It depends a lot on where the computer scientist in question. In fact, many students who study computer science in school go on to become programmers. And if that isn’t the case, computer programmers and computer scientists will often work in tandem on different projects. Computer scientists will often have to cover areas of practical application and vice versa. It’s not that the two paths don’t ever intersect. Computer programming covers practical application.Computer science focuses on computer theory.You may be thinking, but wait, aren’t they the same thing? Put simply, no, they’re not. They use programming principles, data science, and robotics to create or improve computer systems, software, and computer algorithms. Wait, what is a computer scientist? 🔗īy definition, a computer scientist is a person trained in computer science. This isn’t always that case of course, but it does represent the majority of graduates. Instead of their career being research-focused as you might expect of someone with the “scientist” title, they likely do more implementation (engineering) than theoretical (science) work. It’s important to understand that most students with a computer science degree become developers or software engineers. Some computer scientists are more research-oriented however, and may spend time developing new algorithms or pushing the boundaries of what academia knows about certain CS questions.

In most tech jobs, they spend the majority of their time working in teams on new software products.

At work, computer scientists build and deploy programs, algorithms, and systems to solve real-world problems.

What do scientists do