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So what is the difference between a software engineer and computerscientist?

P

PeteS

Because I have yet to define it

(Obviously from an earlier thread).

Comments elided.

Cheers

PeteS
 
O

OBones

I'd say the scientist is about theory and algorithms while the engineer
is about architecture and practical implementations.

My 2 cents.
 
V

Vladimir Vassilevsky

The difference is the same as the difference between the arse and the
printer. Scientists and printers are wasting more paper then arses and
engineers.

Vladimir Vassilevsky

DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

http://www.abvolt.com
 
F

Fred Bartoli

OBones a écrit :
I'd say the scientist is about theory and algorithms while the engineer
is about architecture and practical implementations.

Yep.
The computer scientist theoretically knows how to implement efficient
computer-software architectures while the software engineer practically
knows how to waste this.
 
F

Fred Bartoli

Fred Bartoli a écrit :
OBones a écrit :

Yep.
The computer scientist theoretically knows how to implement efficient
computer-software architectures while the software engineer practically
knows how to waste this.

Should have wrote:
The computer scientist theoretically knows how to implement efficient
computer-software architectures while the software engineer knows how to
waste this practically.
 
P

Pete Fenelon

PeteS said:
Because I have yet to define it

(Obviously from an earlier thread).

A software engineer achieves stuff. A computer scientist just writes
papers about it. ;)

pete
 
B

BobG

Lets look at a job for a mechanical, electrical, civil and software
engineer. Each must be familiar with the tools and components used in
their field. Each must make a 'build or buy' decision based on survey
of prior art, and each must estimate effort within an error bound that
allows winning the contract, and delivering a product, whether it is a
motor, a circuit board, a bridge, or a program. Problem was software
wasnt an engineering discipline... more of an alchemist's lab...
software engineering was invented to reign in programmers' estimates
to something measureable, like lines of code (haha.... you'd really
see my productivity explode if I got paid by lines of code...)
 
J

john jardine

PeteS said:
Because I have yet to define it

(Obviously from an earlier thread).

Comments elided.

Cheers

PeteS

Or another question. What's the "science" bit in computer science?.
john
 
G

Grant Edwards

Or another question. What's the "science" bit in computer science?.

Ah. That's how you know a field isn't really science: it
includes "science" in its title.

For instance, compre "political science" and "social science"
with "physics", "chemistry" or "astronomy".

1/2 :)
 
R

Richard Henry

Ah. That's how you know a field isn't really science: it
includes "science" in its title.

For instance, compre "political science" and "social science"
with "physics", "chemistry" or "astronomy".

When I was in school, they changed the name of gym class to physical
education. Now my kids take exercise science.
 
P

Phil Allison

"john jardine"
What's the "science" bit in computer science?.


** Same sort of connection alchemy has to chemistry or astrology has to
astronomy.




........ Phil
 
J

Joerg

Richard said:
When I was in school, they changed the name of gym class to physical
education. Now my kids take exercise science.

When I lived in Germany the contractor who did the interior of my
business came in all upset one day. The new regs made him change his pay
stub software. He wasn't allowed to call his painters "painter" anymore
but had to change that to "Surface Coating Technician" or in German
Oberflaechenbeschichtungstechniker.
 
J

John Devereux

Richard Henry said:
When I was in school, they changed the name of gym class to physical
education. Now my kids take exercise science.

Are you serious??! Now that is funny.

When *I* was at school (UK), I think they had just changed "cookery"
class to "home economics".
 
M

Mark McDougall

PeteS wrote:

A computer scientist is someone that can't get a real job as an engineer.

Regards,
 
H

Homer J Simpson

Richard Henry said:
When I was in school, they changed the name of gym class to physical
education. Now my kids take exercise science.

"Operations Research" --> "Management Science".
 
Because I have yet to define it

(Obviously from an earlier thread).

Comments elided.

A software engineer writes programs for people who want programs. A
computer scientist writes papers about programs for other computer
scientists. Good programmers read papers written by good computer
scientists, in the same way that good chemical engineers read paper
written by academic chemists, and good electronic enginners read
papers written by good physicists and chemists (amongst others).

The distiction is between a practitioner and an academic expert.
 
J

John Larkin

A software engineer writes programs for people who want programs. A
computer scientist writes papers about programs for other computer
scientists. Good programmers read papers written by good computer
scientists,

Do you think they really do? Sees to me that the academic/practitioner
disconnect in programming is much wider than it is in the hard
sciences... almost total, in fact.

In a few specific areas, like cryptography maybe, there's transfer.

John
 
T

The Real Andy

Because I have yet to define it

(Obviously from an earlier thread).

Comments elided.

Cheers

PeteS

Computer scientists use Linux, software engineers use windows?
 
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