Welcome
Welcome to McGill, welcome to the School of Computer
Science, and most of all, welcome to the Software Engineering Program offered by the
School of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science. We offer a B.Sc.
Major in Software Engineering and have a group of professors teaching state-of-the-art
courses and doing research in Software Engineering. Come and join our team of undergraduates,
graduate students and professors actively engaged in cutting edge software engineering.
The School of Computer Science, part of the Faculty of Science, is where you find
the software engineering professors at McGill. They lead a team of dedicated
students, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Because the professors
are actively engaged in current software engineering research their courses
reflect state-of-the-art techniques and provide opportunities for many software
engineering projects in a variety of exciting areas, including games programming and software development environments. These
same professors offer opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved in their
research through course projects, research courses and summer research positions.
On this page you'll find all the information you'll need to determine
if the Software Engineering Program is the right choice for you.
If you are a prospective student, please see our
web pages with information on how to choose your major, job prospects and much more.
Background Information
The School of Computer Science offers a new B.Sc. Major program
in Software Engineering since theFall of 2002. This B.Sc. program is offered through the
Faculty of Science.
The program is closely related to the one in computer science, but puts
more emphasis on software development related activities, such as
programming techniques, object-orientation, software processes
(requirements engineering and analysis, design), project planning,
quality assurance, and fault tolerance. Students choosing the software
engineering option will also do more practical work, for example
participate in larger group projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between a Computer Science Major and a Software Engineering Major?
The main
difference is that the Software Engineering program contains a
larger set of required courses concerning the principled design
and development of software. The computer science major requires 60 credits, whereas the
software engineering major requires 69 credits.
Also, the list of required and complementary courses in software
engineering is more oriented towards practice than the general computer
science ones. In addition, several development projects are mandatory.
If you are entering McGill from a high school, you may not have to
decide which program you prefer right away. You can start with the introductory
courses that are common to both programs and then decide which program
you prefer.
If you are entering McGill from the CEGEP, then you will be asked to specify
a major when you apply. However, there is still quite a bit of
flexibility and you will have some time to decide which you prefer. If you are
accepted to McGill you can change your major from Computer Science
to Software Engineering (or vice versa) when you actually register
at McGill, and you can even change it after you have taken some
introductory courses.
- What is the difference between the Software Engineering Major
offered by the School of Computer Science, and the Bachelor of Software Engineering (B.S.E) degree offered by
the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering?
If you have decided that you would like to pursue a degree in Software
Engineering, you still have to decide if you would prefer the B.Sc. in
Software Engineering, offered through the School of Computer Science
in the Faculty of Science, or the B.S.E. offered through the Faculty of Engineering. What is the difference?
This is actually an important decision because the programs are
offered by different Faculties and it is much more difficult to switch
between Faculties than to switch between majors within one Faculty.
Students who wish to take the B.Sc. degree in Software Engineering
should indicate the "Faculty of Science" on their application form, whereas students who wish to
take the B.S.E. degree should indicate "Faculty of Engineering" on their application form.
Both programs in Software Engineering share a common core of software engineering courses. Outside of this core, the requirements of the two programs are different.
The B.S.E degree requires several courses that are common to all
Engineering
degrees, and some courses related to hardware (e.g. Fundamentals of
Electrical Engineering). Students graduating from this program are
eligible
for registration as professional engineers, since the program has been
accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board.
The B.Sc. degree does not require the general engineering courses or the hardware courses, but rather provides a broader scope in software and general computer science. The B.Sc. degree also includes more elective courses, which allows students to pursue other interests or to include, within their degree requirements, a minor program from a different field such as management, arts or other sciences.
Students in both software engineering programs are well prepared for a wide variety of jobs and may participate in the Internship Year in Engineering and Science.
For an in-depth comparison of the two programs, check out our program comparison page.
This website gives you detailed information about the B.Sc. in Software Engineering, please visit
http://www.mcgill.ca/engineering/degrees/software/ for more information about the B.S.E. degree.
Labs & Professors
As mentioned above, the Software Engineering Program emphasizes
practical work. During your stay at McGill you will be in contact with,
attend classes, or even perform projects under the supervision of most
of our systems-related professors. If you already want to know more
about them and their current research activities, goto the software engineering research area overview page.
Of course, during your studies you'll also encounter most of the other professors of the School of Computer Science.
Professors Kienzle, Robillard, Vangheluwe and
Verbrugge are Software Engineering advisors. You can make an appointment with them via Ms. Ann Jack, by sending them an e-mail, or by dropping by during their office hours.
Study Schedule
See the undergraduate programs schedule page to get to the approved study schedule.
Examples
Click here
to get more information on what you will learn during your software
engineering studies, and what kind of applications you are going to
develop.
