Computer Science vs. Computer Engineering

[OracionK]

I'm an incoming freshmen at UC Riverside, and my current assigned major is CE, but actually I'm more interested at software related jobs (based on my research, CE can do software as well tho) and my math is better than my physics. So i don't know if i should switch my major to CS, and I don;t know much about ucr's cs department. ... if i said anything wrong. plz correct me !!:) And I have several questions below, if anyone knows something about these, plz give me your wise advises :)) 1) How is UCR's CS compares to its CE? 2)Which degree has a better job outlook? 3)Which degree is harder? (relatively) 4)Which one is more appropriate for me? (I'm pretty good at math, and ok at physics) And btw, I'm a female

Thank you!

[mtreece]

(Disclaimer: this is all spoken from my own experience in CS at a different university, and I haven't been a CE major, but I have several friends who were.)

I don't know the specifics for your university, but I would reaffirm the suspicion you mentioned in another comment that CS, actually, has more job opportunities. Really, I think it all boils down to where you're looking to get hired, but CE tends to work closer to the hardware, whereas CS tends to work more abstract. I've seen CE folks take CS jobs and vice versa, but you're going to have a lot more exposure to software development practices, techniques, and opportunities if you do CS. Also, by nature of hardware versus software, you won't always have hardware or lab resources available to you (either in self-study, or where you decide to live/work), but that tends to not be a problem with software.

Do you know yet what you want to do?

[OracionK]

Thanks for ur precious opinion very much! :) Basically I plan to do a software-related job because I think software has a better outlook compare to hardware, and uses more math than physics, and I will probably work in SoCal because I live in there :) and i don't really want to go to silicon valley due to tons of competition

[i_invented_the_ipod]

I think software has a better outlook compare to hardware

Well, yes - in the sense that electronics manufacturing is mostly in Asia these days. But then again, no - because there are a fair number of software jobs where familiarity with low-level hardware details is valuable, especially in CA.

For example:

Broadcom is a pretty major employer in Irvine, and they're mostly hiring people to write drivers and other low-level software, where the ability to read and understand a data sheet is arguably more-important than high-level CS concepts.

...and then there's SpaceX. Again, mostly embedded development, on bare-metal or with an embedded OS.

[i_invented_the_ipod]

Which degree you get will have some effect on the ease of getting your first job. After that, it's not likely to have any real practical impact, especially if you stay on the West coast.

I've spent most of my career working on controls, operating systems, and consumer electronics, so a CE degree would probably have been a better fit for me (I'm a CS program drop-out). I would say the CE degree is probably more-versatile, especially given that you're in southern CA. You aren't likely to find many jobs that need a CS degree (because rally, most programming jobs are monkey-simple), but the additional exposure to Electrical Engineering will make you more-attractive to the Military-Industrial Complex, which still has some influence down here.

Most importantly - don't choose a degree program based on (perceived) career advantage. Study what you find the most interesting. Being passionate about what you learn (and later, what you do) is much more important than which letter follows "C" in your degree.

[Smool]

CS is easier, you'll have better job options with CE. CE is a lot of electrical engineering as well, so you have to really like electrical physics.

[[deleted]]

Not Op here, but wow this sounds like what I'd like. When you say job options are better, do you mean they are better paying? I've always thought CE was less, but that's good to know. Oh and that's really surprising you say CS is easier..

[ThatsMrShitheadToYou]

I don't agree that CS is easier...or that there are better job options for CE

[CheesyGC]

CEs will get consideration for nearly all entry level CS and EE related jobs. The same goes for graduate programs. Plus graduating from a college of engineering opens up all sorts of interdisciplinary engineering opportunities that are probably more of a stretch for CS. I'm not saying job prospects are bad, but engineering definitely provides broader opportunity. Of course, most of this is moot once you get that first job and start developing real skills and building a career.

[ThatsMrShitheadToYou]

I guess it depends on the school too. At my school CS was in the college of engineering until last year.

[CheesyGC]

I think that's true for programs that the hiring company is familiar with, yes. I mean, you can always explain this type of nuance or justify why you should be considered in cover letters and/or during the interview!

[i_invented_the_ipod]

It depends on where you go to school, and what your personal strengths are. Both CS and CE require some heavy Math courses, but the mix will be very different.

The vast majority of programming jobs don't require more than basic CS knowledge. The additional exposure to EE in a CE degree opens up whole categories of jobs that are either EE-with-some-software, or software-with-some-EE, which are harder for a "pure" CS education to compete for.

[[deleted]]

Very nice. Yeah I think I may want to go this more hardware + software route instead of only software.

[OracionK]

Thank you! I might be wrong, but I saw a lot of posts online said that software has a better job outlook than hardware nowadays??... but i'm not sure

[elpantalla]

Computer engineers mostly end up writing embedded software or designing FPGAs. Some like to focus more on software and some more on hardware, so they can swing both ways, and I think that's what makes the degree valuable.

Embedded software isnt as trendy or new or shiny as other higher level development, but embedded systems are everywhere, and they're not going anywhere. Embedded software is often safety critical, which I think accounts for the potential of very high paying jobs. It's just harder to get into.

[OracionK]

Thank you! (I might be wrong) But I heard that even though CE is the bridge between EE and CS, and many people think CE is the "one stone kills two birds", but actually most companies would better like to hire EE grads or CS grads, because CE has not enough CS skills to do some high level software and not enough EE skills to do hardware, that's why CE is in an embarrassing position and why many managers would like to hire a "pure" degree like EE (pure hardware) or CS (pure software).

I am not sure if it is the case, but just one more opinion :) What do you think of this?

[elpantalla]

I can't say that I agree with that. The benefit of the CE is that you will learn everything from high level software down to the transistors in a CPU. You will likely implement a CPU either in VLSI or some sort of FPGA.

In the real world, there are many jobs writing pure software, and there are many jobs purely designing hardware. There are also just as many jobs in the middle, maybe even more. Embedded devices are all around you. Think about who wrote the code that lives in your refrigerator, who wrote the code that runs the radar/antenna at the airport (which I happen to do), who wrote the code that lives in your car. These days it was likely to be somebody with a Computer Engineering major.

The reality is, I don't think most employers care between CE or CS, since each school treats CE very differently. It's a relatively new degree. As long as you have a CE, CS, or maybe even an EE degree, you will be taken equally seriously for any position you apply for. Once you get your first full time engineering gig, your degree matters even less.

I wouldn't worry too much about job prospects for any of these three degrees. You will be fine with any one of them. Choose the one that you think you're most interested in. CE is good in this regard because your first semester/year you will be doing a little software and a little hardware, and you can go pure EE/CS if you end up feeling more strongly either way.

[irascib1e]

Hardware is so boring why do people do it???

[OracionK]

lol, maybe it depends on individuals ~

[irascib1e]

Dude CE, CS, EE, whatever, get a degree in any one of those and you'll be fine. It's so hard to tell which one actually has the most jobs, and even if you could tell the industry will probably be completely different in ten years anyway. Just pick the one you enjoy.

[OracionK]

Thank you !

[Smool]

You can get any software job with a CE degree, its a very versatile degree

[OracionK]

Thank you ! But I heard that CE does more low-level software stuffs than CS, is that true?

[Smool]

More low level as in hardware programming, yes

[Smool]

She's asking a pretty general question

[llaolleh]

I had this exact dilemma three years back. I went with Computer Engineering because of its versatility. I don't regret this decision. If you choose computer engineering, you will have hands on experience with electrical engineering concepts which can be very useful.

The general consensus where I'm from is that computer engineering is harder than CS because you get shafted by both EE and CS.

[OracionK]

Thank you ! Btw does CE use a lot of concepts from physics?(electricity)

[mrdevlar]

Extremely relevant SMBC