This article is devoted to the consideration of such issues as the subject and tasks of computer science. Before proceeding to their coverage, we define the term, the meaning of which should be clearly indicated.
The word "computer science" first appeared in France in the 60s of the last century to refer to the area that is engaged in automated processing of information and uses electronic computers for this. This term was formed by the merger of the other two - "automation" and "information". It means automated processing of information or information automation. This term corresponds to the concept of "computer science" in English-speaking countries, that is, the science of computer technology.
We invite the reader to preface consideration of topics such as the subject and tasks of computer science, familiarity with the history of its occurrence.
History of Computer Science
We can find the sources of information in the depths of centuries. The need to express and remember it led many centuries ago to the emergence of speech, counting, writing. Our ancestors tried to invent and further improve ways of storing information, its processing and distribution. Various evidences of attempts by people of the distant past to preserve it have been found in our days. These are such methods as writing on clay tablets and birch bark, cave paintings, and then manuscript books.
In the 16th century, a printing press appeared. His invention contributed to a significant increase in the ability to store and process the necessary information. The information presented in printed form was the main method of exchange and storage, and until the mid-20th century it continued to remain. Only with the advent of computers did fundamentally new, much more effective methods of its storage, collection, transmission, processing appeared, the subject and tasks of computer science were formulated.
General definition of computer science
Many definitions can be given. This is due to the versatility of its inherent methods, forms, capabilities and functions. The following definition of computer science is one of the most common.
Informatics is a field of human activity that is associated with various processes of information conversion carried out using computers, as well as with their interaction with the corresponding application environment.
Cybernetics and computer science
Often there is a confusion of two concepts: "cybernetics" and "computer science". Let's determine what their similarities are and how they differ from each other.
Cybernetics is the science of some general principles of management operating in various systems: social, biological, technical, etc. The subject and tasks of computer science are somewhat different. She studies more widely the processes of creating and transforming information, almost without affecting the solution of problems associated with the management of certain objects, as cybernetics does. Its occurrence became possible due to the development of computer technology, which is based on it and is inconceivable without it. The development of cybernetics takes place on its own and, although it uses the achievements of computer technology quite actively, it does not at all depend on them, since it builds different models for managing objects.
Computer science in the broad and narrow sense of the word
In the broad sense of the word, computer science is the unity of the various branches of science, production and technology that are associated with the processing of information. But what in the narrow sense? It can distinguish 3 interconnected parts of computer science.
1. Computer science as a branch of the national economy
The first of these is the sector of the national economy. In this sense, computer science consists of a certain homogeneous set of companies engaged in various forms of management, which are engaged in the production of software products, computer equipment and the development of information processing technology. The significance, specificity, goals and objectives of computer science in this sense are determined by the fact that it is to it that the growth of labor productivity in various sectors of the economy depends to a large extent. Many jobs around the world today are equipped with automation.
2. Computer science as a fundamental science
As a fundamental science, computer science is developing a methodology for providing information support for various processes of managing objects based on computer information systems. The following leading research areas existing in Europe can be distinguished: medical and economic informatics, computer-integrated production, development of a network structure, environmental and social insurance informatics, and professional information systems.
Let us describe the main goals and objectives of fundamental informatics. Its purpose is to obtain generalized knowledge about various information systems, as well as to identify general patterns in their functioning and construction. Its tasks are as follows:
- explore various theories of information systems and technologies;
- develop a methodology for how to create information support for various computer systems.
3. Applied aspect
Describing the subject of computer science as an applied science, we note that it is engaged in:
- the creation of various information communication models that function in many areas of human activity;
- the study of patterns that exist in information processes (distribution, processing, accumulation);
- the development of technologies and information systems in specific areas, as well as the development of recommendations regarding their life cycle for various stages (design, production, operation, etc.).
The main tasks of computer science
Its main function is to develop tools and methods for converting information, as well as to use them in organizing various technological processes of its processing.
The following main tasks of computer science can be distinguished:
- study of information processes of any nature;
- solving engineering and scientific problems of implementation, creation, ensuring the most effective use of computer technology and technology in various areas of public life;
- development of information technology, as well as the creation on the basis of research results of various information processes of the latest information processing technology.
Computer science as a complex discipline
It should be said that it does not exist by itself. Computer science is a complex discipline (scientific and technical), which is aimed at creating new information technologies and techniques. They serve to solve problems arising in other areas. In the information society, its industry complex is leading. There is a trend towards increasing awareness in the world. It depends to a large extent on the progress of this particular field of knowledge, its unity as a science, production and technology.
Computer Science Applications
Computer science today is widely used in various areas of our lives: in science, production, education and many other areas of activity. The need for expensive and complex experiments inevitably arises in connection with the development of modern science. An example is the development of fusion reactors. The role of computer science is to replace real experiments with machine tools. This saves significant resources, provides the ability to process the latest results with the latest techniques. In addition, such experiments take much less time than real ones. And in some areas of scientific knowledge (for example, in astrophysics) it is simply impossible to conduct a real experiment. Then computer science comes to the rescue. Basically, in these areas, all studies are carried out using model and computational experiments.
Further development of computer science, as well as any other science, leads to new discoveries and achievements. New applications are emerging that were previously difficult to even imagine.
The connection of computer science with other branches of knowledge
Computer science is a wide area of scientific knowledge that arose at the junction of applied and fundamental disciplines. As a complex scientific discipline, it is associated with the following branches of knowledge:
- with psychology and philosophy (through the theory of knowledge and the doctrine of information);
- with mathematics (through discrete mathematics, the theory of mathematical modeling and algorithms, mathematical logic);
- with linguistics it is connected through the doctrine of sign systems and formal languages;
- with cybernetics, as we have already noted, - through the theory of control and information;
- with radio engineering, electronics, chemistry and physics - through the material part of information systems and a computer.
Computing sciences that study the methods and principles of organizing various computing processes, global and local computer networks are falling into the field of science of computer science. On the other hand, it also includes cognitive sciences, which are designed to study human efforts in the field of thinking in order to improve the intellectual qualities of computers.
Computer science as a branch of the economy
As a branch of the economy, computer science is a combination of business entities that are designed to serve users (information), produce processing tools, and create software. There is a tendency to move from an industrial society where everything is directed to the production and consumption of goods, to an information one.
Today, various means of computer science are widely used in the economy. They are used in practice:
- trade, production and banking management;
- auditing and accounting;
- The budget process in municipal and state institutions;
- e-business and e-commerce;
- Treasury management, auctions and trading exchanges.
Economic informatics is a science that is designed to form a theory of modeling the activities of various business entities, municipal, state and regional entities. Its goals are determined by the goals of the economy. That is, they consist in providing business entities, municipal and state services and organizations with information technology. What is the subject of economic informatics? It consists in the search for patterns that exist in information modeling, as well as methods for providing knowledge about the economic activities of organizations (enterprises) to an economic and other entity, and the implementation of information technology management practices.
Methods of modeling and studying economic processes
There are many methods for modeling and studying economic processes. They are both specific and general scientific. General scientific: synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction, abstraction, analogy, concretization. All of them reveal patterns that exist in sustainable phenomena or processes. Specific methods are focused on information phenomena reflecting economic processes, such as:
- Mathematical: deterministic, stochastic, imitation, optimization and network modeling, fuzzy mathematics, mathematical, systemic, factorial, regression and other types of analysis;
- information-logical: graphs and charts, graphs, visual and standardized means of representing information flows and business processes.
What is a computer?
The basic concepts of computer science include various computers, since they are the main technical means that serve to process it. They can be classified according to a number of signs: by purpose, operating principle, size of computing power, methods of organizing the computing process itself, functionality, etc.
Computer classification by purpose
You can divide the computer by appointment into the following 3 groups.
1. General purpose (universal). They are designed to solve various engineering problems: mathematical, economic, informational and others, which differ in the large amount of data to be processed, as well as the complexity of the algorithms. Characteristic features of computer data are their high performance, as well as the variety of data forms that are to be processed (symbolic, decimal, binary), the variety of operations performed (special, logical, arithmetic), significant RAM capacity, as well as an advanced information input-output system .
2. The second group is problem-oriented. Their purpose is to solve a narrower range of tasks that are usually associated with technological objects, the accumulation, registration and processing of small amounts of data.
3. Specialized are used to solve a very narrow range of tasks. This reduces the cost and complexity of such computers, while maintaining reliability and greater productivity.
Information technology
Describing the basic concepts of computer science, one can not help but say a few words about information technology. This is a combination of specific software and hardware that serves to perform various operations related to the processing of information in any area of our lives. Information technology is sometimes called applied computer science or computer technology. This concept arose with the formation of the information society, in which the basis of social dynamics are information, rather than traditional material resources. This is science, knowledge, intellectual abilities, organizational factors, creativity, initiative, etc. This concept, unfortunately, is so comprehensive and general that specialists still have not come to its clear formulation. The most successful definition was given by academician Glushkov, who interpreted information technology as a human-machine technology for transmitting, processing, and collecting information based on the use of various computing techniques. It is developing rapidly and embracing more and more types of social activities: management, production, education, science, medicine, financial and banking operations, life, etc.
School course in computer science
The main task of the school subject "Informatics" is to ensure a conscious and lasting mastery by students of knowledge regarding the processes of transformation, receipt, use, storage of information. On this basis, the computer science teacher should also reveal its role in shaping the scientific picture of the world that has developed today, the importance of computer technology and information technology in the development of modern society. The task also consists in instilling in students the skills of rational and conscious use of computers in educational and further professional activities.
The following questions should be highlighted by a computer science teacher:
- information, various information processes, as well as the languages of its presentation;
- information modeling;
- programming and algorithmization;
- a computer as a means of processing information;
- New information technologies for its processing existing today.
These lines are cross-cutting, that is, their study occurs at all stages (from 2 to 11 class). Computer science is divided into three levels at school. These levels take into account the age of the students as well as their training.
The first level is the initial level (from the 2nd to the 6th grade), the second is the basic level (from the 7th to the 9th grade), the third is the core one (the 10th and 11th grades). Moreover, the program for classes 2 through 9 is an obligatory minimum. In high school, in-depth training in computer science is carried out on various profiles. This provides training for professional activities. Already covered topics are examined in more detail, various classes of programs are studied.
Informatics: USE
In this subject, the exam is one of the longest exams, which lasts about 4 hours. In 2014, the minimum passing score was 40. Preparation should begin long before the day of testing, and high results in this case will be achieved.
Computer science tasks are divided into blocks depending on their complexity. A1-A13 - basic questions with a choice of several answer options.For each correct choice 1 point is supposed. Tasks on computer science B1-B15 are already tasks of increased complexity. Numbers or last digits are the answer to them. The most difficult tasks in computer science are C1-C4. It is necessary to give the most complete answer to them.
In each version of the exam, computer science tasks are connected in one way or another with a computer. However, when solving tasks from category C, it is forbidden to use a calculator and a PC.