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What does an computer scientist do?
Senior in High School and will be going to college soon. Im exploring career paths and interested in computer science. #computer-science #computer #technology
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Rosalind’s Answer
The term computer scientist can be used for many different things. It is generally a catch all phase used to describe the various opportunities available in the computer field. For some universities they use it as a way to separate computer engineering from a more liberal arts degree in computers. If this is the case it generally focuses more on programming, or data science related areas, not the hardware focus of the engineering programs. However even in the engineering programs there are a wide variety of programs.
There are many different choices to work with a computer degree, hardware design all the way to chip design, as well as firmware, software at the lowest levels, all the way up to Artificial Intelligence. There are people with computer degrees that go into Sales for software and systems, or project management. It's up to you as to what area interests you most.
The most important thing is to figure out what you enjoy doing, this is very important because you need to make sure as you move into a career you enjoy what you do most of the time. There will be times it's not fun, or too much work, but in general you need to enjoy your choice as you will be doing it for a long time. The one thing that most successful people have in common is their love for what they do, and the love for continuous learning. Long after leaving school you will need to continue to learn new skills, new ways of working. This continuous learning makes the career enjoyable.
There are many different choices to work with a computer degree, hardware design all the way to chip design, as well as firmware, software at the lowest levels, all the way up to Artificial Intelligence. There are people with computer degrees that go into Sales for software and systems, or project management. It's up to you as to what area interests you most.
The most important thing is to figure out what you enjoy doing, this is very important because you need to make sure as you move into a career you enjoy what you do most of the time. There will be times it's not fun, or too much work, but in general you need to enjoy your choice as you will be doing it for a long time. The one thing that most successful people have in common is their love for what they do, and the love for continuous learning. Long after leaving school you will need to continue to learn new skills, new ways of working. This continuous learning makes the career enjoyable.
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Trajon’s Answer
School wise, Computer science is the study of computers and computational systems, and algorithms. Generally speaking in school you look at more of the theoretical side of this field, learning some basic level of programming to then move on to eventually learn about data structures, algorithms, computer architecture, networking, software engineering, operational systems, and machine code such as assembly. Some math will be involved as well, but that's really the core of it all.
The electives you choose or the career path you choose are the more practical applications of these fields, such as web development, AI, data science, machine learning, virtual reality, web3, etc. Strictly speaking, the stuff you learn in computer science can help you in these fields (some more than others), but there will be some practical skills missing if you only stick to learning what you need for school. My personal suggestion is to figure out what you want to build, and figure out the tools people use in order to build that technology. That will make it really easy to build your own career path much easier, as well as shaping what technologies you learn to keep yourself relative to that space.
The electives you choose or the career path you choose are the more practical applications of these fields, such as web development, AI, data science, machine learning, virtual reality, web3, etc. Strictly speaking, the stuff you learn in computer science can help you in these fields (some more than others), but there will be some practical skills missing if you only stick to learning what you need for school. My personal suggestion is to figure out what you want to build, and figure out the tools people use in order to build that technology. That will make it really easy to build your own career path much easier, as well as shaping what technologies you learn to keep yourself relative to that space.
Brian D. Scott, MBA, MISM, AI Fundamentals and AI Solutions
End User Field Client Technologist - G500 at Dell
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Brian D.’s Answer
The answer to this question has changed over the years. When I was in college in the 80s, the focus was on programming for mainframe computers as the PC had just started to take hold. Now, I would look at artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other topics such as smart cities.
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Rodrigo’s Answer
Hi Simon L.
They are more focus on the theory of hardware and software, and all algorithms including programming and software development, maybe you be interested in engineering, it depends what you want to do or where you want to work. Could be programming, data science, designing software and hardware or developing technology solutions.
They are more focus on the theory of hardware and software, and all algorithms including programming and software development, maybe you be interested in engineering, it depends what you want to do or where you want to work. Could be programming, data science, designing software and hardware or developing technology solutions.