Decisions Decisions...

gam3r · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:45

It's the time of my life where i have to apply to Uni and courses etc but im in a spot of bother...

I'm stuck between these too:

Computer Systems Engineering(BEng)

Computer Science(BSc)

I don't really know which one i want to go for, and i don't know which one is more respected in the industry(any ideas?). I have read that computer systems engineering is a lot more programming based, is it true?

Does anyone do these courses, what are they like are you enjoying them? I do computing A2, i got an A for it at AS level and generally i enjoyed it. My A2 subjects are Computing, Maths and Business.

What sort of jobs could these two lead into?

Thanks OcUk

fatmas · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:48

I was in the same prediciment last year.. It was either Computer systems engineering at UWE or Computer Science at Bristol or Cardiff..

Well I was told Computer Science is a much more broad subject that can lead into a lot more areas of work. With a lot of companies just requiring any degree in computing I chose that one.

So I'm doing Computer Science at Cardiff, starting on the 24th

It's a hard choice though, look at the course content and just see which one you like as both courses are good.

gam3r · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:50

Hi mate. Thanks for the swift reply. I have been looking at the course content and it specifically mentions for systems engineering that you get to have a look at c++ object orientated programming which isn't mentioned in the comp science content.

How much programming is involved in comp science?

Psyk · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:54

CSE is more focused on hardware and low-level stuff. It isn't strictly about hardware though. At Bristol CSE appears to be pretty much a combination of CS and Electrical engineering. CS is much more focused on software and programming concepts and theory.

CS is something that greatly varies between universities and you'll have to look at the content for each course individually.

I think both have fairly equal career prospects, but I'm not completely sure of that.

fatmas · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:56

I also chose CS because it didn't have an electronics element. CSE involves soldering etc...
CS is hardware also but not in that way (if you get what I mean)

Erm at Cardiff I think we do java, C and a language called heskel. (sp?)

they say its very balanced between hardware and software.

Psyk is right though, CS varies a lot between Universities so look at each Uni's course carefully

Psyk · 14 Sep 2006 at 18:59

fatmas said:
I also chose CS because it didn't have an electronics element. CSE involves soldering etc...
CS is hardware also but not in that way (if you get what I mean)

Erm at Cardiff I think we do java, C and a language called heskel. (sp?)

they say its very balanced between hardware and software.

Psyk is right though, CS varies a lot between Universities so look at each Uni's course carefully

Also according to Kreeee (he did CSE last year, but has switched to CS) CSE had quite a lot of difficult maths which is partly why he changed courses.

Una · 14 Sep 2006 at 19:53

Yeah CSE is more low-level stuff including digital electronics/engineering maths and such.

Programming in CS depends on where you go, some courses are heavily practical while others are a balance between theory(maths) and programming.

The language thing seems to be that CS teaches mainly java and a functional language (haskell) these days and CSE seems to be more assembly/C/C++ and no functional languages. You will spend more time going into Algorithms/modelling and computation in CS then CSE.

CSE is less programming orientated than CSE really, but I guess this would depend on your course.

On my CS course we share some of the programming/computer architecture modules with CSE people but don't do digital electronics/signal processing etc..

Types of jobs for a CSE person, would be things like embeded systems programming, microcontrollers, working for intel/chip makers etc. CS jobs vary from programmer to web dev to academic, its a very broad area.