Decisions, Decisions | The Coffeehouse

tfraser

Between late 2008 and early 2009 I will leave the sheltered and safe environment of secondary education and enter the big, bad world of tertiary studies.

One area I am interested in and considering is software development, though I'm faced with a small problem; the University of Queensland, which I will most probably be attending, offers two appropriate yet entirely separate courses related to this field and I am unsure as to which one I should be including in my list of preferences (that which will best prepare me for a career in software development).

The two courses are a Bachelor of Engineering (in which Software Engineering is a major) and a Bachelor of Science (in which Computer Science is a major). From what I can tell the two majors are fundamentally very similar which makes it difficult to choose between their parent degrees. I would have thought that software engineering would be the more focussed of the two, but I have noticed lately that in many cases software developers have graduated from a computer science course.

I know that many of you are or have been in a similar situation and would value your input on the subject.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

Those don't give much away; is there a course breakdown anywhere?

From the looks of it Engineering is more formal and includes hardware (bonus, but no-one lets juniors make hardware decisions), Computer Science is more practical and includes teamwork, UI and other goodness.

Depends what you want to be (when you grow up)

tfraser

In reply to blowdart

#Aug 22nd, 2008 @ 11:39 PM

There is a course breakdown for the Software Engineering major but so far as I can see not one for Computer Science, which doesn't help. I am just unsure why you would pick one over the other if they ultimately lead down the same (or very similar) career path.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to tfraser

#Aug 23rd, 2008 @ 1:33 AM

Bet? It looks like engineering is much more theoretical which will stand you in good stead as you learn new things but may make it harder to find that initial job as it looks much less practical.

Jason I

In reply to tfraser

#Aug 23rd, 2008 @ 1:33 AM

I would argue that CS and Software Engineering are NOT the same. I have degrees in both, although they are from two different American Universities.

My CS experience was far more theoretical. The focus was on C++ programming, with some Scheme (Lisp) and Java thrown in. I did manage one time to sneak in C# for a single assignment. They talked about Data Structures, basics of parallel programming, elementary Databases, etc...

My Software Engineering experience has been far more practical. It assumed that I had a background in a high level language like C# / C++ / or Java. My classes included ones in program understandinh (how to debug), project mangement, advanced OOP concepts, and a lot more.

I gained a lot from my CS degree in terms of basics.. But Software Engineering is my bread and butter.

Good luck to you!

Jason I

In reply to Jason I

#Aug 23rd, 2008 @ 6:09 AM

PS. Looking at your link - your Software Engineering ciriculuum looks very similar to my old CS degree, not counting the HCI stuff.

matthews

In reply to Jason I

#Aug 23rd, 2008 @ 7:04 AM

Yeah at my school the Software Engineering program is basically the same as the CS one but with the free electives replaced with mandatory electrical, industrial, or just plain engineering courses; there must be a lot of variance.

Anyway tfraser, you should really talk to an academic advisor; they're there for just this sort of thing.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

"Software Engineer" might seem more impressive, but "Computer Science" is what most HR people actually look for when they give your resume the typical 10 second glance. I would say "Computer Science" is the safer choice. It doesn't make a huge difference either way, but you'll see job postings saying "Computer Science or equivalent", and there is always a chance (yes, they can be that stupid) that "Software Engineer" doesn't click to an HR person as being "equivalent".

Also to let you know, a college degree is usually not good enough for many jobs in the industry. What will do you much better then any kind of degree "name".. being involved in an open source project, especially if it's a well known software that you helped make, looks VERY VERY good. If you got something like Linux kernel development or Firefox development on your resume, it will make you really stand out. In fact, I know someone who was actually scoped out by a major company BEFORE he even finished college due to his open source work. It's better then just trying to learn technologies on your own, because you have something tangible to show for your work, and if your lucky the technical interviewer might even know about the project (that's why it's better to contribute to the big projects if you can).