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> what sort of science doesn't involve data There are many like theoretical computer science which do not involve data. > I say this as someone whose expertis

> what sort of science doesn't involve data There are many like theoretical computer science which do not involve data. > I say this as someone whose expertise is really sitting at the nexus of what would be considered data science. I feel as if I have been doing what might be considered data science for a long time, before there was a label for it, but watching its ascendance in demand and popularity has been troubling. I should be happy, but I feel like it's being driven by fashion rather than fundamentals, which makes me worried about the trajectory going forward, and disturbed by some communities being thrown under the bus. There will be a time where things will consolidate. During this time, people who really do data science will be stuck with while people who just have it as a title for the sake of it would face problems.

cholantesh 10y ago
>> what sort of science doesn't involve data >There are many like theoretical computer science which do not involve data. That computer science is a 'science' is also pretty contentious! :)
- ende 10y ago
  Much of computer science is a science. The contention seems to comes from the fact that software engineers tend to come from computer science departments. Maybe more universities should create separate software engineering departments?
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Much of computer science is a science. AFAICT, its mostly a subdomain of math, not science in the empirical sense.
    - denzil_correa 10y ago
      Reminds of me this - https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/
  - cholantesh 10y ago
    I don't feel qualified enough to discuss whether or not CS is truly a science, but I do think there's a strong distinction to be made between it and soft eng, for sure.
- denzil_correa 10y ago
  Math? A lot mathematics doesn't deal with data. Here's on whether CS is a science https://www.cs.mtu.edu/~john/jenning.pdf https://www.cs.mtu.edu/~john/jenning.pdf

cholantesh 10y ago

>> what sort of science doesn't involve data >There are many like theoretical computer science which do not involve data. That computer science is a 'science' is also pretty contentious! :)

ende 10y ago
Much of computer science is a science. The contention seems to comes from the fact that software engineers tend to come from computer science departments. Maybe more universities should create separate software engineering departments?
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Much of computer science is a science. AFAICT, its mostly a subdomain of math, not science in the empirical sense.
  - denzil_correa 10y ago
    Reminds of me this - https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/
- cholantesh 10y ago
  I don't feel qualified enough to discuss whether or not CS is truly a science, but I do think there's a strong distinction to be made between it and soft eng, for sure.
denzil_correa 10y ago
Math? A lot mathematics doesn't deal with data. Here's on whether CS is a science https://www.cs.mtu.edu/~john/jenning.pdf https://www.cs.mtu.edu/~john/jenning.pdf