Computer science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Computer science is the study of computers and their applications, in all aspects, as well as the mathematical structures that relate to computers and computation.

Only in the last third of the 20th century has computer science been recognized as a separate discipline and developed its own methods and terminology. It has roots in electrical engineering, mathematics and linguistics, and is a blend of science, engineering and art.

Computer science emphasizes the eternal truths of software and computers while Software engineering emphasize practical applications of software. In some ways they are the flip sides of the same coin. In other ways they are totally different. It is the study of solving complex problems through the use of algorithms and logic.

Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes

- Edsger Dijkstra

Major subfields

Mathematical foundations

• Boolean algebra
• Computer numbering formats
• Discrete mathematics
• Symbolic logic

Theoretical computer science

• Algorithmic information theory
• Complexity theory
• Computability theory
• Information theory
• Theory of computation (or theoretical computer science)
• Graph theory
• Type theory
• Denotational semantics
• Algorithms
• Compilers
• Lexical Analysis
• Microprogramming
• Operating systems
• Cryptography

Applied computer science

• Artificial intelligence
• Computer algebra
• Computer architecture
• Computer graphics
• Computer networks
• Computer program
• Computer programming
• Computer security
• Databases
• Data structure
• Distributed computing
• Information retrieval
• Operating Systems
• Programming languages
• Program specification
• Program verification
• Robotics
• Software engineering

Specific techniques

• Benchmark
• Computer vision
• Collision Detection
• Data compression
• Data structures
• Data acquisition
• Design patterns
• Digital signal processing
• File formats
• Human-computer interaction
• Information security
• Internet
• Online computations and algorithms
• Optimization
• VLSI design

See Also

• computing
• computer scientist
• Turing Award
• IEEE John von Neumann Medal
• Computer jargon
• Computer slang
• Computer science basic topics