Even Google’s head of Android, Sameer Samat thinks the computer science major needs a rebrand.
“It is thought of as, ‘go learn how to do Java coding,'” Samat said of the major, adding that if that’s what you want to do, “you don’t need a degree.”
That’s not how Samat, who studied computer science himself at UC San Diego, views a major in computer science.
“It’s definitely not learning to code,” Samat said. “It is the science, in my opinion, of solving problems.”
While coding is a skill taught as part of the major, the discipline is more about breaking down problems, learning how to design a system, and collaborating on those tasks, Samat said.
As software engineering becomes more automated, more individuals are beginning to question the practicality of pursuing a computer science degree. AI is increasingly handling fundamental tasks like coding, making it harder for some computer science graduates to secure full-time positions and internships.
To be clear, Samat still thinks the degree is valuable and that “learning to code is really important,” even as tools like Codex become more prominent and companies like Google and Meta and generate some code with AI.
The head of Android said that when he learned to code, people had just stopped learning Assembly, a low-level programming language, and started coding in other languages. Samat said he still learned how to write code with Assembly because it was instructive on how the machine underneath works.
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There will always be a higher, more abstract language that computer programmers will learn to build new technology, Samat said.
“Maybe someday it’ll be natural language, where we’re just talking about what we want, and something is building the underlying software for you,” Samat said. But he doesn’t think that time will come for “a while.”
Students shouldn’t become computer science majors just because they think others will find it valuable, Samat said. The Android executive said that mindset won’t necessarily be shared by their prospective employer, and job seekers should have “passion” outside of computer science.
“I don’t think that the degree enough is enough to make yourself relevant for some of the most important companies,” Samat said, adding that you need to take it “to the next level.”
Samat draws from personal experience, having launched two startups in his early twenties, one of which led to an introduction to Sergey Brin. He said that building a startup early in his career ultimately made him a more effective contributor when he later joined Google.
Whatever other interest you have, said Samat, “I think it’s really important that it be something that you’re really excited about going deep in and really becoming a 5% top expert in the field.”
