Computer Engineering : Introduction
Computers!! - are slowly becoming a quintessential aspect which can
be found everywhere; i,e in car engines, watches, microwave ovens, telephones,
video games, x-ray machines, ATM's, touching every facet of our lives.
Due to the rapid growth of Information Technology, computer industry has
become one of the fastest growing segments of our economy. As a result,
there exists a huge demand for Computer engineering professionals for
the development of faster hardware components, new communication systems
and software. Here comes the importance of Computer Engineering. Computer
Engineering involves designing and testing of computer components. It
is a branch of Engineering, which studies elements from both electrical
engineering and computer science angles, combining the principle and techniques
of these two for the making and development of computer and computer-based
systems. Professionals who work with computer hardware and software are
termed as Computer Engineers.
Computer engineers are a part of a team who apply their knowledge of
mathematics and science for the design and development of a computer.
Those who deal with the computer equipment as such, are termed as computer
hardware engineers and those who deal with the computer programs are
called computer software engineers. Computer software or software is
a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that
performs the major tasks on a computer system. Software engineers should
have strong programming skills as they are concerned with the design
and development of many types of software, including computer games,
word processing and business applications, operating systems and network
distribution and compilers, which convert programs to machine language
for execution on a computer.
Hardware engineers are involved in the research, designing, testing,
manufacturing and installation of computer hardware such as computer
chips, circuit boards, computer systems and related equipments. Their
work is similar to that of electronic engineers but their work is exclusively
limited to computers and computer-related equipments. Computer engineers
have the option of moving into hardware or software positions or blending
the two. On projects, both these engineers usually work together as
a team. It is these computer engineers who design software and hard
ware computer-based systems for embedded micro controllers, designing
- VLSI chips, analog sensors, mixed signal circuit boards and operating
systems.
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