Software engineering is the truth?
01 Sep 2023
Is software engineering the best way to use a computer science degree?
It’s true that there are many ways to use a computer science degree like web developer, UX Designer, IT Project manager, Systems Architect. There’s also different specialized pathways offered in Manoa like cyber security alongside data science tracks that you could take instead of the general track. All of these options however do not seem like the priority choice for people these days, it’s Software Engineering. The vast majority of people will see software engineering as the way to go as it seems like it just makes a lot of money and is a good option for everyone. But it’s already my third year and it’s only my first software engineering class, what is the rest of my degree used for?
Computer Science degrees aren’t specifically designed for software engineering
Now is this a bad thing for all the reasons I mentioned before? No. A CS degree teaches you all facets of what someone who would go into computer science could experience during their job. Just because software engineering is the most popular, doesn’t mean that the general track should cater to its needs only.
Now that we got the degree out the way, what should I expect in software engineering?
Something I painfully learned in ICS 311, is that working as a team and social connection is very important. Things like a study group or even just having a person to randomly message on discord late at night for help on a homework question is very helpful to improving alongside when people actually work in teams as their most popular job of being a software engineer. Even our tables in 314 have some interaction with them, probably one day discussing different types of code or solutions to a problem.
Something also underrated is the ability to not be afraid to make mistakes. The only way to learn is to practice, and when you practice you will fail. It’s just a way of life. The best thing to do is to learn from those mistakes and move on.
Team is important, but so is technical skill.
I haven’t taken any coding interviews yet for a company but I would expect that technical skill is more important than being a good team member because it doesn’t matter if I’m sociable if I don’t know how to do anything. Of course people are going to want someone who is friendly and all that jazz, but people also want someone who is reliable and will get the job done. During this class I want to be that person but it is going to take hard work and dedication to get to that level.