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I have listed myself as an electrical engineering major, because I like building small electronics projects and physics. When I ask people the difference between Electrical engineering vs. Computer engineering vs. Computer science I get mixed answers. Especially which mostly deals with hardware, microprocessors, software, etc. When I decided to go into electrical engineering I assumed I would be doing what I already love; using electronics to make life easier, designing circuits with ICs, soldering, working with microcontrollers like Arduino and entering the DIY community. This website sort of got me appeals to being a electrical engineer:

http://www.mastersportal.eu/articles/181/10-good-reasons-why-to-study-electrical-engineering.html

But it didn't answer a lot of my questions. I keep looking for a job description for what these three people do on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. And the curriculum for each degree. I know what college your going to and the company you work for matters, but there must be some general things they do.

I want to know what I'm getting into. I don't want to change my mind 2 or 3 years into my college education or hate my job. If any of you have any experience in getting these degrees, having jobs in these fields, or websites that list what I've asked for I'd really appreciate it.

Again, main things that get confused in each major/job: hardware, microprocessors, software

ADDED LATER: My programming skills are limited to HTML and CSS that I just learned on my own. I'm taking a C++ course this upcoming semester but I don't think I'm going to get inspired because I hear the (only) professor offering it isn't a great teacher.

Gᴇᴏᴍᴇᴛᴇʀ
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    If you go the embedded route you will be spending a lot of time writing in C (particularly on processors with fairly limited resources). Some embedded systems are programmed in C++, generally these devices are running Linux, so it is a lot more like writing programs for a desktop. Two very popular (and cheap) Linux-based single board computers are the BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi -- check these out if you are not familiar with them. I also use Python some, again on Linux-based hardware. – tcrosley Jul 23 '14 at 00:35
  • really? I didn't say anything about schematics – Gᴇᴏᴍᴇᴛᴇʀ Jul 23 '14 at 05:09
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    To the users who put this on hold, I think I sufficiently asked for information, not opinions on how people "feel" about these fields. Both the answers gave evidence as you can see. – Gᴇᴏᴍᴇᴛᴇʀ Jul 23 '14 at 05:12
  • @ChetanBhargava "possible duplicate of Good Tools for Drawing Schematics" -- this question doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with drawing schematics. – tcrosley Jul 23 '14 at 12:19
  • @tcrosley sorry I did not put that comment in, Someone prior to me added that as duplicate and I clicked on the wrong duplicate option. There was no way to reverse that. – Chetan Bhargava Jul 23 '14 at 20:02
  • @ChetanBhargava Generally you can delete your own comments by clicking on a little 'x' to the right of "xx hours ago" or "xx days ago". Since it was automatically added, maybe that isn't possible. – tcrosley Jul 23 '14 at 20:15

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I initially got a degree in Electrical Engineering, and after getting my first job doing logic design, realized that a lot of what I was doing could be done by the new microprocessors just coming out (yes, this was some 40 years ago). So I went back and got an MS in Computer Science and have never regretted it.

With the combination of a EE and CS degree, this set me up to work in embedded systems, which is what I have done my entire career (most of that as a self-employed consultant/contractor).

I'm not saying you have to get both degrees, but since you are already interested in electronics, I suggest that you pursue a degree in either Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering. In the latter case, your electronics education will be pretty much limited to the computer and embedded design, which may be okay. Make sure there are at least some courses in analog electronics (op amps, ADCs, DACs, and power supplies) you'd be surprised how much of a system is analog this days. I don't think a degree just in Computer Science is a good fit for you.

Programmers without some formal background in electronics generally do not make good embedded engineers. IMHO, it is a lot easier for a EE to pick up programming, than it is for a programmer to become proficient in hardware.

tcrosley
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  • I also opted to go with something similar, EE and CE dual. I've taken so many CS classes at this point that I will technically also have a CS minor by the time I graduate. I agree with each point you have made above although perhaps I am biased to the embedded systems side of things. – sherrellbc Jul 22 '14 at 23:49
  • +1 for "IMHO, it is a lot easier for a EE to pick up programming, than it is for a programmer to become proficient in hardware" – learner Sep 21 '18 at 07:38
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With your interest in electronics you should definitely stick with electrical engineering. You will learn how circuits and components work - not just computer circuits but instruments, radio, factory controls, etc. Emphasis on the "etc." - the applications of EE are wonderfully broad and varied.

Computer Engineering (I suppose that is the hardware side) and Computer Science (the software side) limit themselves to the computer field. It's a big field, but not nearly as big as all of electronics.

An EE degree gives you many ways to go, and over a career you will probably go into several technology areas, some of them not yet invented. If you should get into a spot where you hate your job just get another job in another application or technology area.

I spent 1/3rd of my EE career doing circuits, 1/3rd doing embedded systems (micros + assembly language) and 1/3rd doing C/C++ for minis and micros. Variety!

ScottMcP-MVP
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  • Re "some of them not yet invented" -- when I was getting my EE, I was mostly interested in logic design, and frankly didn't devote enough attention to subjects like microwave radio and antenna design. Figured I'd never get involved in that aspect of EE. Fast forward 40+ years, and I'm involved every day with cellular and Bluetooth modems, antennas and matching circuits etc. Who knew? – tcrosley Jul 23 '14 at 05:53