What do you expect a Software Engineer to know?

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9 comments, last by Norman Barrows 11 years ago

i got a BS SE degree from OSU. they had both BS SE and regular CS degree programs. The BS SE program was more in depth and engineering oriented, and included as requirements things like hardware architecture, systems stuff, a lot of esoteric math, plus all the 1st 2 years of any engineering degree (math, physics, chemistry, etc). I think most CS programs are BA degrees, aren't they?

as for what they should know, they will generally have a better idea of the "big picture" of how everything works, hardware, OS, languages, apps, network, etc. They will be at least passingly familiar with most standard techniques, and often have exposure to a wide variety of CS topics. if its a real engineering degree, they had to work for it, just like an electronics engineer, a mechanical engineer, or an aerospace engineer (my original major before switching to software engineering when the cold war ended and the aerospace industry went belly up).

the biggest difference you'll notice is that in interviews they will be able to tell you about a wide variety of CS related and broader engineering subjects, more than you're exposed to in your typical CS curricula.

Norm Barrows

Rockland Software Productions

"Building PC games since 1989"

rocklandsoftware.net

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