What is the difference between computer science and information technology?

A Computer Science program is different at each school. Computer Science is "suppose" to be more theoretical and less applied and less engineering hence the word "science".

Best way to visualize it is imagining an up side down pyramid. You have the physics area at the bottom level... workings of inside a transistor... SiGe, InP, Carbon Nanotubes and so on. Physics and Electrical Engineering is applied here to generate better devices. Next level is your chip design level which uses these devices to make integrated circuits, power electronics. This is area of Computer and Electrical Engineering. Computer engineering has two sides a hardware and software. They are like a mix breed of CS and EE. Next level is the Computer Science where computer scientist know the circuits/hardware that exist and develop solutions to incorporate it. Computer science is quite a wide area so this as low as they get or as "engineering" as they get. Good example of all this is when multicores was developed computer science has to learn to develop code to utilize multiple cores. They have very little knowledge of the inner works of register files of the CPU but do know what goes in and what goes out... a black box if you will. IT is next level higher which is the highest level. IT studies the impact of solutions developed from software/hardware with business/industry. They see to it that these solutions are applied correctly and continue to work in the future.

There are more jobs at the higher level such as IT and CS then it degrades more down the pyramid you go. Less jobs at the bottom but they pay more. Pay is inversely proportional to job availability. IT actually do have a high pay these days because mostly their due to their high demand. I would it well secure also.

-Ryan


While the answer below is lengthy (and in some cases incorrect) there is a much easier and shorter way of explaining the difference.

Computer Science is the study of engineering and principles involved in the engineering, design, development, integration and testing of computer systems at all levels (my first base course was in Machine Code programming about 25 years ago). This includes applied areas of Math and Science, Materials Engineering, Electrical and Electronics theory and Engineering, and Programming fundamentals.

Information Technology is the use of computers and similar devices (electronic and communications) to process and distribute information by many different means - Digital processing is just one of many forms of distribution.

(RAVEN)

CS vs. IT

Computer Science is the study of computers. You typically learn about hardware and operating systems. Things like registers, multitasking kernels, data buses, address buses. It's real techy stuff.

Information Technology is the more about the study of the use of computers to solve human/business problems. You study some programming, databases, applications, etc.

Here are more answers to the same question:

• Computer Science is the science of computers while Information Technology may or may not use computers. Of course there is a big overlap but in general computer science handles the technical working of computers whilst IT is concerned more with information manipulation and the business requirements.

• I think that computer science is concerned with the principles and concepts that are behind the emergence of IT. In other words, CS is academic studying of the S/W and H/W concepts but IT may have specific purposes to be studied.

• From a very broad perspective, Computer Science is the study of the principles of computing. It helps you better understand how computers solve problems, the kinds of problems that a computer can solve and how one would present a problem to a computer. Abstract ideas that rely on fundamental mathematical theories are at the heart of Computer Science. Information Technology is the study of technology that drives Information Systems for businesses. Understanding how technology/tools can best meet the Information management needs of an organization is at the heart of IT. Familiarity with such tools is an essential for a successful IT professional. The interesting relation between the 2 fields lies in the fact that more often than not, it is Computer Scientists that design and develop these tools that an IT professional uses. Personally, I think that an adaptable Computer Scientist should not find it difficult to migrate to the field of IT (if he/she chooses to do so) by learning more about the technology that is predominately used at his/her organization. An IT professional on the other hand, will have to go through mathematics/CS training in order to be a good computer scientist. In a nutshell, Computer Science is about understanding generic concepts,whereas IT is about knowing more facts.

• As a computer Scientist migrated towards Information Technology I can say that a computer science is the study of computer's design and operation. But Information Technology is the use of the computer for a specific purpose without knowing the details of how the computer is carrying on all these tasks.
  
  
• First you have to understand the differences between science, engineering & technology. Science is a systematic & specialized way of thinking.A scientist thinks & makes principles & hypothesis. Engineering means the practical implementation of principles & hypothesis for the welfare of human beings with the help of machines. At first he makes drawings on the basis of principles, and then take it to real world for use. Technology always deals with OPTIMIZATION (MAXIMUM GAIN WITH MINIMUM EFFORTS)with the help of newer supports like computers & transfer machines. We use computers as a tool. The aim of IT is to make our information more profitable by making it recently & attractive.

• Computer science is - "What is a computer and how it works?" Information tech. is - "what and how can i do with computers."

• Computer Science is a part of IT. Computer Scientists are generally responsible of building the tools(OS, Compiler, Database...) used in IT, where as IT technicians are responsible of using these tools to make real world applications.

• This question is very tricky and needs to be answered very carefully. The basic difference is that information technology is about transmitting information and gathering it, whereas computer science is something related to computers and only computer, such as software. IT people can be considered more of a general management subject.

• Computer Science refers to the science or details of computers - which includes the design of software (such as compilers, Operating Systems), design of hardware (such as RAM, CPU etc), networking etc. Information Technology is the application of Computers towards organizing and efficient retrieval/reporting of information. A useful, if somewhat crude analogy could be the difference between "heat, cold, humidity, water "etc (which is like computer science) and Meteorology (which uses the information about cloud, humididy etc to predict weather)

• The former is a basic science and the latter is an applied science.

CE (computer science) describes what is the science behind computer.. how computer is engineered. include history, present and future of computer. including its application and many things.

While IT is some thing different... it is study of technology.. describe following things..

1. How to collect information from various sources....
2. How to store information in such a way that it can retrieved in a desired manner.
3. How to re-distribute information in such way that it fulfill the requirement.

Further Info

http://knowinfotech.blogspot.com/

First answer by ID3413940698. Last edit by VidaMaestro. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 260 [recommend question]