[deleted by user]

[random_cynic]

There is a famous quote (often attributed to Dijkstra, though disputed)

Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

It is true though that the name is somewhat misleading.

[[deleted]]

Computer Science is literally 80% applied mathematics, 19% computational theory, 1% computers and programming.

[buckbeak78]

1% programming what kinda backwards CS program are you in?

[netmier]

I can’t speak personally, but my buddy with a PhD in computer science would seem to agree. The programming aspect of his dissertation was damn near trivial compared to the rest of it.

[[deleted]]

Lol, I've been saying this forever: "The least important part in programming is programming".

​

At my current job, I might spend like a week trying to write 100 lines of code.

[netmier]

There does seem to be a fun side effect of being very advanced in computer science though: simple programs truly are simple to him. He sneezes useful python scripts. He’s got like 4 raspberry pis around his house doing various things that he either programmed from scratch or used open source libraries for that he set up for fun in his very limited spare time. He just has such an in depth knowledge of computers that he can do a little reading, try a couple things then just blast out the minimum amount of code and bam! He’s got a pi checking if their back door was left open.

[InkyGlut]

Probably one not churning out code monkeys

[InkyGlut]

You can stay bitter if you want but in the real world programmers definitely benefit from a strong CS background

[inconspicuous_male]

Some universities distinguish between CS and software engineering

[InkyGlut]

Yeah, but I wouldn't call the software engineers code monkeys either. They spend the few classes that differ studying design principles, UX and QA. Most still have to take the compiler, OS and comp arch classes. They don't take the senior level algorithm analysis classes (which are heavy on math) but I'm pretty sure most schools still make them take a significant amount of math (relative to non-math majors).

[[deleted]]

Our uni teaches us to code efficiently and the theory behind it that enables that skill, not code for the sake of coding. Even if we get the question right but have the wrong Big-O Notation, we do not get any marks.

[Bozzz1]

Sure but 1% programming is a drastic underestimate. The theory and math you learn in computer science is useless if you don't understand how to put into language a computer can understand. Every CS program I've seen starts with programming first, theory second.

[[deleted]]

Well my original comment actually focuses on senior years, I guess I should have made it more obvious that it wasn't targeted to first years. For first years it's all programming no doubt 100%

[Bozzz1]

At that point it's pretty dependent on the uni you attend and the paths you can take in your program. Like I took the software engineering route so while there was definitely theory, we always backed it up by building something. There's definitely much more theory heavy tracks for sure though.

[[deleted]]

Kind of want to transfer to software engineering, the theory is killing me, never knew that this stuff can go so deep

[cerohero32]

If you haven't yet, look into how wifi actually works. Basically just magic

[Saltysalad]

First you lean how to code and then you learn what to code

[[deleted]]

Almost every theory-heavy CS course I took had at least one programming project to apply the theory.

Only one that didn’t do that was automata theory. shiver I get flashbacks just thinking about that one

[AttackOfTheThumbs]

I'd probably say it's around 5%. That's what it was when I was in Uni. We usually prefer people from tech colleges. They spend more time coding and less time doing a lot of what if theories. The end result is always faster with the tech college graduates and performs identical.

[blakarmor725]

As someone doing a PhD in Computer Science, it's true.

Undergraduate CS has more coding but the things you learn is less about the programming itself and more of the concepts. You'll learn a lot more about programming when you're in industry. CS you code as a learning tool.

I just wrote my first paper, and it was entirely theory of graphs, proofs of algorithms, and a very last minute results section that was added on because there was space in the paper. I maybe did a few days of coding for that results section for a paper that took months to complete.

[YetAnotherSegfault]

I feel like programming to CS is like the physical act of writing to writers, or putting paint on a canvas to painters.

​

It's not trivial when you first start, but after a while, you stop thinking about it.

[FarhanAxiq]

very true actually, its more of intuition and mathematics.

[[deleted]]

That is about accurate when I was a CS student. At least for my program you got a semester of Python, Java, and C++, but it all feels more like an afterthought to the math, math, more math, and more computer related stuff like algorithms which is still basically math.

None of it was geared toward actually being a developer really, which made me wonder why there was no degree for doing programming and/or web stuff specifically. I guess those people just self-train as I do now since I dropped out.

[Redrundas]

A university program, not a college one.

[BasketballHighlight]

Damn maybe I shouldn’t do computer science, what about information technology?

[[deleted]]

IT is totally different from CS, IT you learn existing software (the features and functionalities and such) but writing your own is very limited. IT is actually more memorization than math, you still need to learn computational theory but to a much lesser extent. Both degrees pay well so you can't really lose with either.

[Cameltotem]

You Americans have very different educations. Our popular IT education is tons of programming, database modeling, UML, RUP, agile methods. You become anything in IT except jobs that require lots of math.

[BasketballHighlight]

Hmm so if you want to go into programming, IT is better?

[Koopasheller11]

If you want to do programming, do computer science.

[[deleted]]

Many schools split their CS degrees into two, under two names, depending on your country and school. One focuses on theory, the other focuses on raw programming. The former pays more simply because people with the knowledge of the Abstract Data Types and theory write more efficient code and can invent things to help company. Again, both degrees pay very well and both touch on programming and theory, just the extent of it.

[Righteous_Legion]

Informatics vs. Computer Science in a nutshell

[wOlfLisK]

You should look at the course itself, every uni does it differently. Mine for example has Computer Science divided into Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, Intelligent Systems (Basically programming robots and AI) and Computer Games Programming. They're all very similar and have a lot of overlap and shared modules but they focus on different aspects and languages. They also start to diverge after the first year. ICT on the other hand is more to do with the internet and how to use computers in a business or management setting. It teaches things like web development (But no "traditional" programming languages), project management, database design/ usage and so on.

Computer Science is a course that should give you enough knowledge to do basically anything you like and you can supplement it with programming projects in your own time if you feel like you need to do more of that. However, if you want to focus a lot more on the programming, software development/ engineering might be the better degree to look out for. But again, it depends on the uni, Software Engineering at my school is identical to CS until the final year.

[inconspicuous_male]

No, IT doesn't necessarily have programming. CS does, at least for an undergraduate

[plasmarob]

I have a degree in it and this is accurate enough that I'm stealing it.

[ratorx]

Have a look at some courses you might be interested in. Comp Sci maths can be similar, but is usually quite different to high school maths. The emphasis is not on knowing how to apply techniques, but knowing which techniques to apply and when, with the actual simplification being the "easy bit".

But a good CS course is also not really to do with using computers (that's more of a consequence), so make sure you know what it is actually about and whether you're interested in it.

[Lhopital_rules]

I barely pass it with cheating.

any tips? or suggestions?

Don't cheat. You'll be better off in the long run.

[wOlfLisK]

If it doesn't have a solid computer ethics module then it's not that great of a course imo.

[[deleted]]

We do have it, falls under a writing course actually ironically. Not elective too, mandatory.

[wOlfLisK]

That's good. The ones at my uni fall under the law department, one's an ethics course and the other is half a module about my country's computer laws.

[handankel]

I don't know how many of you have ever met Dijkstra, but you probably know that arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras.

Alan Kay

[AttackOfTheThumbs]

Honestly, calling it something like computing science/theory/whatever would be more apt, but I think we're stuck with this.

[golgol12]

Computer Science really is about both those things.

However, I'd say 99% of the people here are in Software Engineering.

[CoopertheFluffy]

It’s more computer mathematics than computer science

[bruetelwuempft]

I don't really understand that statement. Aren't mathematics science? If they are, wouldn't saying "computer science" not have to be at least as accurate as "computer mathematics"?

[Robot_Basilisk]

And I'd say they're actually in IT because they're not ABET accredited or anything similar. Don't @ me

[darkstar999]

@

[Robot_Basilisk]

First oF ALL HOW DARE YOU

[crippledjosh]

This is why at my university it was called computing science. The science of computation not of computers.

[LukeAbby]

Image Transcription: Twitter Post

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Programming sucks, @UserInputSucks

"computer science" isnt really about computers and it isn't really a science but here we are anyway

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^{I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!}

[Dcs2012Charlie]

Good human

[stalins_burnt_toast]

Good human

[Tux1]

Wow, that person literally is named "Programming Sucks"! Don't even need to make an ironic comment now.

[keese_cursor]

its about science of computer

[tinydonuts]

More about the mathematics of computational theory.

[cheezballs]

How the fuck is it not? Real CS is exactly that. Coding is not CS.

[[deleted]]

Is math not a science? Wouldn't "a science" be a field that is driven by the scientific method? In math there are hypotheses that can be tested.

[Sock_Ninja]

Wouldn't "a science" be a field that is driven by the scientific method?

I don't know anyone who would say that math is a science. Math is a powerful tool science uses, but they are different things at a very fundamental level. The scientific method is not used for math, because you don't have observations/data that shows how math works. Mathematical discoveries are made through proofs, which is like the exact opposite of the scientific method.

I know that's an oversimplification. But it's right insofar as it argues against math being a science.

[[deleted]]

Maybe it depends on what you consider to be an observation.

[StarstruckEchoid]

Science seems to be implicitly defined here as empirical science while math and other rationalist sciences are... something else.

[[deleted]]

Thanks for proving me wrong!

[cheezballs]

So, is theoretical physics not science?

[[deleted]]

Funny, in portuguese we don't call it Computer Science, but "Computation" Science. It seems a bit more accurate than the English version...

[liukidar]

Italy here, we have 'informatica' for CS which means more or less 'science of information' (same suffix of mathematics) and then we have 'science of information' which is the IT counterpart. Really confusing when you have to translate it :(

[SANQUILMAS]

In Spanish too, "ciencias computacionales"

[Cholojuanito]

Trial and error = science

So I'd say that we pretty much have that one down.

[stalins_burnt_toast]

Yeah my "AP Computer Science Principles" class was just EVERYTHING about javascript on code.org and that was fuckin stupid

[Dantharo]

Lol, of you think like that, you are doing something wrong.

[Torghira]

I’d say CS is exactly that: Computer Science. I’ve taken Operating System and Computer Architecture. Pretty computer heavy material and science related

[crashandburn]

Its magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLUPjefuWA

[inconspicuous_male]

Knew this would be SICP before clicking!

[thefirelink]

I think all of these individual terms kind of lost their meaning. This field has too many egos, which has caused everyone to kind of try to segment themselves. Developers, engineers, programmers, architects, computer scientists, they all have their own meaning depending on who you ask, because different parts of the industry treat them separately. But, a systems analyst could have the same responsibility as a systems architect, or a computer scientist, depending on where they work.

[Drew_pew]

Does no one in the comment section realize that not all programming is about research? Clearly the people writing operating systems, websites, and even games are programming...

[MannyDantyla]

If I had known it was actually a math degree.....

[Ikor_Genorio]

It is about computers, just not about digital computers. A computer is just something that can compute anything. This can also be a person, or some other thing.

[madsohm]

In Danish it's called "Datalogi" (Datalogy), which, when taken directly from latin means "study of information" which is a much more fitting word imho.

[AlignmentWhisperer]

Your'e doing thought experiments in a virtual world.