Abstract
Although there is not universal agreement on a definition of computer science, I believe that it is the inclusion of a quantitative (mathematical) approach to our discipline that distinguishes “computer science” from “computer programming”. Mathematics provides both an established language with which to precisely define terms and established methods for problem solving. For example, the rather vague statement that “algorithm A is better than algorithm B” may be formulated unambiguously and verified or refuted with respect to certain performance measurements using the formalism of algorithm analysis (l). Mathematical methods also point toward the possibility of
I will now discuss certain mathematical ideas which naturally arise in computer science courses and cite relevant examples which will hopefully convince the reader that these ideas are worthy of formal study. Suggestions are then offered regarding the inclusion of these studies in the four-year computer science curriculum.
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- 2 Augenstein, Moshe and Tenebaum, Aaron, "A Lesson In Recursion and Structured Programming", SIGCSE Bulletin, February, 1976, pp. 17-23. Google Scholar
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Index Terms
“Recommended mathematical topics for computer science majors”
Recommendations
“Recommended mathematical topics for computer science majors”
SIGCSE '77: Proceedings of the eighth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science educationAlthough there is not universal agreement on a definition of computer science, I believe that it is the inclusion of a quantitative (mathematical) approach to our discipline that distinguishes “computer science” from “computer programming”. Mathematics ...
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