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> Computer science should only be offered as a minor. You can major in biology, minor in computer science. Major in art, minor in computer science. But you can'

by polemic 14y ago

> Computer science should only be offered as a minor. You can major in biology, minor in computer science. Major in art, minor in computer science. But you can't get a degree in CS. The problem is not that Universities produce poor CS majors. They don't. The problem is that everyone else expects that a CS major is going to be a good commercial developer. Some are, but that's just the odds. If you want to be a programmer, do an software ENGINEERING degree. It deals with the practical issues and you actually do lots of real, actual, programming. Or go to a media design school, where you do lots of actual web programming. Expecting every CS major to be a great programmer, is like expecting every Physics major to be a good baseball player. Sure, (s)he knows the optimal angle to strike ball to achieve a home run, but actually doing so requires a whole of experience and real world context. (PS. I have a physics degree, and I'm a software developer, not a baseball player. But that's because I programmed a lot for fun and profit before going to university, and CS seemed like a big backwards step. And physics is more fun.)

ApurvS 14y ago
Not related to OP's post but somewhat to this comment. Can you please elaborate a bit more on the diff. between CS, SE and if possible CE too. I'm thinking to apply for MS next fall and as far as I get it, CS is more theory oriented (models, algos, languages, more math) and SE is more application oriented (management, testing, vcs etc.). While CE is more the electrical side of it. I'm an electrical engg. but have worked in an IT enterprise for 2+ years(mostly in ITIL, admin stuff, a couple months on development) and now I wish to learn/work more on dev projects. So SE seems to be right choice, but all major companies are generally asking for a CS degree. I think I might need to go through the basics briefly again, but should I go for CS (over SE) just because of that(and that most corps ask for CS)? My aim is to score a job where I get to work on app/product development, I get to write code. What would you/HN suggest - which would be a more appropriate choice?

by polemic 14y ago

ApurvS 14y ago

Not related to OP's post but somewhat to this comment. Can you please elaborate a bit more on the diff. between CS, SE and if possible CE too. I'm thinking to apply for MS next fall and as far as I get it, CS is more theory oriented (models, algos, languages, more math) and SE is more application oriented (management, testing, vcs etc.). While CE is more the electrical side of it. I'm an electrical engg. but have worked in an IT enterprise for 2+ years(mostly in ITIL, admin stuff, a couple months on development) and now I wish to learn/work more on dev projects. So SE seems to be right choice, but all major companies are generally asking for a CS degree. I think I might need to go through the basics briefly again, but should I go for CS (over SE) just because of that(and that most corps ask for CS)? My aim is to score a job where I get to work on app/product development, I get to write code. What would you/HN suggest - which would be a more appropriate choice?