What Is Computer Science?

Summary

As we have seen, there are several different, but related, answers to the question "What is computer science?".

A more complete answer is going to depend on answers to other questions, including (but not limited to):

• What is science?
• What is engineering?
• What is a computer?
• What is an algorithm?

Here is an outline summary of some of the answers.

Answers differ on:

1. Category (or "genus"):
   1. science
   2. (systematic) "study"
   3. engineering

2. Qualification ("kind" of "science" or "study") (a.k.a. "differentia"):
   1. 1. mathematical
      2. empirical

   2. 1. natural
      2. artificial

3. Subject matter:
   1. computers (+ related phenomena)
      • ∴ empirical, artificial?

   2. 1. algorithms (+ related phenomena)
      2. or: procedures (+ related phenomena)
      • ∴ natural?, mathematical?, experimental?

   3. information (+ related phenomena)
      • ∴ natural?, mathematical?, experimental?
   • These may be extensionally equivalent,
     depending on what the "related phenomena" are in each case,
     differing only on the "focus" or "point of view".

We'll discuss some, but not all, of these topics later in the semester.

• E.g., We'll discuss science vs. engineering, computers, algorithms and procedures.
• E.g., We won't discuss math vs. empirical vs. natural vs. artificial.
  (Things not discussed are potential term-paper topics.)
  (Things discussed are potential final-exam topics, of course :-)