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Showing posts from March, 2012

Software Engineering is not Computer Science.

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I have been tweeting about this a lot since the last few months. However, through sources such as recruitment portals, I have noticed that many people still do not understand the difference between computer science and software engineering. First, to clarify the difference between engineering and science: A scientist invented the wheel. An engineer put four of them together and invented the car. Scientists will focus on specific aspects to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and in the process discover new things or invent a new primary artifact. Engineers, however, will use this knowledge and artifacts to build complex systems which can be put to use directly. Both domains are equally important but we must understand that while one is deep, the other is wide. Sciences are verticals while engineering is an all-encompassing horizontal. Similarly, when we think of computer software, we must understand the difference. Computer Science gives rise to the verticals