What is Computer Science? (Reading00-lgrazios)

Computer Science is one of the newest and fastest growing majors among college students, this attention rise, makes one wonder if it is an engineering, art, or science discipline. Some people believe that it doesn't measure up to "classical" engineering disciplines, therefore saying it is science, and not engineering. They reach this conclusion by saying that computer science is not as mature as other engineering disciplines. At Notre Dame Computer Science is though to be an engineering and is part of the engineering school, I believe this also has to do with how we are taught to think like engineers. Engineering is more than just building bridges; it is the way an engineer thinks and how an engineer solves problems. So when considering this mentality I believe that you can call a computer scientist an engineer. This logic doesn’t apply for people who are programmers; there is a huge difference between a computer scientist and a programmer. In my opinion a computer scientist is some one who studies computer science as part of a program that teaches it, and it can therefore be categorized as whatever the program teaches it to be.

            The main issue comes from programmers calling themselves engineers. This is because most times programmers are people who learned to program on their own, or though other means that doesn’t really cover the basics of the though process and problem solving mentalities that Computer Science, or other Engineering principles cover. This is something similar to what one of the articles mentions, in that article they mentions that “ ‘Engineer’ is an aspirational title in software development. Traditional engineers are regulated, certified, and subject to apprenticeship and continuing education. Engineering claims an explicit responsibility to public safety and reliability, even if it doesn’t always deliver.” This makes sense, and in a way it reasons with the same logic of how computer scientists can be considered engineers according to what the program (University or otherwise) though which they learned certifies them to be. But then it raises the question of how we certify or credit these programs, considering how each and every time there are more and more programs like these? 

            The best answer would probably that Computer Science, if taught through a certified program, in which the appropriate maturity and thought processes are enforced and addressed, then and only then could you consider Computer science engineering. This would help draw the line between computer scientists, and programmers (people who know how to code). This being considered, another big issues later comes from how people view the field of computer science because computer scientists could call themselves engineers and be certified and what not, but if no one else agrees with them they would never be considered engineers. That being said, does it really matter what people consider Computer Scientists, if they are correctly certified and well taught? 

Another thing that caught my attention is the idea of apprenticeship being a part of what makes an engineer and Computer Scientist like any other discipline work with people with more experience and learn from them, so is experience on the field the other requirement to be an engineer? Is that the maturity that Computer Science is missing?