I have always wanted to share my experiences in the Information Technology industry, but never really had the time to write it all down. Now that I have someone (Jawad – our editor) to push me through this article, I believe I can pull off a few more.

I am going to share my story of how I started my IT company, and along with this, I will try to clear any misconceptions that you might have. This, I hope, will guide a lot of young software engineers in taking the right steps at the right time to start a profitable IT business. This series will be written in a linear fashion, so you can find yourself in this trajectory, and learn what to do next.

I have seen a number of students who take up Computer Science in university just because they feel that becoming a software engineer is an easy thing to do, courtesy of numerous online courses on software development. They believe that starting their own business is as easy. This is partly true, but not quite right because like every other field, IT has its own challenges.

This article focuses on terminologies and misconceptions. Oftentimes the terms Computer Science, Software Engineering and Information Technology are used interchangeably despite the fact that these are different disciplines. In this article, I will try to address these differences to help young IT enthusiasts make the right decision.

Computer Science:

If you google the term “Computer Science”, you will find a number of definitions for this discipline. However, the point I am trying to address is related to Computer Science as a subject or degree, not the broader discipline itself. Simply put, Computer Science focuses on how computers work from a theoretical and mathematical perspective. If you like math and logic of if you wish to build a career in machine learning, cyber security, artificial intelligence, etc. then by all means go for this degree.

Software Engineering:

Software Engineering is something you cannot go wrong about as this is exactly what it appears to be. Go for Bachelors of Science (BSc) and Masters of Science (MS) in Software Engineering if you want to design, develop, maintain, test and evaluate computer software, websites, mobile applications, etc. A software engineer may also be referred to as a software developer or a computer programmer.

Information Technology:

Now, Information Technology is a broad term, and people are often confused with what it entails. Here is a simple definition, which I hope will make it easy for everyone to understand. Information Technology is an umbrella term, which refers to anything related to computing technology. For example, computer software, hardware and networking fall within this domain. Go for this if you are interested in becoming an IT architect or an IT consultant.

I hope these definitions will make it easier for you to choose the area of your interest. When I was 17, although I was passionate about computers, I did not know what to do after my matriculation and I had nobody to reach out to for advice. I did my own research and came to find this new course on Computer Science in intermediate. I knew nothing about it, but that was the only computer course being offered after matriculation, and I took the plunge.