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On the nature of computing science (1984)

On the nature of Computing Science Now this summer school draws to a close, it seems appropriate to try to put its topic into some perspective Its official theme: Control Flow and Data flow: Concepts of Distributed Programming only determined the flavour, for regularly we were led to pretty general questions that seem rather central to computing in general. So, what is the nature of computing science, or, perhaps more precisely, what should its nature be? There is much confusion about that, and that confusion should not amaze us, for computers nowadays have so many different aspects: - You can view computers primarily as industrial products, intended to be sold with profit.

A burning question then becomes whether to advertise them with Charlie Chaplin or with Mickey Mouse and a computing science curriculum should contain a course in Sales Promotion as a major component. The above enumeration is not exhaustive; I leave it to you to design and justify a dominant rôle in computing for the management scientists, the linguists, the experimental physicists and the educationists. As you can imagine, the planning of these two grandiose research projects required more foresight than could be provided by the seers of the day and accurate prediction of the future became the third hot scientific topic.

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