Why do I choose to major in software engineering?

Why do I choose to major in software engineering?

2016.10.06Homework

16340311
SCHOOL OF DATA & COMPUTER SCIENCE

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CONTENTS
1.What is software engineering?

1.1 General Definition
1.2 Typical Formal Definitions
1.3 Education

2.Software engineering, as a major, in others’ eyes.

2.1 Optimistic
2.2 Pessimistic

3.The necessity of studying it.

3.1 The Need of Our Age
3.2 The Need of Our Country

4.Some personal reasons to choose it.

4.1 The Shortest Distance to Your Goal & The Infinite Possibility in Your Future

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1.What is software engineering?1

1.1 General Definition

Software engineering is the application of engineering to the design, development, implementation, testing and maintenance of software in a systematic method.

1.2 Typical Formal Definitions

“research, design, develop, and test operating systems-level software, compilers, and network distribution software for medical, industrial, military, communications, aerospace, business, scientific, and general computing applications”;
“the systematic application of scientific and technological knowledge, methods, and experience to the design, implementation, testing, and documentation of software”;

“the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software”;

“an engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production”;

“the establishment and use of sound engineering principles in order to economically obtain software that is reliable and works efficiently on real machines.”

1.3 Education

Knowledge of computer programming is a prerequisite for becoming software engineer. In 2004 the IEEE Computer Society produced the SWEBOK, which has been published as ISO/IEC Technical Report 1979:2004, describing the body of knowledge that they recommend to be mastered by a graduate software engineer with four years of experience. Many software engineers enter the profession by obtaining a university degree or training at a vocational school. One standard international curriculum for undergraduate software engineering degrees was defined by the CCSE, and updated in 2004. A number of universities have Software Engineering degree programs; as of 2010, there were 244 Campus Bachelor of Software Engineering programs, 70 Online programs, 230 Masters-level programs, 41 Doctorate-level programs, and 69 Certificate-level programs in the United States.

For practitioners who wish to become proficient and recognized as professional software engineers, the IEEE offers two certifications that extend knowledge above the level achieved by an academic degree: Certified Software Development Associate and Certified Software Development Professional.

In addition to university education, many companies sponsor internships for students wishing to pursue careers in information technology. These internships can introduce the student to interesting real-world tasks that typical software engineers encounter every day. Similar experience can be gained through military service in software engineering.

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2.Software engineering, as a major, in others’ eyes.

2.1 Pessimistic

Some critics propose that it’s unnecessary to establish that major because everyone can acquire how to write the code after reading the textbooks. Also, spending four years to learn to ‘talk with computer’ is a waste of time.

2.2 Optimistic

Many parents think that their children studying whatever related to the computer is a good thing, because it’s easy to find work and make a lot of money.

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3.The necessity of studying it.

3.1 The need of our age

Born in a world developing rapidly, we have to find a way to survive.

Everything in the world now is stored with a digital form, called data. And the data is input and output by the computers. So we can conclude that we are living in a digital world, to stay in it more comfortably and follow the fast steps of development, we need to know, understand and operate the things related to computer.

Just imagine that you go to work and find that your printed meeting documents are left at home, or you go to school, carrying a heavy bag, just like carrying a big stone. If you’re still doing those things every day, I’m sorry to inform you that you’re abandoned by the digital age.

Compared with the hardware which is develops in the past decades, the development of software has more potential. Firstly, the size of CPU, disks or something like that can’t and don’t need to be smaller, and the laptop now is thin and light enough. Secondly, the development of hardware needs to be experimented in the lab or produced in the factory, which is not convenient enough for the young now who will suddenly come up with a new idea and can’t wait to make it reality.

To escape from the troublesome papers or something like that, even to take control of the digital world instead of dragged by its fast step, we need to learn the data and the computers, and we’d better learn software engineering.

3.2 The need of our country

China, our nation, is the biggest developing country in the world. In our history, a series of fierce wars have given us, generations of Chinese people, the lessons that you’ll be bullied if you fall behind. To prevent the history from happening again, we need to follow the international steps and development.

To sum up, we’re born as Chinese, and we’re born with the missions to develop and protect our motherland.

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4.Some personal reasons to choose that.

4.1 The Shortest Distance to Your Goal.

After getting the disappointing scores in the College Entrance Examination, I had no way to enter the university I dreamed of before. I was confused about which major to choose, and my cousin told me to choose one that others couldn’t master without paying the efforts for four years.

All my friends know that I love sketching and painting and want to major in architecture to improve my design level and become a designer of clothes, furniture or building, maybe whatever.

I want a major related to art, but don’t want study in an ordinary school with some ordinary students. And I had no choice.

At that moment, software engineering came into my sight.

I have to admit that everyone could learn the code by following the instructions step by step. However, the university should give its students much more than a single skill. So I gave up the major meeting my interest, but choose a young major in an excellent university, whose academy was established last year.

My English teacher once said, ‘English is like a key that can open the door to a new and wide world.’ And I want to say every language does, including computer languages, not to mention that they’re the most practical languages.

I can do whatever I want in computer and observe every details of a figure carefully as long as I display it on the screen.
For example,
we know the golden section.
In a mathematic formula, we only get the numbers and letters, like that:
Let the length of line AB be α, and point C is the golden section point near point B. Let the length of line AC be β, and >$\frac{α}{β}$ is golden section number.

$\frac{AC}{AB}=\frac{BC}{AC}$
$β^2=α(α-β)=α^2-αβ$
$α^2-αβ+\frac{1}{4}β^2=\frac{5}{4}β^2$
$\frac{β}{α}=\frac{\sqrt5-1}{2}$
But if you display it in the computer, you’ll see something much more beautiful.

That’s one of the most important principle in art field, and more and more visual art can be exhibited in this way.
Finally, I got that the computer could make your idea come true in a cheap and convenient way and create infinite possibility in your future.

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering ↩