Computer science

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Donald Knuth (American computer scientist, creator of TeX formatter) defines computer science as the study of algorithms.

Knuth is the author of the series "The Art of Computer Programming" (1968), creator of TeX computer typesetting system, and advocate of literate programming.

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Book: Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs

Wirth defines programs as composed of data structures and algorithms (Wirth, 1975, Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs)

Data structures: data component
Algorithms: code component

Code can be data and data can be code. Von Neumann first recognized this principle.

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John von Neumann had the brilliant insight that data could be code and code could be data. Today, that computing paradigm, used by all conventional computers, is called a Von Neumann architecture based on a 1945 description by Von Neumann.

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Compilers treat programs as data input and generate data output as programs.

Book: Computational Logic and Human Thinking

Kowalski (Logic Programming) separates algorithms (ways to do things) into logic and control components. (Kowalski, ref needed).

Algorithm = Logic + Control:

Logic is what is to be done.
Control is how to do it.

Declarative systems (Prolog, spreadsheets, word processors) require one to specify what one wants.
Imperative languages require one to tell the computer what to do (C, C++, Java, etc.).

The essence of computer science is the search for finite representations of potentially infinite objects.

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Computer/Information science can be defined as the search for finite representations of (potentially) infinite objects.

The more finite the time, the faster the program runs.
The more finite the space, the less space the program requires.

Recognizing patterns and effectively and efficiently using such patterns is an important part of computer science.

Is this possible? Does it make sense?

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The Towers of Hanoi problem is a simple problem whose solution is intractable. A tower of 3 is a simple exercise.

Change the 3 to 80 and the program will not finish even in 15,000,000,000 (15 billion) years!
The eager solution in Python would never finish. The lazy program would continue to return results as called for the next value.

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