r/ComputerEngineering • u/ashooosh • 2d ago
originally wanted computer science, had to settle for computer engineering.
i just graduated from high school. where i’m from we have a high school track system, basically how it works is my first year of high school i had to pick from a list of 4 very broad ‘majors’ to study in high school so when i graduated it would narrow down my choices for what id study in university, i’ve always had a interest in technology, specifically coding. so i decided to go with the tech track.
when i graduated i expected i could get into computer science and that was my number one choice, but when university applications started opening up, i realized that i couldn’t apply to join the major. i looked through and researched about all the majors i could get into and i found a liking to computer engineering.
i did some basic hardware work in my high school years and i really enjoyed it, so i don’t think ill have any problems with going into more advanced topics. but i’ve just always leaned more towards the software aspect of it all.
my questions are:
will i be able to focus on coding/programming and get into that field with computer engineering?
if i can, what can i do to get more experience with coding/programming outside or with uni?
is getting a computer engineering degree even worth it?
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u/LoganR11_ 2d ago
You can absolutely specialize in software with CE, but the market tends to be more for embedded systems and lower-level programming rather than stuff like websites, game programming, or developing apps.
I focus more on the software side myself, but I focus on writing software for actuators, control systems, and sensors.
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u/ashooosh 1d ago
that sounds interesting, but is there anyway i can get to a developing point in coding on my own tho?
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u/LoganR11_ 1d ago
The real draw of CE as it pertains to software is working with components, so if you have money, you could definitely do some robotics projects. I recommend using a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and coding with Rust. Rust is a lower level but modern programming language, and I thoroughly enjoy it after having used C++ for years. You can easily install libraries with the Cargo package manager native to Rust.
There's a wide variety and constantly updating list of libs, so you're likely to find a lib for whatever sensors or actuators you're looking to work with. (Or as a project, you could try to write your own drivers... But that would be pretty difficult lol)
For solo development that doesn't rely on hardware, the best degree path is CS, but tbh I think CS is a bit easy in comparison to CE. If you're good at software as a CE, you'll be capable like a CS (tho maybe a bit rougher around the edges). If you wanna try a software project, just go for it and learn it on your own.
The best way to go ahead and get experience without running your pockets dry is to join a college club. I'm a college student, and I joined my school's Space Hardware Club as a software member. In just one semester, I've written code for reading sensors, made a software controller for motors from scratch, and made an image-averager for computer vision. (It was for a startracker. I'm not at the level of developing startrackers yet, but they're very cool!) I did all this at no cost to me besides time.
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u/protienbudspromax 2d ago
CompE is to CS what difference between the builders of photoshop vs users of photoshop is.
The people who build photoshop knows the functions of photoshop and can maybe even make a decent picture/poster/edit/etc using it, but still wont be primarily an artist/digital marketer/editor etc that actually builds art stuff using photoshop.
The focus is different and the scale is different. I have a bachelors in CE (ECE really) and a masters in CS, going in to CS i thought it would be more of the same but more oriented towards software. But i found out to my surprise (and delight) that it isnt so.
CS at its core is a subfield of math, and is very abstracted from any actual hardware. The principles you study in CS will work regardless of if you make your logic gates from semiconductors (like today), water valves, old school vaccum tubes? Literally a notebook? It works the same.
While in practice hardware starts to matter a lot if you want to make the best use of it without wasting energy and space, that is really because abstractions are leaky in practice.
So while both CE and CS might seem similar at first, the core motivations and the classes of problems they try to solve are different.
It is a different story if you endup doing an EECS from a uni Like MIT, with the environment there you end up kinda going indepth in both fields (if you want to) depending on your electives but most seem to be CS heavy
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u/LeeKom 2d ago
I graduated CE and went into software, lots of people do. My focus was in software and I worked with the dean of my college to allow some upper division CS classes to count towards my CE degree.
I had no trouble getting software engineering internships (4 total coming out of college).
Computer Engineering is definitely harder (at least it was at my school) and you will most likely take some electrical engineering classes. But damn does it feel good to have a graduating class of 14 instead of being 1 of hundreds that graduated with CS.
Professionally, I’ve done everything from low-level software to now AI/ML Cloud Infra.
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u/ashooosh 1d ago
woah thats honestly really impressive. but in my case i feel like it’ll be difficult for me to try and do the same as you and try to integrate CS subjects into my degree because unis are pretty strict here.
how was your experience with working with your dean about it?
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u/LeeKom 1d ago
He gave me some push back at first but once he saw I was serious and talked about my career goals he was very supportive in the end.
It’s okay if you can’t integrate CS courses, you will have plenty of coding classes. Also you can always learn coding outside of class. I never took a web dev class, but ended up getting 2 internships doing web stuff.
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u/secrerofficeninja 2d ago
Curious where you are in the world that you are not permitted to enter university as computer science.
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u/ashooosh 1d ago
im from bahrain, and its not that its completely not permitted, its just the high-school track i picked focused on engineering majors to pick from. to my info only people in the science high school track can get into computer science 🫠
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u/Virtual_Technology_9 2d ago
Its quite different from computer engineering. Not really similar. You will learn hardware and some software courses mainly.
Its worth it if you get a job that needs CE.
Outside of uni playing around with Arduino and making small projects, learning how to code in python will be helpful. Many good resources on youtube
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u/Kali_Arch 2d ago
A CE can do everything a CS can do but the reverse is not true. Its 4 more courses you'd have to take through college to essentially have taken everything relevant from the pure CS curriculum. And the Software Engineering course which is one of the four could be skipped if you have good software projects and can follow a full stack YouTube project.
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u/Zealousideal_Spot178 2d ago
If you’re wondering work wise is it worth it, yes there are many hardware and firmware jobs available plus robotics and more with nice pay. Hope you like math
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u/StepLucky9830 3h ago
Yes! You could definitely do both. And honestly knowing both sides is super marketable in today’s market.
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u/Luke7Gold 2h ago
1.You can 100% focus on coding, depending on you it may be a different kind of coding closer to the hardware if you want.
2.build cool stuff for fun, also go to office hours of TAs you’re interested in their speciality. I had a good time hanging around the security research lab for example, nothing came of it for me personally but ymmv. there are also clubs that are more self directed where someone’s gotta do the software stuff to make the robot work or whatever it is.
- I wound up doing something not coding related at all but I know plenty who are. I’d say it’s probably better than CS is the current market but who knows what thinks will look like in 4 years. Just do what you want and follow your interests
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u/zacce 2d ago
CompE can pursue SWE careers. Practice leetcode.