Table of Contents
What is Computer Science?
Informatics or computer science is a science that studies the methods and techniques to store, process, and transmit information in an automat manner, specifically in digital format using computerized systems.
There isn’t a single, universal definition of computer science, perhaps because it is one of the most recent sciences, albeit one of the most vertiginous and rampant development.
That is why they usually differentiate between this discipline and computer science (or computer engineering) in many academic spaces, considering that the latter has a more theoretical approach to the subject. In contrast, computer science always has a practical and functional side linked with electronic devices.
On the other hand, others consider Computer skills, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering as sub-disciplines of informatics.
Computer science as a discipline involves the automatic processing of information through electronic devices and computer systems. The latter has three essential functions: data entry (entry), data processing, and transmission of results (output).
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Characteristics of Computer Science
Informatics or computer science is a science that studies the methods and techniques to store, process, and transmit information in an automat manner, specifically in digital format using computerized systems. After a detailed study of computer science, you will be able to become part of a dedicated software development team.
Computing, broadly speaking, can be branded as follows:
- Its object of study can pot in the mechanical processing of information through computerised digital systems.
- Although it is not an experimental science, both theoretical and practical approaches to computer systems propose.
- It borrows the formal language of logic and mathematics to express the dealings between data systems and their operations.
- It is one of the youngest scientific corrections, formally emerging in the second half of the 20th century.
History of Computing
Contrary to popular belief, computing predates the creation of computers. It has ancient antecedents in the mental calculating machines of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Euclid (c. 325-265 BC) and his famous algorithm, or the mechanical calculators of the 17th century and the machines of 19th century programmable
Though, in the top half of the 20th period, the technology needs to mature the first computers create. Among these advances are the space tube, logic gates, and the first circuits, which inaugurate a field of knowledge that soon revolutionized all others and changed the way we think about work.
During the first three periods of the century, work on algorithms was also central, under the genius of figures such as the British statistician Alan Turing (1912-1954). On the other hand, the setting of the Second World War prompts the first automatic calculators that were set up to decipher the enemy’s war codes.
What is Computing Science for?
Computing has as its essential purpose the storage and retrieval of information, which has been one of the critical concerns of humanity since the beginning of time. In this intellect, the first storage system was writing itself, which permissible messages to fix and later saved through marks on a surface.
In this way, information technology has taken that same principle to the maximum, creating systems and devices that store, produce, transmit and reproduce information massively, efficiently, and quickly. It is not for nothing that information technology intervenes today in practically all other fields of knowledge in one way or another.
Importance of Computing Science
The rank of computing today could not be more obvious. In a hyper-technical and hyper-connected world, information has become one of the world’s most precious assets. The complex IT systems we’ve built allow us to manage it faster and more competently than ever before in history.
Computing is one of the most needed disciplines in the world university market. It has the most significant and fastest job opportunities since almost no aspect of daily life is still outside the digital world and large information processing systems.
The big data (or “big gen”) that our devices gather is evidence of this: we live in the information age, and computing could not be more critical.
Basics of Computing Science
The most basic concepts of computing are hardware and software.
Hardware is the physical, rigid, concrete, and tangible aspect of computer systems. They are, thus, the pieces and components that we can touch, argue, break, etc., rather like the “body” of the computer.
This category includes vital dispensation components (such as the control processor) or storage devices (memory and hard drives) and
Depending on what these functions are, we can talk about:
- input devices: Those that allow info to arrive into the system, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a webcam, or a scanner.
- Output devices allow extracting or recovering information from the system, such as the monitor, a printer, or some speakers.
- Input/output devices: Those capable of performing both functions simultaneously or in succession, such as a multifunctional printer or a touch monitor.
There are many sorts of software, some of which are already pre-install in critical sectors of the computer. In contrast, others serve as an interface among the system and users, governing devices. Its controls resources and allows the installation of secondary programs that the user wants. The software would become the mind of the computer system, intangible, abstract, and only accessible through the system.
Thus, we can talk about:
- Operating software or operating systems: Those plans that need minimum functioning. On the system and for the user to have access to its resources. These introductory programs provide the user with an operating environment and regulation. Its access to the system’s physical resources, such as memory, processor, etc.
- Application Software: Those programs that the user installs in the system later and offer certain functions, ranging from work to leisure: video games, word processors, graphic design programs, antivirus programs, network explorers, etc.
The Technology of Computing Science
Computer technology is understood as the study, development, management, and implementation of automat computer systems, especially from the perspective of software.
Thus, information technology specialists dedicated to different areas of computer activity. Such as software design, computer networking, automated systems management, database design, etc. Its purpose is to facilitate the operation of these technologies in business, production, or organizational settings.
History and Evolution
The first completely automatic programmable machine in history is considered to be the Z3 computer. In designed by the German scientist Konrad Zuse in 1941. This machine weighed 1,000 kilograms and took three seconds to perform multiplication or a division. The addition or subtraction operations, on the other hand, took 0.7 seconds.
The evolution of computing in recent periods is not as fascinating as its users have gone through. Many of them went from a state of lack of interest to one of absolute dependence on technology. There are tones in this story: using a computer or a mobile handset does not make us experts. It is already more than keeping us on the side of this phenomenon simply. Due to the lack of will to understand its potential.
Conclusion
the term computing comes from the French Informatique, realized by the engineer Philippe Dreyfus in the early 1960s. The word is, in turn, an abbreviation for information and automatique.
In this way, computing refers to the reflex processing of information through electronic devices and computer systems. Computer systems must have the ability to fulfil three basic tasks: input (information capture), processing, and output (broadcast of results). The set of these three errands is known as an algorithm.
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