Hey Guys,

I was recommended to ask here on this website about game development/programming. I mean like actual programming and such, not so much art and design. I don't have a clue what it's like, but this is one of careers I'm looking into.
Anyway, the main thing to know is what major I need to get. I'm in college and I'm looking at the courses listed. They're almost identical, just a few different here and there. But I mainly want to know what major I should pick: Computer Science or Computer Engineering? I need to know so I can start taking the courses asap.

Thanks.

Computer engineering is generally more about how computers work and computer science is generally more about how to get computers to do things for you. If you want to be a programmer then of the two you'll probably find computer science to be more interesting.

Thanks, that definitely clears it up.

Now that this thread is in Breaking In, soy, you might want to check out the FAQs here. Lots more information about college and degrees.

A friend of mine with a CS degree once told me that if he had to do it over again he would have gone Electrical Engineering. For WSU (where I am now) all the undergrad courses are almost identical to to CS and if you want to go back and finish with that course you only have 2 years to do. He said you can still be a programmer with an EE degree but you have a much broader job availability. EEs can be programmers, CS' can't be electrical engineers.

Although many degree's include programming skills CS is definitely a better choice for game programming especially if you want to get into graphics. No offense to the above but I'm pretty sure an EE isn't going to have the grasp on theory and high end algorithms like a CS student. Although some schools offer software engineering which might be worth looking into.

In short I'd say go CS or SE if you are into programming

I graduated last may with a degree in Computer Engineering not many of us around. I work as a software engineer, but I can tell you that my degree program included very little programming (most of what I know I learned through hobby work). My program was very heavy on digital design (both logic design and system design -- which I find incredibly fun), with a secondary focus on some analog concepts like basic signal processing and basic electrical characteristics. A tertiary focus was the programming stuff. I can provide more details on my coursework if you'd like

Honestly, I have no idea what I'm getting into haha. From what my bro told me, it goes like: Engineer = hardware, Science = programming. Yeah, both share a bit of each other, but one goes into more detail of something I suppose.

I like video games and such, so I looked into programming. I'm not terrible at math so I thought about looking more in depth.
I'm not too much of a techy on hardware, but I mean, hardware = good games right? So I know I'll eventually look into it.
I guess I'm a gamer at heart =P so I figured this would be considerably fun.

Growing up coding, I never knew which way to go for a degree. The university I'm at has both a CS Computer Engineering (More heavy on CS, a software engineer with a great deal of EE knowledge) and an EE Computer Engineering (EE with little programming knowledge). My advice would be to go Computer Science. I don't want to corner myself into games because that's a tough industry to break into, but I want to do games so I went with CS Computer Engineering with minors in Math and Physics. A lot of colleges also offer Video Game Development and Design concentrations now.

I was in EE and got out because I was passing the courses but hating the coursework and my classmates, whom I found boring. I found the people and coursework in computer science to be more fun & more interesting. And I did better than average in the comp sci classes. I really think it is a personal decision based on your talents and interests. However, I have a few pieces of practical advice based on experience:

- Take courses in both areas. See if you enjoy designing computers or programming them. If you like both, consider a double major. You may end up in math or physics, too.
- While it is true that EEs can program but CSs cannot design hardware, EEs rarely make good programmers and even more rarely do they enjoy it
- It is easier to find a job in CS than in EE. But the money is better in EE.
- Money is not a good reason to choose a profession. Real talent and genuine enjoyment in doing the job is the best reason.
- Most programmers do not end up writing games for 2 reasons: (1) not many jobs in gaming and (2) hard to get/stay married in gaming...too many long hours


Good luck making the right decision for YOU. No one else can make it for you!