The difference between Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Software Engineering
Created and recorded by Jeffano John, June 2022
Music, Twilight Area, by Alfred, https://lmms.io/lsp/?action=show&file...
As students start applying to Universities & colleges, it is very important for them to know what program they are applying to. Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Software Engineering may sound similar however they are quite different from each other. At the end of the day, picking any of these programs will still help you go down very similar career paths but it is still important to know the difference since the work done in each program will vary.
Computer Science: The art of understanding how a computer thinks and teaching it what to do. This means it would be more abstract and theoretical than engineering. Courses you will be taking will include Algebra, Calculus, Algorrthim Design & Data Abstraction and in future years, you will learn about Machine Learning & AI. You also have the option to take more electives compared to engineering which is more laid out and does not have much leeway.
Software Engineering: The application of science which means it is less theoretical and abstract but more hands-on. As an engineering student, your course load is much heavier since you are not only doing Algebra, Calculus, Data Abstraction and many more related to math and software, so little to no electives. Later in your upper years, you are more likely to encounter courses such as Logic & Computation, Operating Systems, Testing & Quality Assurance and many more.
Computer Engineering: The combination of computer hardware and computer software. Courses will range from computer science all the way to fundamentals to electronics. You still have the same courses as software and computer science however you will be doing courses such as magnetism, and electricity, courses that fall under physics. In the upper years, you will do computer architecture and operating systems. You also have little to no electives and a much heavier course load than computer science.
So as you can see, computer science and software engineering are quite similar and the main difference is in computer engineering since you will be doing more work on both the software and hardware side of a computer.
Similarities/Differences:
Similarities
Course: Data Structures & Algorithms
Many math and programming courses, with different names for different universities
Most jobs will ask a question from this course so it will beneficial for any degree
Differences:
Computer science has fewer electives compared to software/computer making it broader and allowing you to work in different fields such as iOS development, data science etc. Software is more narrow and specialized, more focused on building apps and developing software programs.
Computer Engineering - Show scale
Computer Science is between hardware and software, and these are some of the job opportunities - iOS/Android Def, Data Scientist, Software Dev. As a software engineer, you will be working on Game Development, Web Design IT etc. With a computer engineering degree, you will be covering all the filed and could work in any of these fields.
Different universities have different acceptance rates to get into the certain program,
If you graduate from an engineering program, you get a cool engineering ring and be labelled as an engineer. You cannot legally call yourself an engineering without an engineering degree
At the end of the day, with any of these degrees, you can jump between career positions that are offered in a different program, If you are a computer science student, you can still get the same jobs as someone with a software engineering degree. However, with a computer engineering degree, since you are doing more, you have a wider range of job opportunities.
With these degrees, you can work in positions such as Full Stack Develop, Web Developer, Data Scientist, Software Engineering etc in companies such as Google, Microsoft, Telsa, Facebook and many more. With a computer engineering degree, you can additionally work as a firmware engineer or an infrastructure engineering as well.
So that is the main difference between computer engineering, software engineering and computer science. The main difference is the job opportunities and the course load you in your university but at the end of the day, the jobs are still very similar and could still end up at crazy companies.
