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Computer science is (and must be) about programming. It need not be about C, or present-day digital computers, or even anything to do with the von Neumann mode

Computer science is (and must be) about programming. It need not be about C, or present-day digital computers, or even anything to do with the von Neumann model. But there must always be a formal notation for describing computations, and students of Computer Science must always learn to treat that notation with rigor and come to grips with its nuances. Probably too they must always deal with the concept of indirection, and think about references to (objects that contain) other references. I'll grant you, though, a language with a saner notation for describing pointers (and types in general) would be easier to learn than C, and could still be equally useful - if not moreso.

macintux 9y ago
Programming is a critical tool, but computer science isn't about programming any more than physics is about advanced mathematics.
- mac01021 9y ago
  What is it about, then?
  - macintux 9y ago
    When I think computer science, I think things like the lambda calculus, invented before programming languages. Richard Hamming's work on information theory. In the distributed systems world we have Lamport's work on vector clocks and Paxos, the CAP theorem by Brewer, the Domino paper from Amazon. In other spaces we have the machine learning and neural networks, blockchain... These are computer science, and they're certainly implemented with programming languages, but they were conceived (and often proved) independently of any implementation.
    - jacobr1 9y ago
      I think what the prior posting was getting at (and this too is fuzzy and doesn't capture the full scope of CS) is that most of what you mention is algorithmic. Understanding, proving, and discussing algorithms requires describing and reasoning about computation using some form of notation. That doesn't require any particular programming language or pseudo-code notation. But it does require something to communicate with any kind of rigor.

macintux 9y ago

Programming is a critical tool, but computer science isn't about programming any more than physics is about advanced mathematics.

mac01021 9y ago
What is it about, then?
- macintux 9y ago
  When I think computer science, I think things like the lambda calculus, invented before programming languages. Richard Hamming's work on information theory. In the distributed systems world we have Lamport's work on vector clocks and Paxos, the CAP theorem by Brewer, the Domino paper from Amazon. In other spaces we have the machine learning and neural networks, blockchain... These are computer science, and they're certainly implemented with programming languages, but they were conceived (and often proved) independently of any implementation.
  - jacobr1 9y ago
    I think what the prior posting was getting at (and this too is fuzzy and doesn't capture the full scope of CS) is that most of what you mention is algorithmic. Understanding, proving, and discussing algorithms requires describing and reasoning about computation using some form of notation. That doesn't require any particular programming language or pseudo-code notation. But it does require something to communicate with any kind of rigor.