Computing

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Computing refers to all goal-oriented activities that are based on computers or algorithmic processes, benefit from them or produce them. Computing has a multitude of different forms, including the design, development and manufacture of hardware and software ; the processing, structuring and management of various types of information ; scientific research on and with computers; as well as collecting information for specific purposes. In addition to these examples, the term computing can be used in many other contexts.

An essential question that is common to all aspects of computing can be formulated: What can be (efficiently) automated?

In addition to these general definitions of terms, computing has more specific meanings depending on the context. For example, the term pervasive computing describes the networking of everyday life by means of “intelligent” objects, while in the context of high-performance computing, computing work with a high demand for computing power or storage capacity is meant.

history

Originally called computing, derived from the English verb compute (German: to calculate ), the process or act of calculating. The history of computing is therefore older than that of computer hardware and modern information technology. It also includes calculation methods and algorithms based on pen and paper or blackboard chalk and blackboard . Computing is closely linked to the representation of numbers , but even before such abstractions there were quasi-mathematical concepts such as the differentiation of quantities in animals .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Computing Curricula 2005. (No longer available online.) Joint Task Force for Computing Curricula 2005 (cooperative project of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS) and IEEE Computer Society ), September 30, 2005, archived from the original on October 21, 2014 ; Retrieved February 4, 2015 .
  2. ^ Douglas E. Comer, David Gries, Michael C. Mulder, Allen Tucker, A. Joe Turner, Paul R. Young, Peter J. Denning: Computing as a Discipline. (No longer available online.) Task Force on the Core of Computer Science, January 1989, archived from the original October 6, 2010 ; Retrieved February 4, 2015 .