If I want to be an RIA developer what degree should I get?

Question

If I want to be an RIA developer and work with technologies like Flex, Silverlight, AIR, etc. what should I get a degree in? Is there something specific I could go for that focuses on that or would it be better to go for something more broad?

Answer 1

Computer Science. But regardless, please make sure you learn HTTP before starting to do RIA work.

Answer 2

Hi

Whatever you get a degree in, get it quickly. All those technologies will have been replaced by something newer within 3 years. Or, to be more helpful and provide an answer to your question, go for something durable and foundational: graphic design, game design, maths, human-computer interface, heck even good old computer science or software engineering.

Have fun while you study.

Regards

Mark

Answer 3

By the time you get a degree RIA and Silverlight will probably be legacy technologies. Unless you're getting it from one of those "universities" which advertise in the small ads section at the back of popular magazines.

Answer 4

Get a good, general, well-rounded education. You don't need to spend your college years on learning how to develop applications with technologies that might not even be relevant by the time that you are done.

I have a BA in English, and I have been a professional software engineer for 20 years. Had I been a CS major, I would have learned Pascal, which I have never used professionally. Over that time I've learned and used C, C++, SQL, C#, VB.NET, Ruby, Python, Java, JavaScript.

The capabilities that I have that have served me across all of those technologies are the ability to think logically and critically and to communicate well. Get a good education and worry about the job training later. You can learn to program as an avocation, with pratical hands-on experience.

Answer 5

I suggest a major in computer science or computer information system, also consider a minor in something in the visual arts field. Another posted that the technologies you mentioned will be gone in three years. Flex will be around, no fear about that. However, expect the technology to evolve, and it may be very different that it's current implementation. As for AIR, in my opinion, Adobe needs to work on the security and authentication protocols in AIR for it to become a really interesting technology. Which I suspect/hope they will. I can't speak to silverlight, don't know anything about that.