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C.S. vs. EE

It's more appropriate to compare C.E to C.S.

In a nutshell....CS is primarily software. If you touch hardware, you will likely do code the firmware or something related to that.

CE, which is a subset of EE gives you the basics of analog and digital systems, but also gives you an over view of important CS topics in programming.

EE gives you only a brief intro into programming (up to data structures). In EE, you go in depth in the subject of analog circuits and you go over a little electromagnetics.

CS: mostly software. If you do hardware, it will be on the software side.

CE: Digital Systems, maybe analog. You could also code and deal with hardware architecture.

EE: Very vast, can be more science based.
 
CS is almost entirely software. You learn to program, and all the theory behind it.

EE is all hardware -- not even computer hardware neccesarily, but anything electrical.

If you like symbolic logic, binary search algorithms, and polymorphism, major in CS.
If you like resistance, Ohm's Law, and other stuff like that (I don't know exactly... I majored in CS) then become an EE.
 
CS is software, programming, and algorithms.
EE ranges from physics/material science to designing chips to signal processing and on. It is very broad. You could be doing nothing but programming all day or you would be not doing much at all. It just depends on your field.
CompE is a subset of EE that is more hardware oriented. I consider the activities inside the chip generally to be EE, the activities outside the chip to be in the realm of CompE if you're on the "hardware" side.

Oops, I just noticed that you wanted pros/cons... not sure if what I said would be pros or cons... I thought this was another generic what are the differences thread.
 
I would say one pro of EE (and most other engineering disciplines) is that you can still get programming jobs while a CS generally cannot get an EE job (unless it's more in the signal/image processing side and you've taken some courses there). Some EEs do nothing but program all day just like a CS major, but they require the necessary EE background - they're programming with their particular EE knowledge.
 
BTW, I'm graduating in about a year. I'm planning on going back and taking some EE classes/math classes as an alumnus.
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
I'm doing C.S. now myself. I'm just wondering if EE would be any fun for someone who likes programming.
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You won't really take much programming in the initial EE courses. You could focus on something more programming related later on in the advanced courses. Some CompEs do a lot of programming stuff (embedded design, etc.), so CompE might be better for you.

Most engineers will do a little programming or scripting. EEs use hardware description languages such as Verilog or VHDL (not programming languages but Verilog is sort of like C with knowledge of digital logic), MATLAB (for DSP applications, etc.), C/C++ (doubt you would use it in school in an EE class, but many EE positions in industry need C/C++ skills), etc.
 
I'm in computer engineering and consider it a comfortable mix of the two.

EE is a bit too "low level" and CS a bit too "high level" for me.
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
BTW, I'm graduating in about a year. I'm planning on going back and taking some EE classes/math classes as an alumnus.
Click to expand...

If you like being a 'code jockey' and don't want to be bothered with the science of engineering a piece of software from requirements to architechture to design to implementation to test, then you probably wouldn't be terribly interested in EE.
 
Both will get you great jobs in the U.S.

CS probably more so than EE. CS majors are in such demand companies are being forced to look towards other contries like India. They don't have enough CS majors in the U.S to meet their demand.
 
Originally posted by: DVK916
Both will get you great jobs in the U.S.

CS probably more so than EE. CS majors are in such demand companies are being forced to look towards other contries like India. They don't have enough CS majors in the U.S to meet their demand.
Click to expand...

Haha, good one. :laugh:

What are you doing? Pure math?


Actually, there are a variety of companies at my university that do interviews on a regular basis (i.e. Qualcomm, Microsoft and Google). But good thing my dad already has business ties to a number of communications firms.
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: DVK916
Both will get you great jobs in the U.S.

CS probably more so than EE. CS majors are in such demand companies are being forced to look towards other contries like India. They don't have enough CS majors in the U.S to meet their demand.
Click to expand...

Haha, good one. :laugh:

What are you doing? Pure math?


Actually, there are a variety of companies at my university that do interviews on a regular basis (i.e. Qualcomm, Microsoft and Google). But good thing my dad already has business ties to a number of communications firms.
Click to expand...

B.S in Statistics with an emphaisis on Statistics with Computer Programing, with a double major in Economics.
 
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
I would say one pro of EE (and most other engineering disciplines) is that you can still get programming jobs while a CS generally cannot get an EE job (unless it's more in the signal/image processing side and you've taken some courses there). Some EEs do nothing but program all day just like a CS major, but they require the necessary EE background - they're programming with their particular EE knowledge.
Click to expand...

I agree. I just interviewed with lockheed martin for a software engineering position and i'm an EE. They say that they favor programmers with EE backgrounds.
 
Originally posted by: AznMaverick
Originally posted by: CanOWorms
I would say one pro of EE (and most other engineering disciplines) is that you can still get programming jobs while a CS generally cannot get an EE job (unless it's more in the signal/image processing side and you've taken some courses there). Some EEs do nothing but program all day just like a CS major, but they require the necessary EE background - they're programming with their particular EE knowledge.
Click to expand...

I agree. I just interviewed with lockheed martin for a software engineering position and i'm an EE. They say that they favor programmers with EE backgrounds.
Click to expand...


This is definitely true. If you can do EE, you can do programming any day. Considering they hire people in India and outsource so madly, and they hire teenagers and young college students to do a lot of coding, CS is honestly not that special. The younger the better for CS. In our EECS program, even if your focus is EE, you still take a good amount of CS classes, that you can honestly still take on a programming job. All you need to do is take a few more classes and you're set for any CS job.
 
<--- EE with CS minor at Virginia Tech

As most people here have been saying, EE is about hardware and circuit design, while CS is all about programming (EEs generally do very little programming outside of MATLAB).

Your question is kind of broad, anything specifically you wanted to know about?
 
Originally posted by: DVK916
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: DVK916
Both will get you great jobs in the U.S.

CS probably more so than EE. CS majors are in such demand companies are being forced to look towards other contries like India. They don't have enough CS majors in the U.S to meet their demand.
Click to expand...

Haha, good one. :laugh:

What are you doing? Pure math?


Actually, there are a variety of companies at my university that do interviews on a regular basis (i.e. Qualcomm, Microsoft and Google). But good thing my dad already has business ties to a number of communications firms.
Click to expand...

B.S in Statistics with an emphaisis on Statistics with Computer Programing, with a double major in Economics.
Click to expand...

Right on. My g/f is doing statistics also.
 
Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
<--- EE with CS minor at Virginia Tech

As most people here have been saying, EE is about hardware and circuit design, while CS is all about programming (EEs generally do very little programming outside of MATLAB).

Your question is kind of broad, anything specifically you wanted to know about?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Is building/desiging a circuit as fun as programming?
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
<--- EE with CS minor at Virginia Tech

As most people here have been saying, EE is about hardware and circuit design, while CS is all about programming (EEs generally do very little programming outside of MATLAB).

Your question is kind of broad, anything specifically you wanted to know about?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Is building/desiging a circuit as fun as programming?
Click to expand...

I suppose that would depend on your definition of fun. 😛

If you're into logic/algorithms/programming but want to take a crack at learning about the hardware behind it and how it works with software, look into CpE. I've enjoyed the Digital Design courses I've taken here at VT and actually got a chance to TA for one of them over the summer. There's a lot of math courses either way you go, though CS/CpE has a more logic/proof based slant to it.

In any case, your first couple years will involve a lot of math, science, and core curriculum courses no matter which of those majors you choose, so you've got a little time to ask around and find out which you want to go in.

Feel free to toss me a PM if you need more help later on.
 
i'm not a CS major, so i don't know for sure. But, i honestly feel that being an EE will give you a better understanding as to why things (electronics, wireless systems, etc) work the way they do. My first basic circuits class was so hard, it was a weeder course, but the courses that i've taken like antennas, electromagnetics, data structures, VLSI design, computer architecture, digital and analog communication systems were just awesome. of course i didn't learn nearly as much as i should have, i got to see the fundamentals.
 
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