CS and SE

[JaWaD3692]

What is the basic difference between BS(CS) and BS(SE).? Is there any difference in their jobs? And which one is better Cs or Se?

 

[asad3man]

CS is all about Computer. Web Designing , Graphics, Programming and all things related to Computer stuff.
Whereas,
SE is all about only Software Engineering including machine language, Hardware Programming and a bit of electronics.

THIS IS WHAT I THINK.

 

[The Alchemist]

this is a much discussed topic. please take a look at old topics

 

[asad3man]

this is a much discussed topic. please take a look at old topics

A better reply than mine. (sm1)

 

[ahmad94]

Old thread on this topic

(from forum member AlienX) The answer is not easy. Though I can try to explain it in simplest terms possible.

(To understand what I am saying, you need to empty your cup. Let go of all opinions, whatever people say, general impressions, your ideas etc.)


CS (Computing Science) is scientific level discipline. A problem solving career. You'll do research, write research papers and present solutions to known or unknown problems. The beauty of this career is it being open-ended. You can work in engineering (if you want to), nano technology, quantum computing, solving centuries old computation problems and so on, imagination is your limit. You must note that in CS you do not care about implementation.
Alan Turing, the person behind modern computing was Computer Scientist. He is founder of computer science, look him up. Your mobile, PC, Console, Digital watches, iPod, iPad, everything is based on his theory.


SE (Software Engineering) is exactly what it says. You will be implementing the solutions, develop software, code and basically follow the guidelines computer scientists have presented. SE is wholly focused on software. Don't get fooled by the word 'engineering'. Engineering doesn't mean you'll be dealing with hardware. In fact, you deal with hardware more in CS in comparison to SE. SE is a sub-branch, or to be precise, a specialization of CS. Most universities don't even offer SE as a separate degree, it's mostly a specialization you can choose in CS. It involved code quality, teamworking etc.


What you want to be depends what kind of career you like, if you are more theoretical person, a problem solver, have innovative ideas, and like to research a lot, CS is best for you, Algorithms, Data structures, Compilers, Language creation etc are all CS related. If you ar;e more practical minded, love to create software, code, or program robots etc, SE is best for you.


For example, Intel processors work on x86 architecture, which was presented by CS people, in the form of research papers, technical documents etc. How it came into the shape you are using was Engineering job as how to code it to work with registers, cache and how to implement it as millions of transistors etc.


Computer Science > Software Engineering.


Don't get caught up in opinions, people base their opinions on rumors rather than facts. I am sure when guests visit you and you say engineering they cheer up and when you say computer science, they will think you were nalaiq and got into lesser career. Well we as a nation are dumb people, literate jahils. This kind of ranking careers on the basis of proving yourself to be superior in your family/friends has brought us to the point where people like amir liaqat can shove mangoes in your mouth.

If you like to code your own programs, love to program robots, Like practical solutions than Software Engineering is way to go. If you like to create algorithms, create new languages, design solutions, research a lot than Computing Sciences is way to go.


Have fun .

Computer Science is the study of what computers can or could do and the theoretical properties and limits of those abilities. Questions like "What complexity class does the optimal sort algorithm belong to?" is more of a computer science question. Computer science is the math and theory. In a way, it's more abstract than programming.

Software engineering is the process and study of creating and maintaining software. "How do I write an optimal sort in C#. NET with minimal coupling and cohesion?" is more of a software engineering questions. Software engineering is the process of managing and developing software. In a way, it's meta to programming, because you're not necessarily going to take programming classes. But it's also, in a way, more practical than cs, because you're learning how to manage programming tasks so you don't end up on death march projects and the like.


I think the key words here are engineering and science. Engineers build. Scientists study. You typically need a little of both to be any good at either. I found I didn't like the "study of process" side if software engineering very much, but I didn't enjoy pumping lemmas or automata theory for very long either... Most people I know sit somewhere in the middle.

If you're trying to decide which is your taste, ask yourself "do I like to take a small problem and really understand it?" or "do I just want to be good at making stuff and managing others who make stuff?" If yes to the former, maybe consider CS. If yes to the latter, think about SE.