Hello world 🤟🏻 my name is Francisco, fcoterroba on the Internet and today I’m bringing you a post where I, along with two other people, are going to debate, comment and explain how the first year has been in our respective higher vocational training cycles in the computing family. 👨🏻💻
Before we begin, I must remember that a while ago, I uploaded a video to my YouTube channel where I explained, in a very simple and concise way, how to install a smart light bulb 🧠 with which you can change its color, control it with your own voice and much more! You can see it here 👇🏻
Now yes, let’s begin.
DAW (Web Application Development)
I’m doing the higher degree in DAW in distance mode, in an Almerian institute. And as far as I can say, the experience is seeming fabulous to me.
It’s true that it’s not for everyone, because the student must have control over their hours since, there are no classes, as such. Teachers open new topics from various subjects from time to time and you, at your own pace, do the activities, read the syllabus and take exams on the topic.
But we haven’t come to talk about studying at a distance, but about the cycle itself.
Both DAW and DAM share the same first year, since the basics of programming are taught from scratch, regardless of whether you’re going to be focused on web or multiplatform.
This, in part, is good since, the double degree is simple, once you get the DAW degree (in 2 academic years), you can get DAM in just one more year. Without having to do the first course.
We’re going to skip the FOL (Labor Training and Orientation) and LMSGI (Markup Languages and Information Management Systems) subjects since they’re subjects present in all higher vocational training cycles.
The specific subjects (and my point of view on them) of the first year are:
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Computer systems It’s a first approach to computing, really focused for people who haven’t seen anything about computing previously. In this module I’ve reinforced my knowledge about hardware, operating systems, virtual machines and little else. It reminds more of an ASIR subject than development since it also touches on servers, domain names, DHCP, etc.
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Databases It’s one, in my opinion, of the most complicated subjects of the year. Here, as its name indicates, databases are studied from the deepest and simplest such as entities, passing through relationships; binary, tertiary, etc. We’ve also learned to make diagrams, be able to explain them and in the last topics, to program those databases.
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Programming Along with databases, one of the most expensive also, without a doubt. This subject gets a bit stuck for everyone. Whether because of the language used (Java and its tedious OOP), because of the study methodology or because of anything else, we’ve all had a bit of trouble with this subject but it ends up being passed. That said, you’re going to learn to fend for yourself like never before, since, the topic gives you a basic notion, a lot, I would say. But to do the task you need much more information. (You can also ask the teacher but if you want to dedicate yourself to this, sooner or later you’re going to have to pull your own chestnuts out of the fire 🔥).
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Markup languages and information management systems It’s a first contact, very very far from web development since technologies such as HTML, CSS, XQuery, RSS and all their variants are studied. It also becomes somewhat complicated even knowing markup languages since, as in almost all modules, it’s more complicated to understand what is being sought than to be able to find it.
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Development environments This subject is a bit everything opposite to what one imagines when wanting to be a programmer. This subject consists of automating processes, making test cases, making diagrams, learning the life cycles of the same, the license we must put on our program and a long etcetera. You’ll program little here but it’s interesting to see the opposite side of coding.
ASIR (Network Information Systems Administration)
Hello! I’m Manuel Jesús Flores (@_manueljesus00) and I’m a recently graduated ASIR student and making a quick spoiler, you touch everything.
The first impressions were more or less as I expected, touching a bit of everything since, unlike DAM and DAW, ASIR focuses on the work of the systems administrator or SysAdmin although some programming is also touched, not as much as development cycles but enough to understand code and make modifications to implement applications.
Now touching in depth, ASIR I consider it an extension of SMR (Microinformatics and Networks Systems) but that goes quite deep into technical aspects and not so much into computer theory.
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Hardware fundamentals It’s about knowing how a computer works physically and all its components, that is, from assembling a desktop computer to how to make printer repairs opening them completely, how to mount servers or how to do data recovery. Also Von-Neumann architecture is given (I advise you to study it, it’s hard to swallow but necessary), binary to decimal, octal or hexadecimal translation, to mount budgets according to the needs that exist at that moment or to make backups (you’ll start hearing RAID0, RAID1, RAID5 or NAS in classes).
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Database management Here you’ll learn the different phases of database design, and forget about assistants. You’ll learn to code in SQL or PL/SQL and you’ll normally use Oracle (although you can also find MySQL, PostgreSQL or any other management system). You’ll also create basic procedures and functions.
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Operating systems implementation In the subject you’ll learn to install and configure operating systems and disk partitions as well as knowing how to search for drivers for each system. You’ll learn to master the terminal, create files and delete them using only the keyboard and not the mouse and to create security policies. What you’re going to touch will be Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Server and a lot of Linux (I’m not telling you exactly which system because there’s a wide catalog). About programming, you’re going to create your first scripts in bat and ps1 or PowerShell (Windows) and in sh (Linux). These scripts will be to automate things like backups (which is also given here a bit). In this subject you’ll basically learn how to mount the operating system to your liking and how to automate.
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Markup languages and information management systems This is where you get more in contact with programming. They’ll teach you the minimum to learn to create websites with HTML, CSS and JavaScript (JS), data processing with XML and database connection. You’ll also learn to master Github or Gitlab and to handle WordPress, Blogger, or Joomla.
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Network planning and administration As the name says, you’ll learn how networks work, the different types there are and how to administer them. You’ll create simulations and configuration files that we then transfer to a physical switch or router. We’ll learn to open ports, grant IP addresses, do addressing, mount subnets and how to create network cables physically. Take it as a game, usually work is done in teams to get a system forward.
DAM (Multiplatform Application Development)
Hello! my name is Diego and I’m a multiplatform application development student in Málaga. Specifically at the I.E.S Portada Alta institute in face-to-face mode.
I’ll talk about my experience, it’s also a bit linked to the fact that it’s been face-to-face, that is, we had to attend class. But as you already know with the pandemic and confinement issue we’ve been confined the last trimester and so we did classes remotely.
Something that, if I’ve noticed and that can be an advantage or disadvantage, is that remotely in my case I made better use of time, but I have seen that in other cases it wasn’t like that. So studying at a distance is not for everyone and it’s something each one must reflect on.
Let’s go to the focus of the question, the subjects I’ve taken during this course:
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Computer systems → It’s a subject that gives you the basics of computing in general regarding networks, hardware and software. I’ve come from a Medium Degree so I didn’t have problems with this subject and being a single subject everything was very summarized so I don’t consider it a complicated subject. They teach you from a bit of office automation, to assembling a computer, to installing operating systems and creating networks. In my opinion an important subject that people don’t give much importance to, but I think a developer must master their environment to be good.
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Databases → One of my favorites! The teacher was a crack and we also went very deep into relational databases. Literally the first trimester was only Entity-Relationship Model. The second and third trimester with the bases settled was SQL, complex queries, database administration, in our case it was with MariaDB (MySQL’s sister). Honestly in my case with this teacher it was a high level. Under my experience the concept that cost me the most was double negations, in fact, I still struggle with it, but it’s super powerful what you can do in a single query. The subject was quite complicated but very satisfying.
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Programming → Another subject that usually costs students a lot. But it’s also one of the most important along with databases. The programming subject we took with C# (a Microsoft language). In this subject you’ll learn from the most basic of programming to more advanced concepts like patterns (MVVM, MVC), OOP (Object-Oriented Programming), etc. My recommendation is that with this subject you be very constant and do all the exercises. Also, it’s recommended that you investigate and advance on your own.
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Markup languages → It’s a subject that didn’t seem very difficult to me. They taught us HTML and CSS for building simple web pages. And everything related to the XML and data world. In my opinion something very important was missing that I already knew and that is very present in the work world which is JSON.
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Development environments: This subject didn’t get stuck too much for me either, it’s a subject that tries to teach you good programming practices, development environments, perform unit tests, basic paths for unit tests. Something very important they didn’t teach is GIT, a version control system that is essential for the work world today. This same one allows you to keep control of your program and go back when you need it. It’s like a Ctrl + Z but in the programming world. GIT also allows you to work collaboratively which is one of its strong points.
Hello again 👋🏻! it’s me again, Francisco and that’s been everything for today. Not without first, leaving you a reflection written by Diego, very interesting and the purest reality existing in our world:
I’ve seen many classmates who think that when they arrive, they’re simply going to have to study two years and they’re going to have a job for life without having to document themselves, learn, etc… If you’re from that group of people I’m afraid to tell you that this isn’t for you, because in this sector technology advances at giant steps and we’ll always be behind it, but we must try to be as updated as possible.
Without anything more to add, this has been today’s post and the return from vacation with more strength than ever! I hope you liked it and in addition to following me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, I strongly recommend following Manuel and Diego! Two cracks in their field.
See you next week! 🤟🏻