Which is more popular, software or hardware?

Is it better to make hardware or software? Is hardware really not as promising as software? This is not a new topic, but a long-standing frustration and pain among many electronic hardware engineers. Especially in recent years, the global Internet has developed rapidly, making software talents highly sought after. The relationship between supply and demand determines the price. In addition, the cost of the software industry is mainly people (hardware requires more equipment investment), and the salary of software engineers is also more generous.

Data shows that from the United States alone, the salary growth of electronic engineers has not only failed to keep up with the growth rate of software engineers, but has even declined. A netizen said that he knew a person who had a Ph.D. and had worked for one of the top ten semiconductor companies in Silicon Valley for nearly 20 years. His salary was recently exceeded by his daughter’s. His daughter graduated from Caltech and worked at Facebook for 2 years.

However, this difference is not only the industry difference between manufacturing and the Internet. Within the traditional manufacturing industry, the development of software is also better than that of hardware. Why is this? EDNC netizen shared the views of an experienced person. (Why choose to make hardware instead of popular software?) The author of the article starts from his own experience in the industry and analyzes the reasons for this situation.

"Because of the large volume and homogeneity of consumer electronics, IC manufacturers will provide complete and integrated chip solutions in a targeted manner. In early smartphones, processors, baseband modems, and radio frequency units were used. The audio unit and many other functional modules are separate, but now there are single-chip solutions that integrate various communication standards and functional modules. The design is actually just an application at this time. Don’t make mistakes, the RF audio EMC performance of the whole machine is guaranteed. It's OK. Of course, it's definitely not that simple, but it is undeniable that this leaves very little room for hardware design. After the hardware is homogenized, it becomes the backend, and the difference between the products is the software. It is also software that generates income. The bigger the stage, the more attention it will receive within the company, and the treatment and development will naturally be better than that of hardware. However, compared with the difference between the Internet and traditional industries, this difference is relatively small."

"In addition What is very embarrassing is that the breadth and depth of hardware and some technologies that reflect the level of hardware design have gradually become unnecessary in consumer electronics. At first, we also studied and benchmarked against Nokia, hoping to achieve the best quality, but later found that mobile phones Everyone throws it away after playing with it for a year or two. You don’t need to design it so carefully. Senior leaders still think it increases costs and wastes man-hours. This is true for mobile phones, not to mention other consumer electronics. It can be seen that the market in this industry has a strong demand for hardware technology capabilities. , the demand is not high, here is a deep sigh."

There is also some good information. “In the field of large-scale equipment such as industrial control and high-end medical equipment, the situation of hardware is much better, but the requirements for knowledge will also be higher, not only knowledge of digital circuits and embedded underlying software, analog circuits, high-power, and high-reliability design It is also necessary. There is no ready-made chip solution; there is no ready-made design for reference. The huge system, long life cycle, and requirements related to reliability design (errors may cost lives) all determine that there is more room for hardware. To show off. In-depth hardware technology also has its place." However, at this level of complexity, hardware engineers are valued at the same level as their salaries and software.

Is learning software more promising?

The IT industry still has a bright future and great prospects! But as a college student who is about to choose what to study in the IT industry, it is difficult to make a choice! The difference between the two is no longer too big, but the choices now will still change a lot!

The core of a computer is that the operating system is software, and a large number of applications are software, so generally speaking, software has more prospects. From an employment perspective, software proficiency personnel require a large amount of work, but the workload is relatively large. After a certain age, programmers in the enterprise may evolve to management. Computer hardware research and development is weak in China, and a large number of hardware products are imported. We hope that China's hardware will one day surpass that of developed countries in the world, and we are currently working hard. Some people who study hardware may focus on the research and development of smart devices such as smart home appliances in the future.

From the perspective of higher education, there are computer hardware and software majors. The actual situation is that both software and hardware majors will learn software development and hardware basics. From an enterprise perspective, graduates majoring in software or hardware make little difference to most enterprises. Because most students need to supplement a certain amount of knowledge before they can be qualified for computer-related R&D positions. Of course, if you are a sales representative in the computer industry, there is no difference between software and hardware majors.

I personally feel that the future depends on many factors such as personal interests, social needs and other factors after graduating from the major. During the learning process of software or hardware majors, try to understand the actual needs of the outside world and enterprises as much as possible, and try to establish practical subjects in the school. If you have basic knowledge, you may be one step ahead of other students in the company.

Of course, as far as computers are concerned, software runs on hardware. Without hardware support, software is impossible. In other words, the hardware started first, and then the hardware came into being.

Hardware learning is relatively difficult, especially in the beginning. You must start with electronic technology and information. These are just the basics. The companies currently mastering the core computer hardware technology are all foreigners. Basically, we are more about applying other people's things. However, as far as electronic hardware technology is concerned, from schematic design to PCB circuit board design, more experience is required. Therefore, as an electronic engineer, the older you get, the more popular you become.

Software is less difficult to learn than hardware, and it develops very quickly. The basics that need to be mastered are operating systems, data structures, databases, software engineering and other basics. The other is to master one or more programming languages. For software, experience is not as important as hardware. Knowledge and a person's IQ are more important. Therefore, this is an industry that young people are passionate about, and it is also an industry where young people can get high salaries in a short period of time.

Let me digress here. If you want to become a master, it is best to be at the bottom. For example, microcontroller development. Involves software and hardware. You must have a good understanding of hardware to write good programs. Of course, such software and hardware masters are also in-demand talents. Very valuable!

But then again. No matter what industry you are in, if you have a correct attitude and study hard at work, even if there is only one person left in the entire industry, then that person will definitely be you.

Some netizens also have similar views to the author.

Is it really better to develop software than to do hardware? There are also people who hold a different view.

Some people think that software engineers just look better than electronic hardware engineers.

They said that, relatively speaking, software innovation is relatively easy, which means that the entry barrier is relatively low, while hardware requires long-term accumulation of technology and experience. They believe that for a direction with a higher threshold and long-term accumulation, even if the current salary is not too high, the job must be secure.

On the other hand, in the consumer electronics industry, which we usually have close contact with, investment in hardware is relatively small; in the fields of industry, medical care, automobiles, etc., hardware is often the core, but these fields are relatively It is further away from people's daily vision, which also causes people to think that hardware is not as promising and developed as software.

It is undeniable that the development speed of software is very rapid, but many technologies and functions are difficult to achieve solely through software innovation. Hardware is the foundation of the product. No matter how the industry changes, someone will always do the basic things.

Some people have also provided refutations for the above views. First of all, the software trend is a trend. Whether it is the transformation of equipment manufacturer giant Cisco or the gradual commercialization of SDN technology, which has been hotly debated for many years, they are all manifestations of this trend. We see a glut of hardware processing power, with general-purpose hardware replacing specialized hardware, with software providing the functionality. A large number of jobs traditionally done by electronic engineering are becoming software engineering jobs.

The importance of an industry does not mean that practitioners will gain more benefits and development. Secondly, for those who focus on the accumulation of experience, "the older you get, the more popular you become." If others have already earned a generous income when you were young, and when you finally start to become "popular" in middle age, others have already made enough money. My son started planning to retire. Therefore, we have seen that many foreign electronic engineers have switched careers to become coders. Of course, changing careers is risky, so everyone needs to be cautious.

Engineers who have been in the industry for several years say this. Indeed, due to the increasing degree of electronic integration, the workload of hardware engineers is getting less and less. But as long as you have the skills, you won’t have to worry about eating. For school students, if they want to be technically competent, they must first have solid basic skills. In addition, it is very important to combine theory with practice. Don't think that those electronic competitions are meaningless. As the netizen below said, the industry environment is important, but more importantly, one’s own ability. If you really don’t have any ability, you won’t be able to get anywhere.

Intelligent hardware, makers, and hardware engineers need more positive energy! Finally, some positive energy, "hardware renaissance". Smart hardware, makers, and hardware entrepreneurship are key words for "hardware renaissance," and there is still a lot of room left for the hardware field.

To sum up: There is no certain successful industry, only persistent efforts. If you want to ask which one is easier to find a job? Which one is easier to get a higher salary? It can only be said that the most lacking thing in the 21st century is talents. As long as you are talents, you will not have to worry about being unemployed; of course, strictly speaking, the social demand should be more software. The scope of software is wider and the development potential is huge, it just requires you to learn it well. (Related video tutorial recommendations: php video tutorial)

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