What other computer skill do I need to learn?

[Math10]

I'm currently learning how to create a web page and later will learn how to make a website. After learning these 2 skills, what other computer skills do I need to learn in computer science? My goal is to become a billionaire in the field of computer science.

 

[ShayanJ]

If there was a certain plan that showed how you can be a billionaire through computer science, at least 80% of people in this field were billionaires(remember, they're good at following algorithms!). But That's not what we observe!
If you have Bill gates, Steve Jobs, etc. in mind, they didn't become rich by following an algorithm. Exactly the opposite. They were smart enough to make their own ways in this field and that's what made them rich. Otherwise, if you want to be a billionaire, I don't suggest getting into any kind of science!

 

[Imurhuckleberry]

you don't need computer science to be a billionaire, you need entrepreneur skills

 

[Vanadium 50]

Move to Zimbabwe. Exchange a dollar. Presto! You're a billionaire?

Seriously, if there were a step by step process, everybody would be a billionaire.

 

[Math10]

But I heard that if someone wants to become a billionaire, the easiest field to become one is computer science, then comes business. So even if I learn computer science, do I also need to learn entrepreneurship?

"With computer science, you could trade on the NASDAQ or invent something that brings in enough money."

What does the above quote mean? How to trade on the NASDAQ? What entrepreneurship skill is needed to do that?

 

[ShayanJ]

What does the above quote mean? How to trade on the NASDAQ? What entrepreneurship skill is needed to do that?

That only means the technology behind all those stockbroking stuff is provided by computer science. So the poor smart guy of computer science designs and builds things that the businessman uses to get rich.

 

[Math10]

So do I need to learn business/entrepreneurship?

 

[homeomorphic]

Well, judging by the stuff you are trying to do, you might try codecademy, but it wouldn't make you a billionaire. If you want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, it takes good ideas, and probably a hefty helping of good luck and being at the right place at the right time. So, you have to think about an idea that fills a big niche in the market and come to it before anyone else does, and just learn enough to be able to pull it off. You probably can't make another FaceBook because that idea is already taken. It is true that some programmers got rich off of hobby projects like that, like some of the dating websites, but as the internet gets more and more developed and the low lying fruit gets picked, it's going to get harder and harder to do stuff like that.

I don't see why being a billionaire is that great, unless maybe you want to be a big philanthropist or do other cool things. As Bill Gates himself says, there's no utility to having more money beyond a certain point. Material wealth is overrated, although I can still sympathize with the desire to be rich, only because of the great things you can DO with money. Big mansions and fancy cars are worthless to my mind--they just sit there and look pretty and don't add much value to your life. At any rate, it's better to be content being poor or rich and if you get rich, just see that as a bonus, not something you have to have because you can't always get what you want.

I think the best recipe to making a somewhat large amount of money might be to study to be a petroleum engineer if you want a recipe that would be somewhat reliable, but it's still pretty modest compared to a billionaire.

 

[Math10]

Will making web apps make lots of money?

 

[jtbell]

study to be a petroleum engineer

And move to wonderful North Dakota or northern Alberta when you're done. :p

 

[Doanage]

Being a billionaire would make you an "outlier." Nobody really becomes a billionaire by design--not even Warren Buffet. It's always a surprise, and it occurs when an individual creates something that turns out to be a lot more useful and in demand than they had initially realized.

Most of the factors that enable someone to become a billionaire are completely beyond the individual's control. Ask Bill Gates about it, and he'll admit that he was almost impossibly lucky. He just happened to produce a product that society was primed to reward exponentially at that time. I'm not saying you can't improve your odds, but setting out to become a billionaire is little more than a way to set yourself up for disappointment. If you really want to understand what makes some people wildly successful, I'd recommend picking up the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.

Regardless, don't study computer science if your purpose behind doing so is to become a billionaire. In fact, don't approach any course of study with that mind set, because it is literally setting yourself up for failure. The reason being: Becoming a billionaire takes an uncommon mastery of one's craft, and mastery of one's craft requires passion. You have to be passionate about the craft for its own sake, or you will never invest the time and effort needed to master it.

If you feel passionate about computer science for its own sake, then I'd recommend you start by doing programming practice problems in Java. It's a free language with an excellent amount of support, widely used in the business world, and it's the language used for programming android apps. Go get "Eclipse" the open source IDE for Java. It will seem overly complicated at first, but if you persist in learning how to use it eventually you will love it. Set up a work space for projects and what not, and make your first "Hello World" program. From there, try some practice tutorials from books or online, and then just start doing practice problems from sites like ProjectEuler or TopCoder. Eventually once you've gained some confidence in your skills, start trying projects on your own. Even if you have no idea where to start and feel lost, do it anyway. When trying to improve in a new skill, setting yourself up for failure is actually the best way to learn. Struggling through that process will teach you more than anything else. You want to push outside your comfort zone and constantly challenge yourself. If you make it your goal to work for a couple hours on a problem every day for few years, eventually you will be one hell of a good programmer. After you have some basics under your belt I'd recommend checking out online course videos from places like Berkley and MIT--especially videos on "algorithms and data structures".

Anyway, programming is definitely a path that can lead to very lucrative entrepreneurship. Just don't expect to become a billionaire, and only do it if you actually enjoy programming. I hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[Imurhuckleberry]

Bill Gates got lucky by being the son of a bunch of white yuppies that allowed him to spend all his time programming, iirc his parents payed for all the computers in billy's school and that's how he got to spend so much time learning CS, otherwise he never would have been able to

 

[Doanage]

Very true. However, your tone seems a little more pejorative than necessary. He got very lucky, but he's also extremely intelligent and very hard working. To become a financial outlier in this world--somebody WAY outside the norm in terms of financial success--you have to have all three: Intelligence, Work Ethic, and Luck.

 

[Imurhuckleberry]

you don't need work ethic to make it big, and you don't even need intelligence really. Sure in some situations intelligence is needed but you don't have to be a Gauss to make it big, its mostly luck. Hard work is rarely needed, this whole idea that if someone works hard they'll make it big or at the very least jump up a notch or two in the socioeconomic ladder is so false. There are plenty of people who work 100x as hard as Bill Gates or whatever other million/Billion-aire ever will in their life and will not ever see even 1% of the success that those people do, and it even harder for anyone that isn't a white male. Look, Bill has never had to worry about anything financial, which is a huge burden of relief. Imagine never having to worry about money, and if you felt like crap, could go out and emotionally buy stuff if you wanted to. His potential to do all that "hard work" was a lot easier than most because he was born into wealth, which gave him the chance, if he so wanted to, to put all his focus on one thing.

 

[BHL 20]

you don't need work ethic to make it big, and you don't even need intelligence really. Sure in some situations intelligence is needed but you don't have to be a Gauss to make it big, its mostly luck. Hard work is rarely needed, this whole idea that if someone works hard they'll make it big or at the very least jump up a notch or two in the socioeconomic ladder is so false. There are plenty of people who work 100x as hard as Bill Gates or whatever other million/Billion-aire ever will in their life and will not ever see even 1% of the success that those people do, and it even harder for anyone that isn't a white male. Look, Bill has never had to worry about anything financial, which is a huge burden of relief. Imagine never having to worry about money, and if you felt like crap, could go out and emotionally buy stuff if you wanted to. His potential to do all that "hard work" was a lot easier than most because he was born into wealth, which gave him the chance, if he so wanted to, to put all his focus on one thing.

That is simply not true. There are few people in the world who were born rich, and yet made a lot of wealth themselves. Such people usually do not know the value of hard work and this prevents them from being successful.

Yes, not everyone who works hard is successful, but hard work is a prerequisite to success, and the amount of hard work required is not small by any means. The luck Bill Gates had that turned that hard work into money was the demand for his product, and not his parents wealth.