Is Computer Science considered engineering?

<p>I have seen a lot of universities and in some cs is part of the engineering dept while in others it is part of the math dept. I am asking because CS does satisfies all the definition of engineering I have seen online. I am currently a CS major and I consider myself an engineer but it seems that people in some forums even think cs is a science like chem, bio, physics. I took all the math and physics courses engineers take and every semester I have classes with other engineers. Why is it that CS not considered engineering? is it because of them "science" in the name?</p>

<p>[Why</a> writing software is not like engineering](<a href=“http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~parrt/doc/software-not-engineering.html]Why”>Why writing software is not like engineering)</p>

<p>I may be wrong, but I believe CS is about software while computer engineering is about hardware.</p>

<p>I agree with lightnin that classifying CS can be confusing. I’ve seen it in College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences; College of Computing and Mathematics etc. At some universities you may find it in more than one college, e.g., BS in College of Engineering and BA from Arts & Sciences.</p>

<p>Personally, I consider CS a stand-alone body of knowledge somewhere along the spectrum of Engineering to Science and Mathematics. Where the program is placed at different universities depends on how they view their particular program and how they want to present it to outsiders. Georgia Tech has a very strong engineering program but they put CS in a separate College of Computing (perhaps so that its accomplishments are not overshadowed by the Engineering Dept). Virginia Tech had its CS department in Arts and Sciences but moved it to Engineering to take advantage of Engineering prominence and to receive additional funding (university politics play a big role!). University of Maryland has a separate College of Computer, Mathematics and Natural Sciences but their CS degree doesn’t require that much math!</p>

<p>Like ChrisTKD mentioned earlier, politics play a role. </p>

<p>Since the first 2 years of almost all the engineering majors are the same, some schools want to separate programs in that manner. Keep in mind that nowadays, most CS programs do not require Calculus III (vectors/multiple integrals) and Differential Equations and only a handful require a Calculus-based Probability/Statistics course. Add to that, more and more schools are even giving the CS majors to take Physics.</p>

<p>Note: I can imagine that the CS majors that went to school with me at Michigan State during the late 1980’s are MAD about that. Math up to Diff Eq was required and Advanced Calculus was one of the suggested “selective” math courses, lol.</p>

<p>@blankwall, CS != coder, most CS become software engineers but so do most computer engineers( they are still considered engineers even though it differs from cs by about 10 classes). If you take a data structure or algorithm course you will see that engineering aspect of CS. The problem with the person in that article is that they consider CS to be another word for coder. Also I consider software engineering as engineering bc there is specification, design and pretty much the same procedure taken by other engineers. You can not make a large project by using a “try and fail” approach</p>

<p>Also stanford considers CS as engineers</p>

<p>[Computer</a> scientists really are engineers, honor society concludes at meeting](<a href=“You've requested a page that no longer exists | Stanford News”>You've requested a page that no longer exists | Stanford News)</p>

<p>@GLOBALTRAVELER, I wish those math courses were required for cs rather than the liberal arts and humanities classes, or at least it should be a choice</p>

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<p>I don’t have an issue with taking liberal arts/humanities/social science in a degree program. Personally, I think economics and geography are HIGHLY needed just to be a grown person. My issue is the number of those general ed courses. Why are engineers required to take 2-3 courses in EACH social science and arts/humanties. The non-science majors only need to take ONE math course and many times college algebra is all they need. If we (engineers and scientists) have to take 3 art/humanities courses than that Art History major needs to take 3 math courses. I would be easy on them and require college algebra, pre-calculus and calculus-1. You don’t graduate if you cannot do derivatives and limits, LOL.</p>

<p>I consider CS degree holders to be engineers if they are employed primarily to make software–which makes them software engineers.</p>

<p>Bear in mind, classifying things doesn’t change what a thing is or does, just how we think about them.</p>