Introduction to Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation and information. Computer science deals with theory of computation, algorithms, computational problems and the design of computer systems hardware, software and applications.
Introduction of Computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to accept data (input), process it into useful information (output), and store it away (in a secondary storage device) for safekeeping or later reuse. The processing of input to output is directed by the software but performed by the hardware.
What is Computational Thinking?
Computational thinking is the process of breaking down a complex problem into easy to understand parts. Essentially, computational thinking helps you break down a problem into bite-sized pieces that a computer could understand and ultimately help solve.
Computational thinking is not programming. Programming tells a computer what to do and how to do it. Whereas computational thinking is the process of figuring out what to tell the computer to do. Computational thinking is the process of thinking like a computer scientist.
The Four Pillars of Computational Thinking
The process of computational thinking can be broken down into four components, or pillars.
- Decomposition — breaking down a problem into smaller parts
- Pattern Recognition — looking for similarities within a problem
- Abstracation — ignoring unimportant information and only focussing on important information
- Algorithms — developing the step-by-step rules to follow in order to solve the problem
Each of these pillars plays a crucial role in computational thinking and using them correctly leads to a better understanding of computational thinking.
Foundations of Computer Science
1. Binary & ASCII
Internally, computers represent all data using bits: Each bit is an individual atom of memory that can be either off or on, which we interpret as 0 (off) or 1 (on).
Binary :- Computers use binary — the digits 0 and 1 — to store data. The circuits in a computer’s processor are made up of billions of transistors . A transistor is a tiny switch that is activated by the electronic signals it receives. The digits 1 and 0 used in binary reflect the on and off states of a transistor.
ASCII :- ASCII is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a widely used standard for encoding text documents on computers. This encoding system not only lets a computer store a document as a series of numbers, but also lets it share such documents with other computers that use the ASCII system.
2. Algorithm
An algorithm is a set of instructions that describes how to get something done. Algorithms can be designed using pseudocode and flow charts. They are written using statements and expressions. Computer Science.
3. Pseudocode
In computer science, pseudocode is a plain language description of the steps in an algorithm or another system. Pseudocode often uses structural conventions of a normal programming language, but is intended for human reading rather than machine reading.
4. Memory
Computer memory is any physical device capable of storing information temporarily, like RAM (random access memory), or permanently, like ROM (read-only memory). Memory devices utilize integrated circuits and are used by operating systems, software, and hardware.
Computer is a very flexible and powerful tool, and it is a tool that is ours to control. Files and documents, especially those in open standard formats, can be manipulated using a variety of software tools, not just one specific piece of software. A programming language is a tool that allows us to manipulate data stored in files and to manipulate data held in RAM in unlimited ways. Even with a basic knowledge of programming, we can perform a huge variety of data processing tasks.
A related idea is that computer code is the preferred approach to communicating our instructions to the computer. This approach allows us to be precise and expressive, it provides a complete record of our actions, and it allows others to replicate our work.