Computer Science and Information Technology

[Napoléon]

IT is more about the aspect of running a business around computers as well though, something which you don't get with computer science.

[Autumnlicious]

My company's VP of engineering does the IT because we've got a simple enough set up with a load balancer and a simple network.

All our "major" infrastructure has been abstracted out to AWS and with that, the entire IT dept that would be based around it.

IT will be always be needed (and abused/devalued) by the large corporations (until they deprecate entire server farms).

For the small-mid range companies, one can run with less and do more.

Also, I'm not in CS. I'm a physicist who does game development.

[Tiberius]

IT is more about the aspect of running a business around computers as well though, something which you don't get with computer science.

I disagree. There is no value in knowing how to run a business around computers if you have no idea what the computers are doing, or why problem X is happening. I've met IT guys who have no idea what IP addresses actually are, or have confused a single IP address with an IP range. Sure, they can probably configure a load of routers and Windows software better than I could, but at the end of the day, give me an instruction manual and I bet I could get it working too. It would take an IT guy far longer to learn about what his configuration was actually doing.

[Napoléon]

I disagree. There is no value in knowing how to run a business around computers if you have no idea what the computers are doing, or why problem X is happening.

An IT professional may not know 'what computers are doing' to the same extent as a computer science professional, but to say they have no idea is way overboard, and frankly wrong.

And there is absolutely value if you have better managerial skills and understand business infrastructure and hierarchy more than someone who simply knows more in depth knowledge about computers.

It's like saying a machine operator can't do his job because he doesn't know the in depth details of how the machine was made and how all the pieces fit together. Total bollocks in my opinion.

I've met IT guys who have no idea what IP addresses actually are, or have confused a single IP address with an IP range. Sure, they can probably configure a load of routers and Windows software better than I could, but at the end of the day, give me an instruction manual and I bet I could get it working too.

So are you saying people who are in IT aren't needed at all? I don't really buy it.

It would take an IT guy far longer to learn about what his configuration was actually doing.

If their job is installing routers and software, which you admitted they can probably do better than you, and not their job to learn about what the configuration is actually doing, then why would you be hired for the job and not them?


I reckon both have positives, ofcourse there is more knowledge from a computer science guy than an IT guy about computer systems as a whole, but I think IT is just as relevant as computer science, they just lead you down different paths.

[Autumnlicious]

If their job is installing routers and software, which you admitted they can probably do better than you, and not their job to learn about what the configuration is actually doing, then why would you be hired for the job and not them?

Because I can offer more, do more, expand my value for more.

On a deeper level, because I'm trained in design, analysis, software development, I can learn and make those same IT networks.

In fact, I can usually do it better because I know exactly that is needed and can assemble a custom, small set of equipment.

Show me an IT tech who does all that and I'll show you a developer (and not the run-of-the-mill IT monkey).

I reckon both have positives, ofcourse there is more knowledge from a computer science guy than an IT guy about computer systems as a whole, but I think IT is just as relevant as computer science, they just lead you down different paths.

From the business perspective, the man who makes the stuff that brings in the bacon is more valuble than the man who sits on the equipment all day like an expectant hen.

An IT tech is to an actual developer like a automechanic is to an mechanical engineer.

Apples to Oranges.

Less valued apples.

[goddamnit]

Where does CIS fit into all of this? Is it geekier than IT and less geek than CS?

[Colanth]

All the languages you learn today will become obsolete eventually. (Anyone have any 6502s they need programmed in assembly?) Programming itself won't become obsolete, but it will change. (When I first learned programming principles, "object oriented programming" would have been totally meaningless word salad.)

As far as math? Yes, you have to learn some basic college math, but after almost 40 years of cutting code, about the most complex "math" I've ever needed was some simple first order formulas and a lot of arithmetic. (Double-entry bookkeeping is a lot more difficult than the formula for decentation of an eyeglass lens.)