• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:02
CET 12:02
KST 20:02
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy7ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool48Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win42026 KungFu Cup Announcement6BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12
StarCraft 2
General
What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw? Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open RSL Season 4 announced for March-April WardiTV Team League Season 10 KSL Week 87
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat Mutation # 516 Specter of Death
Brood War
General
RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site mca64Launcher - New Version with StarCraft: Remast ASL21 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Soulkey's decision to leave C9
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group C [ASL21] Ro24 Group B 2026 Changsha Offline Cup [ASL21] Ro24 Group A
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Cricket [SPORT] Formula 1 Discussion Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1553 users

Computer Science vs Computer Engineering

Blogs > Try
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
Try
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1293 Posts
February 16 2009 18:17 GMT
#1
For someone who is interested in game programming, what kind of a degree would you recommend (+points if it is flexible)? I gave thought to getting one of those game degrees, but they are too inflexible.

naonao
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States847 Posts
February 16 2009 18:23 GMT
#2
Computer Science
Racenilatr
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States2756 Posts
February 16 2009 18:24 GMT
#3
computer science obviously
JWD
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States12607 Posts
February 16 2009 18:25 GMT
#4
Probably CS.
✌
Pervect
Profile Joined June 2007
1280 Posts
February 16 2009 18:31 GMT
#5
Computer Science, 100%.
Luddite
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2315 Posts
February 16 2009 18:34 GMT
#6
My understanding is that Comp engineering is more focused on hardware, whereas CS is more focused on software. So CS would be a lot more relevant to game programming.

On the other hand, there's lots of people who go into CS and want to make games, and probably there's still a need in the game industry for people who do CE and want to make games. So you might be more marketable that way.
Can't believe I'm still here playing this same game
Pengu1n
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
United States552 Posts
February 16 2009 18:47 GMT
#7
Definately Computer Science. However you will also need a lot of other skills for game design, such as physics, mathematics (calculus +) and 3D graphics etc.

Computer Engineering deals more with circuits, signals, assembley etc.

I'm currently majoring in Computer Science myself
cgrinker
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3824 Posts
February 16 2009 19:03 GMT
#8
If you want to make video cards for video games then to computer engineering. You have to do some architecture for CS anyways.


Anyways, are you sure you want to make video games? Are you sure you just don't want to play video games?
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2802 Posts
February 16 2009 19:04 GMT
#9
What about Software Development Engineering? Is it the same thing as CS?
Try
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1293 Posts
February 16 2009 19:05 GMT
#10
On February 17 2009 04:03 cgrinker wrote:
If you want to make video cards for video games then to computer engineering. You have to do some architecture for CS anyways.


Anyways, are you sure you want to make video games? Are you sure you just don't want to play video games?

well, i've learnt some basic C++ and how to use Blitz, and so far its been fun. I enjoy the "rough" crunch-time lifestyle. And I really don't have any interest in any other fields.
Phyre
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States1288 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-16 19:11:46
February 16 2009 19:11 GMT
#11
On February 17 2009 04:05 Try wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2009 04:03 cgrinker wrote:
If you want to make video cards for video games then to computer engineering. You have to do some architecture for CS anyways.


Anyways, are you sure you want to make video games? Are you sure you just don't want to play video games?

well, i've learnt some basic C++ and how to use Blitz, and so far its been fun. I enjoy the "rough" crunch-time lifestyle. And I really don't have any interest in any other fields.

Haha, if you enjoy crunch you're going to fit right in at a game studio. I'm sure Mora can back me up on this.

On topic, Computer Science. I'm CS myself.
"Oh no, I got you with your pants... on your face... That's not how you wear pants." - Nintu, catching 1 hatch lurks.
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2802 Posts
February 16 2009 19:15 GMT
#12
Guys I'm a CS major too but I've always wondered if it would be better for me to go for Software Engineering or stick to CS =(
fusionsdf
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
Canada15390 Posts
February 16 2009 19:17 GMT
#13
software engineering is more about lowlevel hardware/software interaction, like computer organization, logic gates and that kind of stuff

CS is definitely the way to go for what you're interested in
SKT_Best: "I actually chose Protoss because it was so hard for me to defeat Protoss as a Terran. When I first started Brood War, my main race was Terran."
Kennigit *
Profile Blog Joined October 2006
Canada19447 Posts
February 16 2009 19:46 GMT
#14
100% Comp Sci.
Archaic
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States4024 Posts
February 16 2009 20:25 GMT
#15
Everyone said CS... I guess I'll major in that too! I have had this same question, lol.
Cobalt
Profile Joined April 2008
United States441 Posts
February 16 2009 21:08 GMT
#16
A computer science teacher at the best school in my state told me this: computer science is about the theory behind computing, whereas computer engineering is about implementation of that theory. So programming etc. would fall under computer engineering, whereas making new programming languages, optimization, and innovation would fall under computer science.

That seems to contradict everyone else in this thread though.
Qatol
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
United States3165 Posts
February 16 2009 21:12 GMT
#17
I would say computer science, except I think that there will be a major shift very soon because of the rise of parallel programming and the need to understand the underlying architecture of the processor you are programming for in order to program more efficiently. Honestly, I just don't see a CS degree being particularly useful without some more schooling in the near future. It really just depends if your school has a curriculum in some sort of architecture within CS (mine didn't)
Uff Da
kawaiideshou
Profile Joined February 2009
United States34 Posts
February 16 2009 21:18 GMT
#18
Since you want to be a game programmer, I'd have to go for Computer Science or Information Technology. I know that at my school (NJIT) the game development track is part of the Information Technology major, not the Computer Science major. Talk to your advisors and make sure you know what each major entails.

Computer Engineering isn't for you, though. I'm a Computer Engineering major and I had to take only the most basic programming courses. Most of what I do end up coding is Assembly-ish, which won't help you in the game programming world.

What Qatol said is true, though. You have to be able to keep up with the evolving hardware technologies, which may have impacts on software programming. Computer Engineering, in that sense, may be more useful to you.
:3
AcrossFiveJulys
Profile Blog Joined September 2005
United States3612 Posts
February 16 2009 21:31 GMT
#19
On February 17 2009 04:17 fusionsdf wrote:
software engineering is more about lowlevel hardware/software interaction, like computer organization, logic gates and that kind of stuff


You must be referring to CE, not software engineering, because that is so far from the truth it's ridiculous.

For the guy asking about software engineering, it is more of a course on how to go about designing huge software systems efficiently, including programming practices, design patterns, and other related topics, whereas computer science is more general and will go deep into computation theory as well as touching on software engineering principles.

AcrossFiveJulys
Profile Blog Joined September 2005
United States3612 Posts
February 16 2009 21:33 GMT
#20
On February 17 2009 06:08 Cobalt wrote:
A computer science teacher at the best school in my state told me this: computer science is about the theory behind computing, whereas computer engineering is about implementation of that theory. So programming etc. would fall under computer engineering, whereas making new programming languages, optimization, and innovation would fall under computer science.

That seems to contradict everyone else in this thread though.


what state do you live in? Is it... NOWHERE?
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Kung Fu Cup
11:00
2026 Week 2
WardiTV118
Rex27
TKL 1
SteadfastSC0
LiquipediaDiscussion
Afreeca Starleague
10:00
Ro24 Group C
hero vs YSC
Larva vs Shine
Afreeca ASL 8467
StarCastTV_EN231
Liquipedia
Replay Cast
09:00
KungFu Cup 2026 Week 1
CranKy Ducklings121
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech124
SortOf 124
Rex 27
TKL 1
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 13057
Calm 12940
Jaedong 3217
Horang2 1677
Mini 956
Britney 766
EffOrt 602
Zeus 453
ZerO 420
actioN 396
[ Show more ]
Pusan 317
ggaemo 174
Leta 134
Mind 127
Last 116
Light 69
ToSsGirL 68
Sharp 66
Rush 64
Backho 56
Aegong 53
Barracks 29
Bale 22
GoRush 20
sorry 15
Sacsri 13
ajuk12(nOOB) 12
Terrorterran 11
Noble 10
Icarus 2
eros_byul 0
Dota 2
Gorgc2044
XaKoH 435
BananaSlamJamma321
XcaliburYe149
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1493
shoxiejesuss1257
Heroes of the Storm
MindelVK1
Other Games
singsing1606
Liquid`RaSZi703
ceh9568
B2W.Neo309
XBOCT298
crisheroes209
Fuzer 155
Sick108
ArmadaUGS19
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 272
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream65
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 13
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 46
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP4
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
12h 58m
KCM Race Survival
21h 58m
The PondCast
22h 58m
WardiTV Team League
1d
OSC
1d
Replay Cast
1d 12h
WardiTV Team League
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Cure vs Zoun
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Team League
3 days
Platinum Heroes Events
3 days
[ Show More ]
BSL
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
ByuN vs Maru
MaxPax vs TriGGeR
WardiTV Team League
4 days
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Light vs Calm
Royal vs Mind
Wardi Open
4 days
Monday Night Weeklies
5 days
OSC
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Rush vs PianO
Flash vs Speed
Replay Cast
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
BeSt vs Leta
Queen vs Jaedong
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-23
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
NationLESS Cup
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

2026 Changsha Offline CUP
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.