Computer Science is the study of computers and computational systems. Unlike electrical and computer engineers, computer scientists deal mostly with software and software systems; this includes their theory, design, development, and application. Principal areas of study within Computer Science include artificial intelligence, computer systems and networks, security, database systems, human computer interaction, vision and graphics, numerical analysis, programming languages, software engineering, bioinformatics and theory of computing.
Although knowing how to program is essential to the study of computer science, it is only one element of the field. Computer scientists design and analyze algorithms to solve programs and study the performance of computer hardware and software.
The problems that computer scientists encounter range from the abstract-- determining what problems can be solved with computers and the complexity of the algorithms that solve them – to the tangible – designing applications that perform well on handheld devices, that are easy to use, and that uphold security measures. Graduates of University of Maryland’s Computer Science Department are lifetime learners; they are able to adapt quickly with this challenging field.
Who are the most well-known computer scientists?
The most influential computer scientists include Alan Turing, the World War II code breaker commonly regarded as the “father of modern computing”; Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web; John McCarthy, inventor of the programming language LISP and artificial intelligence pioneer; and Grace Hopper, U.S. Navy officer and a key figure in the development of early computers such as the UNIVAC I as well as the development of the computer language compiler.
computer science, the study of computers and computing, including their theoretical and algorithmic foundations, hardware and software, and their uses for processing information. The discipline of computer science includes the study of algorithms and data structures, computer and network design, modeling data and information processes, and artificial intelligence.
Computer science draws some of its foundations from mathematics and engineering and therefore incorporates techniques from areas such as queueing theory, probability and statistics, and electronic circuit design. Computer science also makes heavy use of hypothesis testing and experimentation during the conceptualization, design, measurement, and refinement of new algorithms, information structures, and computer architectures.
Computer science is considered as part of a family of five separate yet interrelated disciplines: computer engineering, computer science, information systems, information technology, and software engineering. This family has come to be known collectively as the discipline of computing.
These five disciplines are interrelated in the sense that computing is their object of study, but they are separate since each has its own research perspective and curricular focus. (Since 1991 the Association for Computing Machinery [ACM], the IEEE Computer Society [IEEE-CS], and the Association for Information Systems [AIS] have collaborated to develop and update the taxonomy of these five interrelated disciplines and the guidelines that educational institutions worldwide use for their undergraduate, graduate, and research programs.) The major subfields of computer science include the traditional study of computer architecture, programming languages, and software development.
However, they also include computational science (the use of algorithmic techniques for modeling scientific data), graphics and visualization, human-computer interaction, databases and information systems, networks, and the social and professional issues that are unique to the practice of computer science.
As may be evident, some of these subfields overlap in their activities with other modern fields, such as bioinformatics and computational chemistry. These overlaps are the consequence of a tendency among computer scientists to recognize and act upon their field’s many interdisciplinary connections.
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