r/CSEducation • u/Certain_Cupcake898 • 17d ago

Is software engineering and computer science two different majors or are they linked cuz am not getting it

7 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

89% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

8

u/No-Truth404 17d ago

I think the idea is that SE is more about building software and CS is more understanding the theory.

Understanding how to write a compiler would be CS; project management is SE.

Lots of overlap

5

u/Sf648 17d ago

Depends on the school. Many put SE as a specialty under CS. Some don’t.

1

u/teach_cs 15d ago

If you really want to learn how computers work, why they are organized the way that they are, and the mathematics that informs all of those decisions, that's CS.

If you really want to learn how to develop well-structured software that can scale and be maintained, that is SE.

This distinction will only hold in schools that have both majors. Most schools only have a CS major, and in those circumstances, the CS major will frequently try to do a bit of both.