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I'm just finishing a math PhD. Talking to CS PhD's my impression is that we do pretty much the same thing, we just work on different domains.
by jhales 14y ago
I'm just finishing a math PhD. Talking to CS PhD's my impression is that we do pretty much the same thing, we just work on different domains.
- jackpirate 14y agoI'm a CS PhD, and I agree. I always tell people I'm studying math because it gives them much more of a flavor for what I'm actually doing everyday. When I say computer science, people think I'm just programming something. Also, when people ask me, "So What do you actually do studying math?" I reply, "Sit and stare at the wall for several hours a day. Occasionally I write something down."
- army 14y agoIt does depend a lot on the sub-field of CS. For systems work you spend a lot of time implementing ideas and running experiments. In a lot of cases it isn't necessarily that difficult to find an interesting idea that's probably viable. The real work is spending a lot of time writing code and work out all the annoying details to get to the point where you have a decent proof of concept.
- rrrrtttt 14y agoPresumably, when you tell people you're doing research in math they imagine you're multiplying long numbers all day.