4 ms·
Maybe part of the problem is the misnomer of the whole field itself. CS is not really science, it's math. It's about tools that every professional and scientist
by DeepDuh 14y ago
Maybe part of the problem is the misnomer of the whole field itself. CS is not really science, it's math. It's about tools that every professional and scientist will later need. And as such, I'd argue that teaching is actually more important than research.
Of course, these tools need to be researched and developed as well, but more importantly do we need very capable teachers in order for people to build their foundation. IMO every Master of Science should have a good overview of which tools in math and "CS" there are available, and they should be proficient in at least two of each.
- timtadh 14y agoNo we do science too. Math is a fundamental part of lots of CS branches but we also do straight up science (with the whole research question, hypothesis, experiment, evaluate cycle).
- troymc 14y agoI'm willing to be convinced either way, but it seems to me that there's nothing in computer science you can't figure out by thinking or using pen and paper (maybe a lot of pen and paper). You don't have to "ask nature" as Feynman would say. Contrast that with figuring out the Gravitational constant, say. The only way to estimate its value is by doing some careful measurements (i.e. asking nature). Sure there may be some calculations, but without the measurements, they're a waste of time.