Engineering’ you speak of? So, apparently, there is a field of CS that addresses these issues? Now I get to figure out how to fix these problems, and more Grad school Much more fulfilling opportunities –I get to do “exactly” what I want

13. So what do I do now? Software Engineering research –Dependability perspective Safety critical systems –My perspective: Communication crisis Adaptation issues How do we either make better code, or make better people, and ideally do this at the same time

14. You too, can be a… Do not avoid taking challenging classes, even if you are not the best at programming Do have summer internships, for experience, and to see what you like Do look into research as an undergrad, it’s not as scary as it might sound Don’t be afraid to change your mind along the way Do always, in life, have a role model

15. Final Plug…ACM-W! “The use of computers in modern life is totally ubiquitous,” said Barbara G. Ryder, a professor of computer science at Rutgers University. “So there are niches all over for people who understand what the technology can do and also for people who want to advance the technology.” Rutgers University From Computer Science Takes Steps to Bring Women to the Fold http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/science/17comp.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&e m&en=18aa566770fabe45&ex=1176955200&oref=slogin

16. Questions? Email: kld5r@virginia.edu

17. Richard Hsu

18. A Little About Me I’m your AC! 2 nd Year CS Major Pre-med (?) I like gadgets, photography, and automobiles Oh and I like video games I tend to get lost…

19. The Job

20. How to get the job: Early Bird gets the Worm A Little Embellishment Never Hurt Don’t Be Afraid to Be Yourself Meet your professors! Three Letters: XML Thought you would never see this again?

21. Final Comments Make the internship yours Your coworkers are your friends JAVA /C++ / Python / SQL / LISP/... IT DOESN’T MATTER!

22. How I got into CS: By not having any direction You should try something new! That didn’t work out… Uh Oh, I need a new class Professor Evans to the rescue! Back when Toolkit used to be cool…

23. Shameless Pitch We need more students in this class! Recruit your friends Recruit your enemies Recruit random CLAS students I will course action anyone who comes Friday into the class.