View source for Outline of computer science

{{Short description|Overview of and topical guide to computer science}}
<!--... Attention:  THIS IS AN OUTLINE

        part of the set of 870+ outlines listed at
             [[Wikipedia:Contents/Outlines]].

                 Wikipedia outlines are
              a special type of list article.
              They make up one of Wikipedia's
                content navigation systems

             See [[Wikipedia: Outlines]] and 
    [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines]] for more details.
                   Further improvements
              to this outline are on the way
...-->
[[Computer science]] (also called computing science) is the study of the theoretical foundations of [[information]] and [[computation]] and their implementation and application in [[computer]] systems. One well known subject classification system for computer science is the [[ACM Computing Classification System]] devised by the [[Association for Computing Machinery]].

Computer science can be described as all of the following:
* [[Academic discipline]]
* [[Science]]
** [[Applied science]]

{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

== Subfields ==

=== Mathematical foundations ===

* [[Coding theory]] – Useful in networking, programming, system development, and other areas where computers communicate with each other.
* [[Game theory]] – Useful in artificial intelligence and [[cybernetics]].
*[[Discrete mathematics]] – Study of discrete structures. Used in digital computer systems.
* [[Graph theory]] – Foundations for data structures and searching algorithms.
* [[Mathematical logic]] – [[Boolean logic]] and other ways of [[mathematical model|modeling]] logical queries; the uses and limitations of formal proof methods.
* [[Number theory]] – Theory of the [[integer]]s.  Used in [[cryptography]] as well as a test domain in [[artificial intelligence]].

=== Algorithms and data structures ===

* [[Algorithms]] – Sequential and parallel computational procedures for solving a wide range of problems.
* [[Data structure]]s – The organization and manipulation of data.

=== Artificial intelligence ===

[[Outline of artificial intelligence]]
* [[Artificial intelligence]] – The implementation and study of systems that exhibit an autonomous intelligence or behavior of their own.
*  [[Automated reasoning]] – Solving engines, such as used in [[Prolog]], which produce steps to a result given a query on a fact and rule database, and [[Automated theorem proving|automated theorem provers]] that aim to prove [[mathematical theorem]]s with some assistance from a programmer.
*  [[Computer vision]] – Algorithms for identifying three-dimensional objects from a two-dimensional picture.
* [[Soft computing]], the use of inexact solutions for otherwise extremely difficult problems:
** [[Machine learning]] – Development of models that are able to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions, by using algorithms and statistical models to analyze and draw inferences from patterns in data.
** [[Evolutionary computing]] – Biologically inspired algorithms.
*  [[Natural language processing]] – Building systems and algorithms that analyze, understand, and generate natural (human) languages.
*  [[Robotics]] – Algorithms for controlling the behavior of robots.

=== Communication and security===

*  [[Computer networking|Networking]] – Algorithms and protocols for reliably communicating data across different shared or dedicated media, often including [[error correction]].
*  [[Computer security]] – Practical aspects of securing computer systems and computer networks.
*  [[Cryptography]] – Applies results from complexity, probability, algebra, and number theory to invent and [[cryptoanalysis|break codes]], and analyze the security of [[cryptographic protocols]].

=== Computer architecture ===

* [[Computer architecture]] – The design, organization, optimization, and verification of a computer system, mostly about [[CPU]]s and [[Memory (computers)|Memory]] subsystems (and the bus connecting them).
*  [[Operating system]]s – Systems for managing computer programs and providing the basis of a usable system.

=== Computer graphics ===

*  [[Computer graphics]] – Algorithms both for generating visual images synthetically, and for integrating or altering visual and spatial information sampled from the real world.
*  [[Image processing]] – Determining information from an image through computation.
* [[Information visualization]] – Methods for representing and displaying abstract data to facilitate human interaction for exploration and understanding.

=== Concurrent, parallel, and distributed systems ===

* [[Parallel computing]] – The theory and practice of simultaneous computation; data safety in any multitasking or multithreaded environment.
* [[Concurrency (computer science)]] – Computing using multiple concurrent threads of execution, devising algorithms for solving problems on various processors to achieve maximal speed-up compared to sequential execution.
* [[Distributed computing]] – Computing using multiple computing devices over a network to accomplish a common objective or task, and thereby reducing the latency involved in single processor contributions for any task.

=== Databases ===
[[Outline of databases]]
* [[Relational databases]] – the [[set theory|set theoretic]] and algorithmic foundation of databases.
* [[Structured Storage]] – non-relational databases such as [[NoSQL]] databases. 
* [[Data mining]] – Study of algorithms for searching and processing information in documents and databases; closely related to [[information retrieval]].

=== Programming languages and compilers ===

* [[Compiler theory]] – Theory of [[compiler]] design, based on [[Automata theory]].
* [[Programming language|Programming language pragmatics]] – Taxonomy of programming languages, their strength, and weaknesses. Various [[programming paradigm]]s, such as [[object-oriented programming]].
* [[Programming language theory]] – Theory of programming language design
* [[Formal semantics of programming languages|Formal semantics]] – rigorous mathematical study of the meaning of programs.
* [[Type theory]] – Formal analysis of the types of data, and the use of these types to understand properties of programs — especially program safety.

=== Scientific computing ===
* [[Computational science]] &ndash; constructing [[scientific modeling|mathematical model]]s and [[numerical analysis|quantitative analysis]] techniques and using computers to analyze and solve [[scientific]] problems.
* [[Numerical analysis]] – Approximate numerical solution of mathematical problems such as [[Root-finding algorithm|root-finding]], [[Numerical integration|integration]], the [[Numerical ordinary differential equations|solution of ordinary differential equations]]; the approximation of [[special functions]].
* [[Symbolic computation]] – Manipulation and solution of expressions in symbolic form, also known as [[Computer algebra]].
* [[Computational physics]] – Numerical simulations of large non-analytic systems
* [[Computational chemistry]] – Computational modelling of theoretical chemistry in order to determine chemical structures and properties
* [[Bioinformatics]] and [[Computational biology]] – The use of computer science to maintain, analyze, store [[biological data]] and to assist in solving biological problems such as [[Protein folding]], function prediction and [[Phylogeny]].
* [[Computational neuroscience]] – Computational modelling of [[neurophysiology]].
* [[Computational Linguistics|Computational linguistics]]
* [[Computational logic]]
* [[Computational engineering]]

=== Software engineering ===
[[Outline of software engineering]]
* [[Formal methods]] – Mathematical approaches for describing and reasoning about software design.
* [[Software engineering]] – The principles and practice of designing, developing, and testing programs, as well as proper engineering practices.
*  [[Algorithm design]] – Using ideas from algorithm theory to creatively design solutions to real tasks.
*  [[Computer programming]] – The practice of using a programming language to implement algorithms.
*  [[Human–computer interaction]] – The study and design of computer interfaces that people use.
* [[Reverse engineering]] – The application of the scientific method to the understanding of arbitrary existing software.

=== Theory of computation ===
{{main | Theory of computation}}
* [[Automata theory]] – Different logical structures for solving problems.
* [[Computability theory (computer science)|Computability theory]] – What is calculable with the current models of computers. Proofs developed by [[Alan Turing]] and others provide insight into the possibilities of what may be computed and what may not.
** [[List of unsolved problems in computer science]]
* [[Computational complexity theory]] – Fundamental bounds (especially time and storage space) on classes of computations.
* [[Quantum computing]] theory – Explores computational models involving [[quantum superposition]] of bits.

== History ==

* [[History of computer science]]
* [[List of pioneers in computer science]]
* [[History of artificial intelligence|History of Artificial Intelligence]]
* [[History of operating systems|History of Operating Systems]]

== Professions ==
* [[Computer scientist|Computer Scientist]]
* [[Programmer|Programmer (Software developer)]]
* [[Teacher]]/[[Professor]]
* [[Software engineer]]
* [[Software architect]]
* [[Software tester]]
* [[Hardware engineer]]
* [[Data analyst]]
* [[Interaction designer]]
* [[Network administrator]]
* [[Data scientist]]

== Data and data structures==
* [[Data structure]]
* [[Datatype|Data type]]
* [[Associative array]] and [[Hash table]]
* [[Array data structure|Array]]
* [[List (computing)|List]]
* [[Tree (data structure)|Tree]]
* [[String (computer science)|String]]
* [[Matrix (computer science)]]
* [[Databases|Database]]

==Programming paradigms==

* [[Imperative programming]]/[[Procedural programming]]
* [[Functional programming]]
* [[Logic programming]]
* [[Declarative programming|Declarative Programming]]
* [[Event-driven programming|Event-Driven Programming]]
* [[Object oriented programming]]
** [[Class (computer science)|Class]]
** [[Inheritance (object-oriented programming)|Inheritance]]
** [[Object (computer science)|Object]]

== See also ==

* [[Abstraction (computer science)|Abstraction]]
* [[Big O notation]]
* [[Closure (computer science)|Closure]]
* [[Compiler]]
* [[Cognitive science]]

== External links ==
{{sister project links|Computer science}}

* [[List of computer scientists|List of Computer Scientists]]
* [[Glossary of computer science|Glossary of Computer Science]]

{{Computer science}}
{{Outline footer}}

[[Category:Outlines of computing and engineering|Computer science]]
[[Category:Outlines|Computer science]]
[[Category:Computer science|*]]
[[Category:Computing-related lists|Computer science topics]]