IT, CE, & CS

[Ewat]

I'm going to college this fall and I'm looking into computer engineering, computer science, and information technology as possible majors. What are some of the differences between the three majors? I've read that CE is more hardware oriented, while CS is more software and programming, and IT is business applications.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I think you've got it right, at least about CompE and CS.

I went in planning to do EE or CompE, ended up going into CS.

 

[nonameo]

IT = support
CE = ??? hardware design??? I think that is electronic engineering though
CS = programming

that's as simple as I can make it. I can't wait for all the IT/CE/CS majors to come out and say, "no no! you have it wrong! it's MUCH more than that!"

I know it's a gross simplification. I don't care.

 

[Drakkon]

CS - you fix software problems
CE - you fix hardware problems
IT - you fix people problems

 

[yh125d]

CE always seemed fun. i'm prolly gonna end up chem eng/mech eng

 

[bignateyk]

IT is normally quite a bit easier in terms of the degree program, so you should consider a double major in IT and CS or CE/EE. I know a couple people who did this, and landed huge jobs out of college because of the business aspect of the IT and the technical aspect of the engineering degree.

 

[RallyMaster]

Computer engineering is a very broad field and can range from almost all programming to almost all hardware design (like electrical engr).
Computer science, or in some places called software engineering, is where you learn numerous programming languages, solve problems that arise and eventually get paid to be a code monkey.
Information Technology, from what I remember, is taking software and hardware and applying them to corporations and businesses. It can also involve web design, network maintenance, computer repair/upgrade and even some programming.

 

[ebaycj]

IT = put various tools that others have created to use.
CE/EE = create hardware tools.
CS = create software tools.

 

[Ewat]

Would it be better to major in CS/CE undergrad and IT in grad school, or study IT from the beginning?

Also, how math intensive are each of the majors?

 

[bignateyk]

Go with a technical major as an undergrad if you are planning to go to grad school. Then get a grad degree in IT or an MBA or something.

edit: EE is pretty much nothing but math. CE/CS are pretty math intensive as well, but less so than EE. You might have to take 1 math class in IT.

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

Something that new CS students don't realize is the amount of math required for a CS degree. At many universities, the computer science departments grew out of the math department and IT/MIS came from the business school.

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
edit: EE is pretty much nothing but math. CE/CS are pretty math intensive as well, but less so than EE. You might have to take 1 math class in IT.

Maybe just where I want to school, but the CS majors took one or two math courses more than the EE's.

Edit: but I guess that balances out. The EE's had to take Physics and Chemistry courses, where the CS's were off the hook for that.

 

[Ewat]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
IT is normally quite a bit easier in terms of the degree program, so you should consider a double major in IT and CS or CE/EE. I know a couple people who did this, and landed huge jobs out of college because of the business aspect of the IT and the technical aspect of the engineering degree.

Wouldn't it be better to major in IT and minor in CE/CS? I thought that double majoring would require having to go into a fifth year in college (unless I were to spend all my time studying).

 

[invidia]

How does computer engineering look in the future? It seems like there's no limit to programming and hardware design is limited to the physical sciences and what we can actually do now.

I'm only asking because I was thinking about going to comp engineering for grad school.

 

[Ewat]

Heres some info on software engineering

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos267.htm

 

[postmortemIA]

Computer Engineering is not about hardware..it is as much about hardware as is about software. Similarly how the EE can be about power systems, communications, VLSI, or electronics.

 

[Tommouse]

I'm graduating with a derivative of an IT degree, there is also CS, SE in the same college, and right next door is MicroE, EE, CE, etc. Three of my buddies are CS, one is SE, and another is MicroE.

CS and SE are the same (here at least) until after the second year, where the SE kids learn more about product cycles and CS goes more into theory. From what I have noticed CS goes more into the theory and is closer to the hardware than SE. They work with mostly higher level languages (but not exclusively) such as C, C++, ect. Where as my CS buddies had to write code in assembly.

CE is designing the hardware itself i believe, the actual running of lines and stuff like that.

My derivative of IT, is Applied Networking and System Administration, so I took sequences in Networking and Systems Admin, surprising I know.I had to take a few math classes, but nothing really heavy. Also touched on programing/scripting, web, and db. There is more to IT than just support, but more than likely you will do some time there working your way up.

There is more I can share. I'm just rambling at this point, so I'm going to shadup

 

[Ewat]

So I take it that IT is a really flexible degree, right? And what is SE?

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: Tommouse
I'm graduating with a derivative of an IT degree, there is also CS, SE in the same college, and right next door is MicroE, EE, CE, etc. Three of my buddies are CS, one is SE, and another is MicroE.

CS and SE are the same (here at least) until after the second year, where the SE kids learn more about product cycles and CS goes more into theory. From what I have noticed CS goes more into the theory and is closer to the hardware than SE. They work with mostly higher level languages (but not exclusively) such as C, C++, ect. Where as my CS buddies had to write code in assembly.

CE is designing the hardware itself i believe, the actual running of lines and stuff like that.

My derivative of IT, is Applied Networking and System Administration, so I took sequences in Networking and Systems Admin, surprising I know.I had to take a few math classes, but nothing really heavy. Also touched on programing/scripting, web, and db. There is more to IT than just support, but more than likely you will do some time there working your way up.

There is more I can share. I'm just rambling at this point, so I'm going to shadup

"running the lines" ???? You have no clue what CE is. Only people with CE degrees or in process should talk about it.

 

[Tommouse]

SE = Software Engineering

IT is pretty flexible. There are a lot of concentrations within IT: Web, DB, Net, Sys, Security. Most of which companies don't care about, they just want to see that you have a B.S.

 

[slpaulson]

Originally posted by: invidia
How does computer engineering look in the future? It seems like there's no limit to programming and hardware design is limited to the physical sciences and what we can actually do now.

I'm only asking because I was thinking about going to comp engineering for grad school.

The only thing that I could see really messing up the hardware side of computer engineering would be quantum computers.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA

Originally posted by: Tommouse
I'm graduating with a derivative of an IT degree, there is also CS, SE in the same college, and right next door is MicroE, EE, CE, etc. Three of my buddies are CS, one is SE, and another is MicroE.

CS and SE are the same (here at least) until after the second year, where the SE kids learn more about product cycles and CS goes more into theory. From what I have noticed CS goes more into the theory and is closer to the hardware than SE. They work with mostly higher level languages (but not exclusively) such as C, C++, ect. Where as my CS buddies had to write code in assembly.

CE is designing the hardware itself i believe, the actual running of lines and stuff like that.

My derivative of IT, is Applied Networking and System Administration, so I took sequences in Networking and Systems Admin, surprising I know.I had to take a few math classes, but nothing really heavy. Also touched on programing/scripting, web, and db. There is more to IT than just support, but more than likely you will do some time there working your way up.

There is more I can share. I'm just rambling at this point, so I'm going to shadup

"running the lines" ???? You have no clue what CE is. Only people with CE degrees or in process should talk about it.

Agreed. Computer engineering includes digital design (starting at all transistor, gate, chip, and VHDL level to small scale program projects.

 

[RandomFool]

I just graduated with a degree in IT I spent my first two years in CE. CE dealt with alot with hardware programming and circuit designs. I didn't enjoy it much so switched to IT and went into web development. Web had more creative aspects which I enjoyed more. Of course my current job involves staring at a computer screen waiting for servers to blow up, hence I'm on ATOT. I've gotten an offer for web programming but nothing that can beat my current job.

IT: Varied, programming, networking, databases, web development, game development.
CE: Hardware and hardware programming
CS: Software programming

Unfortuntely IT gets a bad rep because a lot of people who can't handle CE or CS switch to IT. For the record most of them don't make very good IT majors either.

Really it's all about what you enjoy doing.

 

[drum]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
CS - you fix software errors
CE - you fix hardware errors
IT - you fix PEBKAC errors

 

[SoLiDus88]

the IT degree is not the most flexible. an EE degree is the most flexible. Remember, what you study in college doesnt necessarily mean that you have to pursue a career. IT is really for people who cant hack it at ee or cs.

Contrary to popular belief, programming is not hard to learn. The biggest things you can get from these degrees is the ability to solve problems, and to critically think.