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what is the difference between computer science and software engineering ?

what is the difference between studying computer science and software engineering, and what its reflection on career paths

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Question added by Sohaib AlZyoud , Senior Software Engineer , Secured Services Systems (SSSIT)
Date Posted: 2013/06/11

1.
Computer Science covers the core concepts and technologies involved with how to make a computer do something.
Learning to program a computer by writing software is essential, and computer programming is used in most computer science courses.
You will learn details about how computers and networks work, but with an emphasis on how software and programming languages work.
You will learn how to make them do very sophisticated things (e.g.
graphics, robotics, databases, operating systems).
You will also learn about the theory behind how and why computers and software work.
In your senior project, you will tackle a problem at the frontier of computer science.
You may be building a new system, discovering better ways to design software, or developing new algorithms for projects in entirely different fields; it's up to you.
Past student projects include: video games, computer modeling and animation tools, and a Linux driver for the Wii remote.2.
Software Engineering focuses on how to design and build software in teams.
You will take many of the same courses as you would in computer science, but you will take additional courses that teach you about topics like requirements engineering, software architecture, software testing, and software deployment.
You will learn about working with people (communication, management, working with non-technical customers), processes for developing software, and how to measure and analyze the software product and the software process.
You will learn also about compiler design and many thing relating to the softwares programming or development

Zaid Rabab'a
by Zaid Rabab'a , Software Development Team Leader , Al-Safa Co. Ltd.

I took my Education in Jordan, so i thought all IT majors are the same But after a while i saw the diffrence Computer Sciences (CS): - Electronics & Physics needed to design chips - Math, math, math every thing based on math - Professionals often work in rather/highly theoretical fields like numbers theory, compiler design Software Engineering (SE): - Designing & Developing software - Techniques - Technologies - Good practices - Testing

Software Engineering focuses on how to design and build software in teams.
You will take many of the same courses as you would in computer science, but you will take additional courses that teach you about topics like requirements engineering, software architecture, software testing, and software deployment.
You will learn about working with people (communication, management, working with non-technical customers), processes for developing software, and how to measure and analyze the software product and the software process.
The software engineering major requires that you take a three course (nine-month long) sequence called the software engineering capstone.
The capstone courses are centered around a large project for an outside customer.
In recent years we have built web applications for Intuit (makers of Quicken, QuickBooks, and TurboTax) and Amgen (a bio-engineering/pharmaceutical company).
Students work in teams of four or five people to elicit and develop requirements for the system, design an architecture, build prototypes, implement the system, then deploy and maintain the system

Bashar Alanjjar
by Bashar Alanjjar , Quality Control Engineer , iHorizons, Amman, Jordan

**Software Engineering** focuses on how to design and build software in teams.
You will take many of the same courses as you would in computer science, but you will take additional courses that teach you about topics like requirements engineering, software architecture, software testing, and software deployment.
You will learn about working with people (communication, management, working with non-technical customers), processes for developing software, and how to measure and analyze the software product and the software process.
The software engineering major requires that you take a three course (nine-month long) sequence called the software engineering capstone.
The capstone courses are centered around a large project for an outside customer.
In recent years we have built web applications for Intuit (makers of Quicken, QuickBooks, and TurboTax) and Amgen (a bio-engineering/pharmaceutical company).
Students work in teams of four or five people to elicit and develop requirements for the system, design an architecture, build prototypes, implement the system, then deploy and maintain the system.
**Computer Science** covers the core concepts and technologies involved with how to make a computer do something.
Learning to program a computer by writing software is essential, and computer programming is used in most computer science courses.
You will learn details about how computers and networks work, but with an emphasis on how software and programming languages work.
You will learn how to make them do very sophisticated things (e.g.
graphics, robotics, databases, operating systems).
You will also learn about the theory behind how and why computers and software work.
In your senior project, you will tackle a problem at the frontier of computer science.
You may be building a new system, discovering better ways to design software, or developing new algorithms for projects in entirely different fields; it's up to you.
Past student projects include: video games, computer modeling and animation tools, and a Linux driver for the Wii remote.
as a softwaer engineer i will recommend this major to people who loves to work in symetric way and it has a very good future but if you intrested in coding or programming in general cs will be a good choice but u have to put on you mind that a good sofware engineer is also a good programmer hes the one that cana make the development process more simple i wish my answer is helpful :)

تامر عبد القادر مختار محمد رجب مختار
by تامر عبد القادر مختار محمد رجب مختار , صاحب شركة كمبيوتر , سنتر ميامى للكمبيوتر

علوم الحاسب تهتم بالنظريات والاسس والمفاهيم والطرق التي تقع تحت نطاق الكمبيوتر ونظم البرمجيات كمعرفة كيفية عمل الكمبيوتر والشبكات مع التركيز على البرامج وكيفية العمل لغات البرمجة، بينما تهتم هندسة البرمجيات بالجوانب العملية لتطوير وانتاج البرمجيات ككيفية قياس وتحليل منتجات البرمجيات والبرامج العملية،اضافة الى كيفية التعامل مع المستخدمين بشكل عام.يجب ان يلم مهندس البرمجيات ببعض المعارف عن علوم الحاسب.

Syed Faraz Hashmi
by Syed Faraz Hashmi , Sr. Programmer / DBA , Saudi German Hospital

If this would be asked that, what is the relation between Computer Science and Software Engineering, then it could be explained as Computer Science is a group of States and Software Engineering is one of the States.
Even if you would look from studies perspective, there are degrees like Master of Computer Science and Bachelors of Computer Science, whereas, there are majors, which provides specification in each degree.
One could have a Masters or Bachelor degree in computer having major in Software Engineering, Networking, and Telecommunications etc.
Where in Software Engineering, major emphasize is on software development and technologies used in it, project management and technologies used in it, Databases and their tools.
For career path, if Software Engineering is adopted, then initially you'll become a Software Engineer off course, means you'll developing software and applications, and then you'll have options to remain in the field for the rest of your career and become a guru of development, but this is not what most of the Software Engineers do.
Secondly, after having a enough experience in development, you can come to Team Lead position if you have the team management skills along with your development skills.
And the next level is Project Manager.
Now, from here you can either chose to remain in the field of Project Management and do you PMP and other stuff like that or you can switch for a position of IT Head like CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or something.
Now on the other hand, as Computer Science is not specifically covering any specific domain of computer science, but still there must be some sort of majors concept in this as well.
As I cannot go into the market for asking for a job saying that I have studied computer science, please give me a job.
Anyone will ask before giving you a job, that what field of expertise do you have, and ultimately you'll have to opt for a particular field as per your interest.

Karthik Palatel
by Karthik Palatel , Senior Pre Sales Engineer , Incom Solutions Technology LLC

Eventhough there are differences in Computer Science and Software engineering but we dont have much points to cite out as both fields are of same category. But in Computer Science we concentrate on both hardware and software platforms that is we study the design of a software by SDLC in detail and also studies regarding the Operating Systems Design and the languages used in their designing that is assembly language. Also we make a study of hardware Part of our system in detail and also the working of each and every part that describes the working of the system from its Booting to shut down.

     But in Software Engineering we are only learning the concepts of how to build a software and how to execute it a successfully in an integrated development environment and SDLC plays a major role in the architecture of software and Project management where in to make the task easier and complete it Successfully.

Abdulaziz Al marhon
by Abdulaziz Al marhon , it business analyst , Bechtel corporation

Computer Sciences encompasses the "exact" aspects in Computing. For instance, electronics are physics needed to design chips, which both are based on math. Professionals often work in rather/highly theoretical fields like numbers theory, compiler design, etc. In the early days, these positions were often filled by mathematicians or people who studied physics. You could call CS the theoretical foundation of all three fields mentioned. Software Engineering (SE) is about designing and developing software. Techniques, technologies, good practices, testing, and so on. To make an example, your browser has been developed by Software Engineers. In SE, for any given problem usually there is not just THE single correct solution. Instead, there are usually several possible solutions, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefor SE is not an exact field and thus it's not a "science" like math, physics, chemistry, etc. Due to this aspect many people relate SE partially to an art. However, SE uses findings reached in Computer Sciences.

computer Science is related with theory while the software engineering is concerned with devolving the software

Bassam Ali Mohammed Al-mamari
by Bassam Ali Mohammed Al-mamari , مساعد الرصد والتقييم , برودحي سيستمز

Software engineering is a branch of Computer Science

“Computer Science” is an umbrella term which encompasses four major areas of computing: theory, algorithms, programming languages, and architecture. Whereas “Computer Engineering” typically focuses specifically on computer hardware and software.

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