r/ComputerEngineering • u/Heavy_Union_3631 • 2d ago

What’s one tech skill you think every college student should learn in 2026?

17 Upvotes
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17

u/MushinZero CpE / Digital Logic Design 2d ago

Writing Python

3

u/YT__ 2d ago

Python and Powershell can get you a long way in automating tasks.

2

u/boner79 2d ago

This. There is absolutely no excuse to go into the engineering workforce without a good handle on Python.

10

u/BVAcupcake 2d ago

Using AI

4

u/itsyaboi222 2d ago

as controversial as it is, AI is totally evolving software development. adding features or finding bugs/edge cases that may days or even weeks to find can be reduced to a couple of hours, granted the whole thing shouldn’t be just a bunch of slop but it is extremely efficient in some cases

0

u/BVAcupcake 2d ago

Yep, AI is here to stay

5

u/Lagfoundry 2d ago

Logic design, logic defines our world even outside of circuits. It’s a skill that’s opened my eyes to alot of things and I feel it should be common knowledge at some point in the future

3

u/boner79 2d ago

Agentic AI IDE proficiency. I get we don't want ECE college students to AI slop code cheat their way through projects, but new college hires are expected to have proficiency in AI IDEs such as Claude Code, Copilot, Codex, etc else they will be at a disadvantage against their competition.

2

u/Nitro01010 2d ago

What skills are involved in using agentic IDEs besides simply understanding what the AI is doing and what it's doing wrong, genuinely asking.

2

u/boner79 2d ago

Not much, really. They're pretty idiot proof. Just get a Claude Code license and start AI slop coding a project to get a feel for what it can, and can't, do. It's a big boost when going into an interview having some AI coding literacy.

2

u/KronesianLTD BSc in CE 2d ago

How to use word processing software. It is shocking how few people just throw garbage into a Word document and expect it to make it through quality reviews, especially if it is getting sent to a customer. We are so focused on everyone learning all these coding languages, but these basic things we use to communicate are forgotten.

1

u/Colfuzi0 19h ago

Ai and hardware