Computer Science/Engineering

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Q. I've planned to study in California just after High School. After several research about the american scholar system, I've found that I need an university which can deliver a Bachelor of Science. Now my problem is : The "majors". I'd like to study about computers, but I've found several majors : Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Programming, Software Engineering... What are the differences ? How to choose ? Could you please help me ?

A. -This may be of some help: * Computer Programming is exactly what is says. You will learn how to produce computer software. However, I am not aware offhand of any universities which offer a major named this; most prefer something that sounds like it has more status (such as these next two): * "Computer Science" is largely computer programming. Most undergrad CS majors contain precious little "science" in the hard-science sense. It can be argued that Computer Science is a lot like Social Science: it deals with hard-to-measure non-linear phenomena for which we have very little useful theory. * "Software Engineering" is again largely computer programming, but with an emphasis on trying (often vainly) to control the complexity of the process and the resulting software. It is not "engineering" like chemical, civil, electrical, etc. engineering -- these all have deep theories behind them (e.g Newtonian physics for civil engineering), somthing that software "engineering" conspicuously lacks. * "Computer Engineering" has much more real engineering. It deals with the design of computers (and other digital systems such as CD players) from well-understood components. It is basically a specialty of Electrical Engineering. -Computer science _is_ primarily about programming. It's scope is theoretical and applied, and both are based on some *very* rigorous foundation. Theoretical computer science encompasses data structures, algorithms, the limits of computability, programming language theory, quantum computing, scientific computing, etc. Applied computer science spans operating systems, compilers, networking, computer vision, computer architecture (hardware at the symbolic and logic level -- not calculus-based, NOT electrical engineering). And then there are CS subjects that do not fall neatly into theory vs. applied -- databases, artificial intelligence, software engineering, and more. Theoretical CS has a strong basis in logic and mathematical proofs. Applied CS is based in extensive experimental analysis. I would not say that either "deals with hard-to-measure non-linear phenomena for which we have very little useful theory". That's a denigration i would reserve for software engineering and programming language religious debates. A final word about computer science -- it is NOTHING like social science. I've been trained as a computer scientist and as a psychologist. The latter is not an especailly quantitative or proof-based endeavor. CS is, almost entirely. Even the "wifty" areas in CS like (much of) programming language design, the theory behind object-orientation, and software engineering are based on the application of software tools to solving real-world problems. Psychology and much of social science spends a lot of time proposing, discussing, and modifying theories of social mechanisms. I would say that perhaps 15% of the field of psychology deals in practical matters -- perhaps experimental, industrial, and clinical psych. The inverse is true of CS. There, I'd say that only 15% of the field is theoretical. In short, don't get hung up over the term computer SCIENCE. It's the study of software construction and the limits of computing. And a bit of architecture. A final word about computer engineering. Today, it is not an offshoot of electrical engineering. In fact, in most universities that I know, CE is more closely tied to CS than EE. The part of CE that lies close to EE is VLSI architecture -- the microelectronic physical substrates and junctions that compose memory, processors, and datapaths. Most of CE is about defining, testing, and assessing the performance of logical models of data paths and their control. In the end, when a computer board has to be connected to electrical subcomponents in a system (like a CD player), it's an electrical engineer who puts all the pieces together and turns on the power. In my humble opinion, CE a lot more like engineering than CS is. Most of CS is based in theory -- you propose an improvement in the way that data is processed, and you try to prove that your method is effective under various (meaningful) kinds of inputs, and that it is in fact a useful improvement. Most CE is based in experiment -- you design a new form of hardware, and sometimes justify the design analytically (showing that it resolves some current difficulty without compromising something else), or you model the modified system and show experimentally that your design is superior to others under certain practical constraints (workloads, power limits, time). Computer engineering has little to do with CD players, other than the design of the control logic in a player. The CD digital-to-analog converters, motor, power system, lighting, and interconnections are all pure EE. And Software Engineering is about the management of software production. Project management, software reliability, problem requirements analysis, software system design and its organization, software testing, and product maintenance are the mainstays of SE. In many ways SE is a subject that is better suited to industrial engineering or business than it is to CS. And to be blunt, most CS departments take little interest in SE. I understand their disinterest, but I wish SOMEBODY in academia cared about SE. SE truly is more like social science than engineering. it's called software ENGINEERING

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