undefined | Better HN

0 pointskykeonaut3y ago0 comments

To paraphrase Harold Abelson:

Computer Science is not really very much about computers. And it’s not about computers in the same sense that physics isn’t really about particle accelerators, and biology is not really about microscopes and petri dishes. It is about formalizing intuitions about process: how to do things [0].

[0]: https://www.driverlesscrocodile.com/technology/the-wizard-1-....

0 comments

3 comments · 3 top-level

gpderetta3y ago

“Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes”

- Edsger Dijkstra

2 more replies

mtlmtlmtlmtl3y ago

Watching Abelson give that lecture(on video I mean, first lecture of SICP IIRC) made a lot of things click in my head as a neophyte programmer. Even after one lecture my understanding of the nature of computation had grown immensely.

He and Sussman are great at distilling and explaining abstract concepts in a clear and precise way.

coldtea3y ago

That's irrelevant though, because actual programming is very much about computers, and about writing things the majority of which have already been formalized by computer scientists, and gluing code and programs inti pipelines...

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse