Difference between Computer Science and Software Engineering

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the differences between Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) as academic disciplines, exploring their focuses, overlaps, and how they are presented in various college programs. Participants share their perspectives on the theoretical and practical aspects of each field.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that Software Engineering has a stronger emphasis on practical applications, programming, and operating systems, while Computer Science includes a mix of theory and practice.
  • One participant suggests that Software Engineering could be viewed as a subset of Computer Science, similar to the relationship between chemistry and chemical engineering.
  • Another viewpoint emphasizes that Software Engineering focuses on software design, testing, and project management, while Computer Science is more theoretical, dealing with computation and information processes.
  • There is a suggestion that the differences in curriculum between CS and SE can vary significantly by university, with some institutions offering very similar courses under both majors.
  • One participant mentions that Computer Science seeks optimal solutions to problems, whereas Software Engineering aims for economically viable solutions.
  • A later reply highlights that while CS is fundamentally about computers, it is also about broader concepts beyond just hardware.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the distinctions between Computer Science and Software Engineering, with no consensus reached on a definitive characterization of either field. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of choosing one major over the other.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that actual course content and focus can vary widely between institutions, and some mention the importance of reviewing specific course descriptions to understand the differences better.

Who May Find This Useful

Prospective college students considering majors in Computer Science or Software Engineering, educators in the field, and individuals interested in the distinctions between theoretical and practical aspects of computing disciplines.

GreatEscapist
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So, when I'm looking at the college I'm pretty sure I want to go to, they offer CS. At some colleges, I've noticed that they have CS AND software engineering. So, is there a difference?
 
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Software engineer has more of a programming/OS/practical apps focus, whereas CS usually has a an even mix of theory and practical, skewed one way or another depending on the school.
 
So, Software engineering is just a part of CS?
 
think of it like the difference between chemistry and chemical engineering. There is a lot of overlap, but the focus in software engineering will always be on creating software, so there will be more of a focus on software design, software testing and debugging ect... Computer Science is the science of information and processes on information, just like chemistry can be thought of as the science of matter. Computer Science can be more theoretical, and includes areas such as artificial intelligence, theory of computation, computer graphics ect... Of course these are just general definitions about the fields themselves, if you want to know how actual courses are different from each other then this will depend on the individual university. For example, where I am at the University of Melbourne, there is very little difference between the two majors, only the capstone projects, and you could almost do the exact same subjects in either major if you wanted to. Just check online for each college you're interested into see what differences there are in the requirements for each major.
 
Software Engineering is a lot like project management but in a technical since. In the SE curriculum you will be study more on software management methodologies, System Requirements, life cycle, feasibility testing ,scale etc. In short SE is about the how to design software, maintain it and how to manage the project.

Computer Science how ever is very theoretical, and for the most part about computation. You basically learn how software works and what is to computer limitation on computation. Computer Science topics are more theoretical; which include computer graphics, automata , ai .. etc.

I think the main difference is Computer Science trys to look for the best way to solve a problem and Software Engineers look for economic solutions.
 
GreatEscapist said:
So, when I'm looking at the college I'm pretty sure I want to go to, they offer CS. At some colleges, I've noticed that they have CS AND software engineering. So, is there a difference?

You could also have a look at the course descriptions on the college website and compare them. If you can find the websites for the individual courses you might even get to see the individual course content. In brief, software engineering is all 'software' - programming and related skills. CS is about computers.
 
fasterthanjoao said:
CS is about computers.


"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Edsger W. Dijkstra, Computer Scientist.
 
Crap. So if I want to be a software engineer, and it isn't offered, can I still end up in the same thing with CS?
 

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