what is computer science really about?

What is Computer science really about?

    Since we are almost two weeks into the second semester, I can probably provide a somewhat accurate answer for this question and hopefully, as I proceed through this semester, I will get to discover more about csc165 and about computer science in general.

    First off, I have to mention that I was not originally considering computer science as a major. I decided to take csc108 in the first semester to get an idea about what computer science is really about. And now, as a computer science student, I am really glad I tried it out. 

    

    Now, I have to mention the purpose behind this quick biography; through studying computer science, I have found that lots of comments concerning computer science are totally untrue. Here are the top 3 'computer science myths' :

I have to state that these are not facts, it is just my own personal opinion and if you have different views, please share. 

MYTH 1:

computer science is all about programming/computers/codes.……etc

This may seem as a very reasonable claim but I think computer science is more than just using a programming language to write codes.

Computer science is not only about implementing a code, but also about making the code work and proving that it will do what it is supposed to do.

In other words, it is about logic and reasoning and I can find no better proof than the fact that we have to take csc165 in our first year of studying computer science, a course about logic and mathematical reasoning.

In csc165, we have barely used computers and most of the work is happening on paper (and in our brains).

MYTH 2:

  If you want to take computer science in university, you must have a programming experience.

This was of a huge concern for me since I had no programming experience  whatsoever and although I admit people with past programming experience had some sort of an advantage over me (They got to skip csc108). What I notice now is it does not matter since computer science is also about logic and implementing is only one part of it and thus I think that anyone who is eager to learn computer science has the potential to do great.

MYTH 3:

csc is all about human machine interactions (you don’t get to talk to other people)

Totally wrong! I think by far, my computer science courses are where I got to talk to many people. In all lab/tutorial sections, we are always encouraged to work together in pairs. group programming (I think that is the correct term ) is always stressed and supported in all labs. And in csc165 lectures, we always get time to talk to other people about our reasoning for a certain problem, which really helps.