Computer Science (programming?) or Comp engineering (kind of like EE?)

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: ManSnake
EE or CSci?

I know this person that used to struggle with CSci, he later switched his major to EE and ended up getting all 'A's.
IMO EE stuff that deals with digital logic, microcontroller, VHDL are pretty easy.
automata theory, computational theory part of CSci is extremely tough.

So in the end it really depends on the person. Take a few intro courses to each and find out for yourself.

automata theory is kinda hard but all the stuff you mentioned is CE not EE

EE = Solid State Electronics, Signal Processing, Electric Field Theory, Linear Circuit theory etc.

if it does involve complex math it is probably not EE

 

[ManSnake]

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: ManSnake
EE or CSci?

I know this person that used to struggle with CSci, he later switched his major to EE and ended up getting all 'A's.
IMO EE stuff that deals with digital logic, microcontroller, VHDL are pretty easy.
automata theory, computational theory part of CSci is extremely tough.

So in the end it really depends on the person. Take a few intro courses to each and find out for yourself.

automata theory is kinda hard but all the stuff you mentioned is CE not EE

EE = Solid State Electronics, Signal Processing, Electric Field Theory, Linear Circuit theory etc.

if it does involve complex math it is probably not EE

The stuff you are thinking of are on the analog side of EE, FYI digital logic is an esssential part of EE!

 

[pillage2001]

Originally posted by: notfred
if you're working in the EE field you're not going to be working with computers in the sense of replacing harddrives and benchmarking video cards, you're just gonig to be sitting in front of circuit design and analysis programs all day.

Take this from Notfred and I would like to add some stuffs to it. I'm a CE major myself and I've completed all my core subjects and awaiting graduation.

First of all, how much do you like being frustrated at home or being stuck in the labs for HOURS and I mean HOURS even in the weekend. What are your interest really like?? Id you're going for CE, you'll be having hands on experience on the breadboard and on the pc designing processors. You'll also be required to take some CS courses which will be enough for you. Enough as in get you places in jobs.

Warning though. CE IS NOT LIKE WHAT YOU DO IN COMPUTER STORES. What notfred said is true and don't hope for your lecturer to be teaching you on how to overclock your pcs and all that crap. It's all basics. Down to the very tiny bit of a transistor!

 

[stonecold3169]

GoPunk is correct... CS majors do far more then programing. You know Nash from "A Beautiful Mind"? He is from one branch of modern day computer science, Cryptology. Sure, some CS majors will go on to write a and maintain code for small buisnesses, etc... but not all do.

Logic proofs are another big realm for computer scientists, and several math courses are required for the degree. In fact, many of these so called math courses are only required for CS majors... it goes well beyond being able to write little proggies for assignments...

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1

Originally posted by: gopunk
computer science isn't just programming

Tell that to UGA!

They have like 2 non-programing classes: 1100(Intro to computers a.k.a. Computers for Dumbies) and 1210(Computational Scince a.k.a. Masters of the Spredsheet)

I'm in 1301(Intro to Java) and I hate it. I like hardware not software.

uga? undergraduate admissions?

 

[Imported]

At the orientation thing for CE majors at UCI, they said something about a new degree that combines CS and CE.. I might switch to that when it's started.. a few more quarters they said.

 

[jteef]

Here is my take on the subject. I have a bachelors in EE...

EE can be the hardest theoretical major out there if you get into EM... at least as hard as math or the obscure physics etc. Device physics can be hard, but I thought the EM was a lot more difficult. But EE can also be fairly easy, power systems, DSP, and to a lesser extent compE. Computer Science is more tedious than difficult, and doesn't require any theoretical thought, mostly just organization. There were a lot of people in the CS classes that couldn't handle the even the basic concepts so maybe I'm overstating things... The math requirements at the school I went to were a lot easier in CS than in engineering...a LOT. A good portion of the CS students barely passed calculus 2, and wouldn't have much of a shot at all with calc 4. I would say that the CS majors invested at least 2-3 times more hours in their homework than us EE's. The only "difficult" lab that I can remember was the intro to digital design lab where you'd have 10 IC's and 100 wires on your breadboard, but again, that was more tedious than difficult.

The main difference in difficulty I saw in EE was between discrete time (digital) and continuous time (analog). Digital was a lot easier in that 99% of the math is just basic algebra, where continuous time uses a lot more calculus.

I would maybe look into DSP. It involves a programming element, but not to the extent that CS or CmpE's do, and the concepts are in a position to replace a lot of the old analog systems, which could mean a lot of available jobs when you graduate. An engineering degree will also carry more weight in other areas than a computer science degree will. i.e. for business school, med school, law school, and in general life.

jt

 

[Yomicron]

I'm a CompE major, it seems to be the best if you want to work in a computer related field. In CE you get to learn a lot of the same stuff as EE, but you tend to focus on those parts that are computer related (what a concept!). At my school you get to a decent background in programming. By the end of this semester I'll have learned Assembly (for the MC68HC11 mind you), C, C++, Java and Smalltalk (Smalltalk is cool).

Here, the CEs also get to lean more about interfacing digital and analog systems than the EEs do.


In general I'd say that if you are interested in software and hardware, then CE is the way to go.

 

[kherman]

Originally posted by: eagle
I'm only a senior in high school, but I'm still kind of wondering what to do. Previously, I had wanted to be a programmer, but OTOH, I kinda want to design chips and stuff. Not to mention it seems like everyone is trying to be a programmer and I think the job market is pretty bad for it as of now. A comp engineer also makes more money I think.

We're doing this college project for english, so I was researching both majors, and the question came up.

I think comp engineering would be harder, and I'm not exactly sure how much I'd like EE. Do I design circuits and the like, or do I like deal with the electronics boards themselves?

Again, this isn't my decision for a major right now, but I'm interested in hearing opinions on both!

I'll jsut respond to what you said.
my background:
I have a BSEE from Clarkson university. Finished it in '98. Got a job in Power. It sucked. I quit my job and went back to Clarkson to seek a BSCS (''99). I finished half of it and got a full time job in industry(2000). I now work at General Dynamics - Electric Boat Division

What we look for. While we do like Computer Science majors, we prefer other majors, like Math, Electrical Engineers and Computer Engineers that have a software background and want to do a career in software. We even take Physics majors. It's nice to have people around that can do more than fix software bugs seeing we deal with alot of embedded systems here. Having an EE degree with an interest in software is the reason I got my foot in the door.

As for what major is hardest, that goes school by school. At my school, CS was considered harder than EE. It basically went. Chemical Engineers hardest...then Physics, then CS then EE.

As for what you want to do for a living. if you want to desgn chips (ASIC design). Actually designing silicon. You have to go to a good school and pull atleast a 3.5. better bust your but to get a co-op in chip design also. A masters is also something that companies usually want to do this. This is a HIGHLY competitive field to get into. Be warned!!

As for doing layouts for PCBs. Basically. designing boards. This is also starting to get tough. Everything is getting into COTS (Commerical Off The Shelf). my place of employment used to design boards but not anymore. This is amore realistic goal that chip design though.

Softweare is an easier field to get into to. I'll admit it.

EE and CE will both deal with board layouts in labs. one is digital (CE) and one is analog(EE). That's the basic difference. CE is digital designs, like putting different ships together on a board and getting it stable. Electrical engineering is alot of filtering and stuff like that.

What I would do id I could do it over?
I would go after the EE degree and minor in CS. That way, you can pursue either field upon graduation. Don't make the mistakes I made. I had to bust my tail getting a job due to bad grades, etc... You have 4 years to learn. What you do in those four years will decide the path you take for hte rest of your life. it the most fun you'll ever have (going to college), but never loose sight of why you're there!

 

[jlarsson]

<----- Sophomore at Clarkson University...majoring in CompE.

Here, CompE and EE majors have almost identical class loads for the first two years.

Have you thought of dual majoring...EE and CompSci? It'll be a ton of work (might take little longer than 4 years also), but it would prevent you from having to make this difficult decision.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: eagle
I'm only a senior in high school, but I'm still kind of wondering what to do. Previously, I had wanted to be a programmer, but OTOH, I kinda want to design chips and stuff. Not to mention it seems like everyone is trying to be a programmer and I think the job market is pretty bad for it as of now. A comp engineer also makes more money I think.

I wouldn't pick one over the other on the basis of money alone. They're two very different disciplines with two very different focuses. Engineering operates at the level of physics -- space, heat, electromagnetic interference, power limitations, device tolerances and such are the things you have to deal with. Programming operates at whatever logical level has been provided to you, so memory constraints, performance issues, logic flows, and so forth are what you'll be working with.

I think comp engineering would be harder, and I'm not exactly sure how much I'd like EE. Do I design circuits and the like, or do I like deal with the electronics boards themselves?

If you don't like EE, your first couple of years in a computer engineering program could be very difficult, as you'll need to understand basic electrical principles before you can understand how to construct a logic gate, and logic gates form the basis of all higher-level computer functions, from computation to memory.

While it's certainly possible to design circuits without handling the electronics themselves, "paper designs" won't be useful in the real world because there are device interactions that even the most detailed spec sheet won't reveal until a prototype is laid out. And certainly no computer or electrical engineering program worth its salt will let you get away with designing anything that doesn't also get built and verified.