Computer Science

So if you’re considering this branch, firstly, congratulations! Odds are you’ve already made up your
mind, nevertheless do read this before you take a decision.
The basic principle of computer science is simply math and logic. It applies everywhere! If you want to
go from one place to another, wouldn’t you wanna go by the shortest route? We learn how to find one!
With courses like AI on our palette, we even learnt how to make a computer player for a strategic board
game harder than chess: tak.
Fun as it may be, Computer Science, albeit the most coveted branch in IIT Delhi, is, arguably one of the
most academically rigorous. With a multifaceted curriculum. CS has at least 15 sub fields that include
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Operating Systems to name a few. The advantage at IIT
Delhi is that all of these sub branches are covered in the core courses prescribed by the institute itself. In
our 6th semester, we learnt how to make an OS! Imagine being able to make the very basis of ordinary
computers in a course!
With one of the most well developed departments in IIT Delhi you will have the opportunity to study
under some of the best professors in their field, Mausam and Naveen Garg, to name a few. Mausam is
great at communicating the intuition behind ideas and he’s a really funny guy (he has something called
The Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Rule)! He would also definitely be a great prof to work under. But
you’ve come to the wrong place if you expect to be spoonfed. Naveen Garg’s method of explaining
things makes even the hardest concepts seem intuitive and easy. Also, his research in theoretical areas
is commendable--he won the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award last year.
Where infrastructure is concerned, CS has an entire building and a special computer lab-the general
computing lab, fondly known as the GCL, built just for them. The coding culture in the branch is very
strong and most courses have a heavy coding component. At the same time it is important to remember
that it is not just coding that defines CS and with the huge variety of courses, CS at IITD exemplifies this,
with several theoretical courses.

Theoretical CS is mostly about math, with very little coding, and hence can be take a lot of time and
brainpower, and not everyone can find something cool out of equations written on a white board. You
would also have to take several mathematics courses that deal with Calculus, Probability and Discrete
Mathematics.

The job prospects for graduates from this branch lie in corporate firms and in the research segment. The
corporate job profiles involve mostly coding and designing while in the research segment, there are a lot
of theoretical principles that one has to work with, apart from coding.
While making your decision, do remember that CS is not everyone’s cup of tea and those who lack the
aptitude and logical abilities often struggle with the coding assignments. Says Nikhil Chaturvedi of the CS
branch, "CS, unlike other branches, is not an input-output course, that is, you can put in a lot of effort
and still get a zero in the next test, while you could put in no effort at all and crack the next test with the
highest marks."
--With inputs from Aditi Partap and Nikhil Chaturvedi