What it’s about:
As a software engineering major, you study the techniques used in constructing large, complex software systems. The discipline covers the analysis, specification, design, construction, testing, and maintenance of software systems. Software engineers build systems that empower users, increasing their capabilities and improving the way they work.
What the study of this major is like:
Software engineers do much more than program computers; they use their talents to help no expertsbenefit from the computer in their daily activities. They also create tools that enable computer users to work efficiently, economically, and effectively.
Most students don’t realize that software engineering uses concepts from engineering, computer science, and mathematics, as well as from management, psychology, economics, politics, art, sociology, and language arts. To be successful in the discipline, you need good writing and oral presentation skills and the ability to use mathematical thinking (abstraction, logical reasoning), to work effectively in terms, and to understand computer programming. In addition, you must be able to learn new practices and procedures quickly, so that you can apply them soon after they are introduced.
In your first two years as a major, you take basic courses in computer science and math (including calculus and discrete mathematics) and other general education courses. Your last two years will focus on software engineering and related areas. Most programs have a capstone course in which you complete a software development project. The project requires you to put into practice what you have learned in previous courses, as a means for preparing you for a professional career. Courses in computer science and software engineering often involvegroup projects. Some courses have scheduled laboratories, but you can often do lab work at other times as well. If you delay your group project and lab assignments until just before the deadline, the result may be poor-quality work-and you will probably learn less as you play last-minute catch-up.
The earliest undergrad programs in software engineering date from the 1990s, and many colleges have not yet developed separate software engineering programs. Colleges may still offer numerous software engineering courses, however, provided by computer science, computer engineering, and/or electrical engineering programs. Software engineering, computer engineering, and computer science are not completely separate fields; they have significant amounts of overlap. Software engineering programs that are housed in electrical and computer engineering departments tend to focus on hardware issues. On the other hand, software engineering programs in departments of computer science (or math and computer science) tend to emphasize software, and their orientation is likely to be theoretical and mathematical.
As you study college catalogs, be aware that similarly named programs may actually contain different content-and programs with different names may, in fact, be very similar. Variation is to be expected in a field as new as software engineering.
Career options and trends:
Software engineer*; software developer*; software or systems analyst*; senior programmer; systems programmer, database administrator.
Jobs in all computing fields are increasing at a good clip even during tough economic times. Software engineering opportunities are projected to be excellent, especially for those with interpersonal skills and business sense.
There is an important warning about entry-level jobs in computing fields; change in the computer industry is constant and rapid. A job you may want to prepare for as you begin college will probably be completely different by the time you graduate. Therefore, computer majors must be prepared for a life of constant learning.
Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors
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