Difference between information science and computer science

I have heard these two terms thrown around by people with the same friends. As much as I've heard, computer science is the more mathematically rigorous and its graduates tend to write more code.

What distinguishes an Information Science student from a Computer Science student? What different career paths are available to each?

Joel Coehoorn

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asked Jun 26, 2009 at 2:01

Andres Jaan TackAndres Jaan Tack

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1

Er, this is going to sound really snobbish, but I don't mean it to be. At my university, Information Science was where computer-savvy business students and CS dropouts went.

2

At my University, IS is housed in the College of Business; and seems to be intended as a Business oriented Software Developer track; teaching people to weigh business concerns with development concerns.

Computer Science (housed in the College of Engineering, which I'm told is unusual) focuses more on how to solve problems; and will generally be much more in depth.

As a better example, at my University, a Computer Science course might have you implement a memory manager in C as part of an operating systems theory class; an IS course might have you implement a simple inventory manager in VB.

And yes, from what I've heard, IS is basically CS for Business majors, CS drop outs, and developers with strong math phobia.

answered Jun 26, 2009 at 3:57

My degree is in "Computer & Information Science" (University of California Santa Cruz).

I agree with the other answers that IS is usually more vocational -- more application than theory. In my case, I did take a lot of theoretical courses in algorithms, complexity theory, semantics of programming languages, etc., as well as "practical" courses in compiler design, operating systems, computer graphics, and software engineering methodology.

I always assumed the "Information" part of my degree was due to the influence of one of the senior professors in the department: David Huffman, an accomplished computer scientist best known for his Huffman code, a variable-length lossless encoding for data. Huffman was also reported to never use an actual computer for his work -- you can't get more theoretical than that!

Huffman's specialty is also called Information Theory.

answered Jun 26, 2009 at 4:31

Bill KarwinBill Karwin

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Computer Science generally targets you to a development role - learning the mathematics and logic behind algorithmic interpretation of problem sets. This, of course, can later lead to Architect positions.

Information Systems/Science looks at information flow - big picture systems design, diagrammatic representation of problem space, combined with some architectural design and database systems.

A lot of people will express it as the difference between hairy knuckled developers and people destined to be managers and solution definers.

answered Jun 26, 2009 at 2:05

Alex TaylorAlex Taylor

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It depends on which country you're in. The name varies a lot across the world (and even between universities within the same country)

answered Jun 26, 2009 at 2:08

jalfjalf

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I graduated with an IS major and CS minor.

Both fields have programming-intense courses, as well as theory-intense courses.

CS covered hardware, data structures, algorithms, etc. The predominant language in these courses was Java.

Both covered software engineering practices.

IS covered systems analysis, database design, information architecture, visualization, etc. The predominant languages in these courses were PHP and SQL.

answered Apr 6, 2010 at 3:28

Matt StephensonMatt Stephenson

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I am an Information Science student.

In my school, and most that I looked at when applying to graduate school, Information Science is old fashioned library science with modern information technologies added in. At my school, we have three tracks: archives, libraries, and information architecture. We focus more on usability than computer science does; usability and HCI might comprise more than half of an IA student's coursework.

I'm on the libraries track, and I had to take a class where we learned how to perform a Boolean search. FML. Meanwhile I am simultaneously enrolled in a course where we are discussing how to design multitouch interfaces, etc. There is huge variation even within just our one program on what IS is.

answered Oct 20, 2011 at 18:49

Computer Science tends to be more directed towards theory, whereas Information Science more towards application.

Personally, I feel, that CS is a superset of IS. Someone with CS knowledge will have a better overall understanding of the system, however, someone with IS, would have better known how to do specific tasks coming right out of college.

answered Jun 26, 2009 at 2:04

Reverend GonzoReverend Gonzo

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