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<p><strong>Computer science</strong>, or <strong>computing science</strong>, is the study of the theoretical foundations of <a title="Information" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information">information</a> and <a title="Computation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computation">computation</a> and their implementation and application in <a title="Computer system" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_system">computer systems</a>.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-0"><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_note-0">[1]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-1"><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_note-1">[2]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-2"><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_note-2">[3]</a></sup> Computer science has many sub-fields; some emphasize the computation of specific results (such as <a title="Computer graphics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_graphics">computer graphics</a>), while others relate to properties of <a title="Computational problem" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_problem">computational problems</a> (such as <a title="Computational complexity theory" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_complexity_theory">computational complexity theory</a>). Still others focus on the challenges in implementing computations. For example, <a title="Programming language theory" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language_theory">programming language theory</a> studies approaches to describing computations, while <a title="Computer programming" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming">computer programming</a> applies specific <a title="Programming language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language">programming languages</a> to solve specific computational problems. A further subfield, <a title="Human-computer interaction" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-computer_interaction">human-computer interaction</a>, focuses on the challenges in making computers and computations useful, usable and universally accessible to <a title="Public goods" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_goods">people</a>.</p>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<td><a class="image" title="Wiki letter w.svg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wiki_letter_w.svg"><img height="17" alt="" width="17" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wiki_letter_w.svg/17px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png" width="17" border="0" /></a></td> <td><em> <sup>This short section requires <a class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Computer_science&action=edit" rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Computer_science&action=edit" rel="nofollow">expansion</a>.</sup></em></td>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 172px"><a class="image" title="German military used the Enigma machine during World War II for communication they thought to be secret. The large-scale decryption of Enigma traffic at Bletchley Park was an important factor that contributed to Allied victory in WWII." href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Enigma.jpg"><img class="thumbimage" height="227" alt="German military used the Enigma machine during World War II for communication they thought to be secret. The large-scale decryption of Enigma traffic at Bletchley Park was an important factor that contributed to Allied victory in WWII." width="170" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Enigma.jpg/170px-Enigma.jpg" width="170" border="0" /></a>
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German military used the <a title="Enigma machine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine">Enigma machine</a> during <a title="World War II" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II">World War II</a> for communication they thought to be secret. The large-scale decryption of Enigma traffic at <a title="Bletchley Park" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park">Bletchley Park</a> was an important factor that contributed to Allied victory in WWII.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-kahnbook_0"><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_note-kahnbook">[9]</a></sup></div>
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<p>Some universities teach computer science as a theoretical study of computation and algorithmic reasoning. These programs often feature the <a title="Theory of computation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_computation">theory of computation</a>, <a title="Analysis of algorithms" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_of_algorithms">analysis of algorithms</a>, <a title="Formal methods" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_methods">formal methods</a>, <a title="Concurrency (computer science)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrency_%28computer_science%29">concurrency theory</a>, <a title="Databases" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Databases">databases</a>, <a title="Computer graphics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_graphics">computer graphics</a> and <a title="Systems analysis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_analysis">systems analysis</a>, among others. They typically also teach <a title="Computer programming" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming">computer programming</a>, but treat it as a vessel for the support of other fields of computer science rather than a central focus of high-level study.</p>
<p>Other colleges and universities, as well as <a title="Secondary school" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_school">secondary schools</a> and vocational programs that teach computer science, emphasize the practice of advanced <a title="Computer programming" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming">computer programming</a> rather than the theory of algorithms and computation in their computer science curricula. Such curricula tend to focus on those skills that are important to workers entering the software industry. The practical aspects of computer programming are often referred to as <a title="Software engineering" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering">software engineering</a>. However, there is a lot of <a title="Debates within software engineering" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debates_within_software_engineering">disagreement</a> over what the term "software engineering" actually means, and whether it is the same thing as programming.</p>
<dl><dd>See <a title="Peter J. Denning" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Denning">Peter J. Denning</a>, <em><a class="external text" title="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=971303&dl=ACM&coll=&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618" rel="nofollow" href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=971303&dl=ACM&coll=&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618" rel="nofollow">Great principles in computing curricula</a></em>, Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2004. </dd></dl>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a></p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline">See also</span></h2>
<div class="references-small">
<ol class="references">
<li id="_note-0"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-0">^</a></strong> "<em>Computer science is the study of information</em>" <a class="external text" title="http://www.njit.edu/v2/archivecatalog/undergraduate/91/19-und.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.njit.edu/v2/archivecatalog/undergraduate/91/19-und.html" rel="nofollow">Department of Computer and Information Science</a>, Guttenberg Information Technologies </li> <li id="_note-1"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-1">^</a></strong> "<em>Computer science is the study of computation.</em>" <a class="external text" title="http://www.csbsju.edu/computerscience/curriculum" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.csbsju.edu/computerscience/curriculum" rel="nofollow">Computer Science Department, College of Saint Benedict</a>, Saint John's University </li> <li id="_note-2"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-2">^</a></strong> "<em>Computer Science is the study of all aspects of computer systems, from the theoretical foundations to the very practical aspects of managing large software projects.</em>" <a class="external text" title="http://study.massey.ac.nz/major.asp?major_code=2010&prog_code=93068" rel="nofollow" href="http://study.massey.ac.nz/major.asp?major_code=2010&prog_code=93068" rel="nofollow">>Massey University</a> </li> <li id="_note-3"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-3">^</a></strong> Nigel Tout (2006). <a class="external text" title="http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/calculator_time-line.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/calculator_time-line.html" rel="nofollow">Calculator Timeline</a>. <em>Vintage Calculator Web Museum</em>. Retrieved on <a title="2006" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006">2006</a>-<a title="September 18" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_18">09-18</a>. </li> <li id="_note-4"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-4">^</a></strong> <a class="external text" title="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/babbage/index.asp" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/babbage/index.asp" rel="nofollow">Science Museum - Introduction to Babbage</a>. Retrieved on <a title="2006" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006">2006</a>-<a title="September 24" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_24">09-24</a>. </li> <li id="_note-5"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-5">^</a></strong> <a class="external text" title="http://www.scottlan.edu/Lriddle/women/ada-love.htm" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.scottlan.edu/Lriddle/women/ada-love.htm" rel="nofollow">A Selection and Adaptation From Ada's Notes found in "Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers," by Betty Alexandra Toole Ed.D. Strawberry Press, Mill Valley, CA</a>. Retrieved on <a title="2006" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006">2006</a>-<a title="May 4" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_4">05-04</a>. </li> <li id="_note-6"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-6">^</a></strong> <a class="external text" title="http://www.pattonhq.com/ibm.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pattonhq.com/ibm.html" rel="nofollow">IBM Punch Cards in the U.S. Army</a>. Retrieved on <a title="2006" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006">2006</a>-<a title="September 24" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_24">09-24</a>. </li> <li id="_note-Denning_cs_discipline">^ <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-Denning_cs_discipline_0"><sup><em><strong>a</strong></em></sup></a> <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-Denning_cs_discipline_1"><sup><em><strong>b</strong></em></sup></a> <cite style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><a title="Peter J. Denning" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Denning">Denning, P.J.</a> (2000). "<a class="external text" title="http://web.archive.org/web/20060525195404/http://www.idi.ntnu.no/emner/dif8916/denning.pdf" rel="nofollow" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060525195404/http://www.idi.ntnu.no/emner/dif8916/denning.pdf" rel="nofollow">Computer Science: The Discipline</a>". <em>Encyclopedia of Computer Science</em>.</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Computer+Science%3A+The+Discipline&rft.jtitle=Encyclopedia+of+Computer+Science&rft.date=2000&rft.aulast=Denning&rft.aufirst=P.J.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20060525195404%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.idi.ntnu.no%2Femner%2Fdif8916%2Fdenning.pdf"> </span> </li>
<li id="_note-kahnbook">^ <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-kahnbook_0"><sup><em><strong>a</strong></em></sup></a> <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-kahnbook_1"><sup><em><strong>b</strong></em></sup></a> <a title="David Kahn" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kahn">David Kahn</a>, <a title="The Codebreakers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Codebreakers">The Codebreakers</a>, 1967, <a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0684831309">ISBN 0-684-83130-9</a>. </li>
<li id="_note-7"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-7">^</a></strong> Constable, R.L. (March 2000). "<em><a class="external text" title="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/cis-dean/bgu.pdf" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/cis-dean/bgu.pdf" rel="nofollow">Computer Science: Achievements and Challenges circa 2000</a></em>". </li>
<li id="_note-8"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-8">^</a></strong> <cite class="book" id="Reference-Abelson-1996" style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><a title="Hal Abelson" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Abelson">Abelson, H.</a>; G.J. Sussman with J.Sussman (1996). <em>Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs</em>, 2nd Ed., MIT Press. <a class="internal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0262011530">ISBN 0-262-01153-0</a>. “The computer revolution is a revolution in the way we think and in the way we express what we think. The essence of this change is the emergence of what might best be called <em>procedural epistemology</em> — the study of the structure of knowledge from an imperative point of view, as opposed to the more declarative point of view taken by classical mathematical subjects.”</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Structure+and+Interpretation+of+Computer+Programs&rft.aulast=Abelson&rft.aufirst=H.&rft.edition=2nd+Ed.&rft.pub=MIT+Press"> </span> </li>
<li id="_note-bgu">^ <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-bgu_0"><sup><em><strong>a</strong></em></sup></a> <a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-bgu_1"><sup><em><strong>b</strong></em></sup></a> <a class="external autonumber" title="http://www.cis.cornell.edu/Dean/Presentations/Slides/bgu.pdf" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cis.cornell.edu/Dean/Presentations/Slides/bgu.pdf" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> </li>
<li id="_note-9"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-9">^</a></strong> Communications of the ACM 1(4):p.6 </li>
<li id="_note-10"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-10">^</a></strong> Communications of the ACM 2(1):p.4 </li>
<li id="_note-11"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-11">^</a></strong> IEEE Computer 28(12):p.136 </li>
<li id="_note-12"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-12">^</a></strong> <strong>Computer Language</strong>, Oct 1990 </li>
<li id="_note-13"><strong><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science#_ref-13">^</a></strong> <cite style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><a title="David Parnas" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parnas">Parnas, David L.</a> (1998). "<a class="external text" title="http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/parnas98software.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/parnas98software.html" rel="nofollow">Software Engineering Programmes are not Computer Science Programmes</a>". <em>Annals of Software Engineering</em> <strong>6</strong>: 19–37.</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%5Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fciteseer.ist.psu.edu%2Fparnas98software.html+Software+Engineering+Programmes+are+not+Computer+Science+Programmes%5D&rft.jtitle=Annals+of+Software+Engineering&rft.date=1998&rft.volume=6&rft.aulast=Parnas&rft.aufirst=David+L.&rft.pages=19%E2%80%9337"> </span>, p. 19: "Rather than treat software engineering as a subfield of computer science, I treat it as an element of the set, {Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, ....}." </li>
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<li><a title="Association for Computing Machinery" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Computing_Machinery">Association for Computing Machinery</a>. <a class="external text" title="http://www.acm.org/class/1998/overview.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.acm.org/class/1998/overview.html" rel="nofollow">1998 ACM Computing Classification System</a>. 1998. </li> <li><a title="IEEE Computer Society" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_Computer_Society">IEEE Computer Society</a> and the <a title="Association for Computing Machinery" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Computing_Machinery">Association for Computing Machinery</a>. <a class="external text" title="http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_ieeecs/ieeecs/education/cc2001/cc2001.pdf" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_ieeecs/ieeecs/education/cc2001/cc2001.pdf" rel="nofollow">Computing Curricula 2001: Computer Science</a>. December 15, 2001. </li> <li><a title="Peter J. Denning" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Denning">Peter J. Denning</a>. <em><a class="external text" title="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1053309&coll=&dl=ACM&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618" rel="nofollow" href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1053309&coll=&dl=ACM&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618" rel="nofollow">Is computer science science?</a></em>, Communications of the ACM, April 2005. </li>
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<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Computer_Science/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Computer_Science/" rel="nofollow">Computer science</a> at the <a title="Open Directory Project" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Directory_Project">Open Directory Project</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://csdir.org" rel="nofollow" href="http://csdir.org/" rel="nofollow">Computer Science Directory</a> - search engine and directory dedicated to computer science. </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.lecturefox.com/computerscience/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lecturefox.com/computerscience/" rel="nofollow">Directory of free university lectures in Computer Science</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/" rel="nofollow" href="http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/" rel="nofollow">Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://se.ethz.ch/~meyer/gallery/" rel="nofollow" href="http://se.ethz.ch/~meyer/gallery/" rel="nofollow">Photographs of computer scientists</a> (<a title="Bertrand Meyer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Meyer">Bertrand Meyer</a>'s gallery) </li>
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