Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 March 25

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March 25

Computer science vs software development

Is CS vs software development the same binary relation as chemistry vs chemical engineering, or, physics vs electrical/mechanical engineering? What happens with college programs, that seem to blend both to a point where you can't tell the difference between them? --Doroletho (talk) 01:37, 25 March 2019 (UTC)

I think that computer science includes software development. Ruslik_Zero 09:02, 25 March 2019 (UTC)

I think you are sort of right. But there is a lot more to CS than just software development. Outline of Computer Science is a good thing to look at. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 01:18, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

The relationship would be mathematics vs computer science. In very early programs, some which existed when I began college, computer science was referred to as applied mathematics, just as chemical engineering is applied chemistry and mechanical engineering is applied physics. There are still many universities that keep computer science as a sub-specialty under mathematics. As for computer science vs software development, that would be more akin to chemical engineering vs fertilizer production or electrical engineering vs integrated circuit design. One is a field. The other is a part of the field. 12.207.168.3 (talk) 14:42, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

The idea that engineering is always a subset of the associated science is somewhat dubious. In theory the scientist can do anything the engineer can do and more, but in practice it usually turns out that each can do things that the other cannot do. Example #1 from computer science and software developer: write a program that fits in a 4-bit microcontroller with 64 nybbles of RAM. And by the way, you can't spend more than 15 cents and you have to make 100,000 of them in time to sell them before Christmas. Good luck hiring a computer scientist who can do that. Example #2: create a neural net AI program that can beat the best humans at the game of Go. Good luck hiring a software developer who can do that unless he is really a computer scientist who also does software development. --Guy Macon (talk) 15:48, 28 March 2019 (UTC)