<p>hello,
I’m a high school student that want to take software engineering as a career path, i already know some scripting languages like PHP and javascript and considering to go to a university for education however some people tell me not to go to software engineer path as they claim that nowadays anyone can read some programming and system analyses (analyses, design, implementation , testing and documentation) books and be able to develop books. i don’t think that these books can make real software engineers do you agree and what university teach that books don’t?</p>
<p>my other concern is that my teacher say that software engineering is not as profitable and telling me to go to hardware engineering path (i like both fields) is it true?</p>
<p>Benefits and security are similar enough for both fields that it really just depends on what you want to do.</p>
<p>And no, you can’t just learn to be a comp. scientists or software engineer just by reading books. Well, you could, but you could learn to be anything like that. But the most reasonable way to do this is to study it rigorously in a university.</p>
<p>You can’t just read “Computer science for dummies in 24 hours” and call yourself a computer scientist. Nor can you read “software process for complete idiots this weekend” and call yourself a software engineer.</p>
<p>For the first year or two, the courses are almost all the same except that you might need to start taking some circuit classes for HW engineer. You don’t need to decide right now, you can jump from one to the next easily if your school allows it. Average salary difference is very small, and you should really not be too concerned with this measure. Long term, it is the specialization that you choose to do and how important is your skill to the market is much more applicable. The thing to understand is that sometimes SW people do not have good inclination for HW especially analog circuit and vice versa. When you start taking circuit and system classes versus data structure and algorithm, you find out quickly what type of engineer you are.</p>
<p>@fahad: Keep in mind that software is constantly changing, so in a few years, what you learned in college may be obsolete by then. Not trying to discourage you from majoring in software engineering, but it’s a constant learning process because you have to keep up with technological advancements.
I can’t make a fair comparison between software and hardware engineering, but there is currently a relatively high demand for software engineers. It’s also a pretty stable job. </p>
<p>@AuburnMathTutor: Because software engineering has become more popular only in recent years, I should think that many software developers today did not actually major in software engineering in college. For example, a few relatives majored in engineering except in other areas (such as mechanical, electrical, chemical, etc.), but they all now work with software. They self-studied, got certified in Java, and were able to get a job this way.</p>
<ul>
<li>first learn how to spell and write in proper English. It’s important.
Your teacher is essentially correct.
There are hordes of software “experts” nowadays who call themselves engineers,
all they do is impede progress and ruin otherwise good products by writing horribly painfully dysfunctional firmware and drivers for the un-debugged hardware other half assed experts “design” on buggy software
Back in the analog days it used to mean something to be a hardware engineer
it required character, intelligence, skills and experience
Pick up a pencil, slide rule, caliper and go to work kid, make something tangible. We’re counting on ya</li>
</ul>
<p>I think you’re blinded by nostalgia. “character, intelligence, skills and experience” are not by any means devoid in present engineers. And while software may never be tangible, it can definitely have tangible effects. Software has had a tremendous impact on the world; there’s certainly no shame in wanting to pursue a software engineering career.</p>
<p>(I realize this is an old thread; I was compelled to respond)</p>