To us, here and now, it appears thus.

Being an undergraduate in computer science for the past four years has affirmed my belief in computer science being a true and separate science in is own right as opposed to being a branch of engineering or just applied mathematics. The more I learn about what constitutes the fundamentals of computer science, the more I’m sure of it. But to characterize it in a simple way is currently beyond my limited understanding of this vast branch of human knowledge.

Computer Science is as much about computers as microbiology is about microscopes or astronomy is about telescopes. Agreed, both the microscope and telescopes are essential instruments in their fields, yet they are not the object of study themselves, that onus falls on the field of optics. Similarly computers are vital instruments in computer science, but they are not the objects of study themselves. The systematic study of devices which can perform the fundamental function of a computer – computation, in itself is computer engineering.

Computer Science is the formal study of process and information. It is the study of fundamental limits at which discretely and unambiguously specified process (called algorithms) work. It is the study of how information is transformed from one form to another, making it more useful in one way or the other. It is the study of how those above mentioned process interact with information and vice versa. Computer Science in essence is the study of computation and information.

If we can agree that computer science is the study of computation and information, then why should we proceed calling it computer science at all. I’m sure astronomers don’t call astronomy telescope-science or microbiologists microscope-science. Why not call computer science for what it actually is? – Computational and Informational Science.

Signing Off,
Vishnu Vyas.