Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

Re nowned computer scientist Edsger W Dijkstra made this observation. Computer scie nce engineers are involved in many aspects of computing, from the design of indi vidual microprocessors, personal computers and supercomputers to circuit design and writing software that powers them. They are also suited for robotics research, which relies heavily on using digita l systems to control and monitor electrical systems like motors and sensors. Inf ormation Technology (IT) deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to store, protect, process, transmit and securely retrieve information . IT is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, mani pulate, store, and/or communicate information. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applicat ions to designing complex computer networks and information databases. They are suited for data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire syst ems. The differences The CS engineering programme usually deals with how to build micro processors, h ow to write a compiler etc. IT is the business side of computers - usually deali ng with databases, business, and accounting. One way to think of it is that IT d eals with the application of computing technology to real life processes and CSE deals with the science that facilitates these applications. Further, while CSE focuses on the foundation of computing, IT as a discipline fo cuses on satisfying the computing technology needs of organisations. So, in a co ntinuum between principles and application, IT focuses more on application, with the goal being to apply knowledge of computing sciences for solving problems. H owever, as the foundations of IT are in Computer Science, Indian universities an d colleges deem it feasible to have a CS-based IT programme. This allows a gradu ate of the programme to choose a career in CS or IT, based on their choice and a vailability of job prospects. And mostly corporates make little difference betwe en these disciplines while selecting students. The nature of the industry requirements in the country also plays a crucial role . Since most of the companies in this sector focus on application development an d maintainance at best, the need for hard core reserach level employees is minim al. So even if a student is taught subjects like chip design architecture, machi ne level languages , his or her chances of getting a career in that domain is mi nimal. Snapshot of the curriculum Ultimately, what would really matter to you as a student is how far the course c urriculum is different. Most of the top-notch institutes (including all the IITs, IIITs and most NITs) h ave either CSE or IT but not both. This clearly signals that the difference betw een the two branches is not significant enough to warrant their simultaneous pre sence on a campus, at least in the eyes of the top engineering colleges of the c ountry. Further more, for the few colleges that do offer both IT and CSE, the di fferences in the course structure are minimal. For example, at Delhi s IP University only one course differs between the two bran ches across their seven engineering colleges. At Motilal Nehru National Institut e of Technology Allahabad, this figure increases to two and at West Bengal Unive rsity of Technology to five subjects. The message is loud and clear - no company

discriminates between hiring a CSE or IT student from the same campus. The verdict If you have to choose between IT and CSE and have both options in hand, it would be wise to decide it on the basis of the reputation and standing of the college rather than the branch. If you have to choose between IT and CSE in the same co llege, see what excites you more, design of computers and computing systems or u sing computers to solve information management requirements of organisations. Go od luck!