What Can You Do With a Computer Science Degree

Brady Ralph

Professor Richard Manning

CSIS-1030-404-804-F19

December 11, 2019

 It’s no secret that the Computer Science industry is moving at an astounding rate,

especially here in Utah. I have always found Computer Science to be a very fascinating topic,

even though I have never been particularly skilled in the area. Dropping my current major in

Mechanical Engineering and pursuing a career in Computer Science has crossed my mind quite

a few times. From unique office environments to impressive salary potential, the tech industry

seems like a no brainer. Aside from the fun offices and great pay, a Computer Science degree

can lead to a world of endless opportunities. Having a CS degree allows you to pick a career

path that’s geared towards your passion; it could be anything from web development to user

interface development, and even mobile app development.

Have you ever tried to think about how many websites are currently live around the

world? It is constantly changing, but as of right now there’s over 1.7 billion live websites out in

the world (Internetlivestats.com, 2019). That seems like a crazy number to try and wrap your

head around, but what about all of the work that it took to create those sites. Web

development is a fairly broad topic since there are so many different areas that need to be

considered. The most prominent two areas are the front-end development, and the back-end

development. The front-end development is going to have to do a lot more with the interface

and the aesthetics of the website that the end user will be interacting with. I think of these

developers more as designers in a way, they are in charge of making sure that the front end of

the website is elegant and attractive to the user. The role of the back-end developer is a little

bit less glamorous, but it is by no means less important. The back-end is where all the magic

happens, and what allows the front end to be a pleasant experience (hopefully) for the end

user. The back-end of a website deals less with aesthetics, and more with algorithms and flow
logic to make sure that all of the actions being executed on the front-end are done correctly.

Having a degree in Computer Science can easily open doors to front-end and back-end web

development careers.

Another avenue that you could go down with a Computer Science degree would be user

interface development. If I were to get a degree in Computer Science, I would without a doubt

want to pursue a career in user interface development. No matter what kind of research you do

for UI, inevitably you are going to run into some sort of UX (user experience) information as

well as they seem to go hand in hand. UX/UI design seems to be making itself more and more

prominent as we progress in this digital age. Since almost everything we do is on a smart

phone, tablet, or laptop it makes sense that we want our experience to be pleasant and easy to

navigate. Elegant friction free experiences are what UX and UI is all about. In a commerce

situation, the less friction you are giving the customer, the more likely they are to buy the

product. UI deals specifically with the interface that the user is dealing with, whether that be a

web app or mobile app. UX deals with the experience that the user is having with your app or

website. These go hand in hand since users tend to have a better experience with your app if

the interface is clean and easy to navigate. I am an Apple guy and I love using them as an

example when it comes to good UX/UI design. From the iPhone to the MacBook, the interface

is super clean and very easy to navigate giving users a great experience. There’s nothing worse

than trying to order something from a website that is cluttered and difficult to use. Happy

interface, happy user. UX/UI design is still a fairly new focus in education so there isn’t

necessarily a degree specific to it, however, there are classes that can be taken that would give

you a leg up in the space while pursuing your Computer Science degree.
 How many times have you heard “There’s an app for that”, well, there probably is! The

Google Play Store has 2.4 million apps and the Apple App Store has 1.8 million (Statista, 2019).

There is definitely no shortage of apps, there seems to be an app for everything you can think

of. Mobile app development is not too terribly different than web development, to a certain

degree. There may be some variances when it comes down to what language you are writing

your code in, but that shouldn’t be a huge deal once you have your CS degree and have some

experience writing code in a few different languages. When it comes to mobile app

development, a lot of the skills needed for web development and UX/UI development will still

be relevant. Pulling from the web development side, and many other areas of Computer

Science, you obviously need your app to be functioning properly and running smoothly. If your

app is constantly crashing or not performing how the user is expecting it to, they will simply

move onto another app. As far as the UX/UI side, the same rules apply that we discussed above

when talking specifically about UX and UI design. If the UI is elegant and easy to use, the user

will be more inclined to be a repeat user of your app. This is especially important if you are

working some sort of commerce aspect into your app, the user needs to have a good clean

experience if you expect them to continue to use your app for purchases. Mobile app

development classes are not hard to come by and most Computer Science degrees will touch

on them at some point in the curriculum since it is such a crucial part of how users are making

purchases and searching for information these days.

Those are just 3 of many examples discussing what you can do with a Computer Science

degree. Web development is a very broad topic all by itself with plenty of opportunities, jobs

are in high demand and the salary is nothing to frown about. User interface development is in
the same boat, we live in a digital world and it’s all coming down to the user experience which

heavily relies on the interface you are giving them to use. Mobile app development is no

different, plenty of opportunities that boast a great salary potential and a unique work

environment. If I were to start school all over again, I am about 90% sure that I would pursue a

Computer Science degree rather than a Mechanical Engineering degree. Computer Science is

never going to go out of style, there will always be great opportunities at hand especially as we

continue to get further and further into AI research. I guess the better question is, what can’t

you do with a Computer Science degree.

 Bibliography

Statista. (2019). App stores: number of apps in leading app stores 2019 | Statista. [online] Available at:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/
[Accessed 13 Dec. 2019].

Careerfoundry.com. (2019). The Difference Between UX And UI Design - A Layman’s Guide. [online]
Available at: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design-
a-laymans-guide/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2019].

Internetlivestats.com. (2019). Total number of Websites - Internet Live Stats. [online] Available at:
https://www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2019].