It's time to pick classes for next semester, and I'm still not exactly sure what to do. I am going for a double major in Physics and Economics, the Elon Musk route (still not sure if I plan on going the full 4 years), and I have thought about also going for a minor in computer science or maybe something else.
If I minored in CS or something, I would want to start down that road now, rather than later. I'm already pretty experienced with programming and computers. I know PHP, Javascript, HTML, and learning Python at the moment. I don't know these extremely well, but I can do anything fairly easily with them if I use Google (by the way, does this count as knowing the language well?)<p>I always have some sort of side project going, and have tons of ideas floating around in my head that I want to build (not necessarily involving computers). If I minored in CS or something, I would have less time to work on side projects because of increased workload.<p>Is minoring in CS (or something else you suggest) worth it in this situation? Will I learn anything, and does it mean anything when applying for a job at a startup/other company, especially if I tell them I learned how to program decently on my own?<p>Thanks!
Yes. Get the CS minor. It means something to a lot of employers, so is worth it for that alone, and you'll probably pick up algorithmic techniques that you might not have thought about.<p>There will be plenty of time for side projects afterwards. (And I'll bet you'll still find some time to build stuff.)
I'd agree w/ @benwerd, I think that an understanding of CS is a helpful background in understanding computing. Think of it as an equivalent of taking US History before practicing law.<p>Although I barely use much of the low level coding that I learned, I find that a deeper understanding is invaluable.