The concept of information in the modern scientific world is ambiguous. Despite the fact that it appeared quite a long time ago, scientists still can not give a strict definition of this term and argue that it should be considered as an indefinable primary concept. In computer science textbooks you can find the following definitions:
Information - information or knowledge about something; knowledge that can be collected, stored, transferred, processed and used. Information in informatics is a basic concept of science, since informatics is the science of information, its structure and properties, methods of its processing and transmission. Computer science studies information using the main tool - a computer.
The term itself, translated from Latin, means “information”, “statement”. Today, science is in search of common properties and patterns that are inherent in information, but so far information in computer science is an intuitive concept that has different meanings in different areas of human activity.
Despite the presence of a large number of definitions, we single out the most general and understandable. Information is a reflection of the world through signals and signs. The value of the information message lies in the new knowledge that it contains.
Types of information in computer science. Depending on the method of perception, it can be perceived using the eyes, organs of hearing, smell, taste and touch. In addition, the presentation form distinguishes textual, numerical, graphic and sound. In the same classification is video information.
Information in computer science has a number of properties. These include completeness, reliability, relevance, accessibility, security, relevance (ability to meet requests), ergonomics.
Information as a special kind of resource has properties characteristic of it. These include: memorability, reproducibility, transmissibility, convertibility and abrasion.
Moreover, the information carrier can be any object of the material world, waves (acoustic, electromagnetic, etc.), matter in any state. There are also machine carriers (e.g. magnetic tape). Information is transmitted in computer science using signals.
A signal is a physical process that has an informational meaning and can be discrete or continuous. The first takes only a finite number of values for a certain number of time points, and a continuous one that constantly changes both in time and in amplitude. Signals that carry symbolic or textual information are discrete. Examples of analogue signals are telephone or television.
Today , computer science is developing very rapidly, and today in the science of information there are a number of new areas, such as programming, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer technology, information systems and theoretical information. The concept of information in computer science is relatively new in the human vocabulary, and despite the widespread use of this word in speech, its content remains fuzzy and blurry. Informatics is related to information and its processing on computers. On an intuitive level, everything is clear, however, if you look closely, the question becomes much more complicated than it might seem at first glance.
Since computers are widespread today, and humanity is experiencing an information boom, the basics of computer science should be clear to every modern individual who wants to keep up with the times. It was these factors that influenced the fact that the teaching of computer science was introduced into the school curriculum and that every young person has the opportunity to master this new, but very interesting and necessary science.