Section 2.3 What Is Computer Science?
Given a problem, a computer scientist’s goal is to develop an algorithm, a step-by-step list of instructions for solving any instance of the problem that might arise. These algorithms are implemented as programs so that they can be executed by a computer.
This book intentionally omits some details about the C++ language, because our main goal is teaching you how to think like a computer scientist. Learning how to read and write code is an essential part of becoming a computer scientist, but it is not the the only part.
One of the most interesting aspects of writing programs is deciding how to solve a particular problem, especially when there are multiple solutions. Sometimes the decisions we make involve technical details of how to represented or process some data. C++ gives us great power to make those decisions, but the concepts behind the decisions we make are often universal to programming.
Other decisions we make are about what algorithm to use to solve a particular problem. For example, there are many algorithms for sorting a list, and each has its own advantages. In order to determine which way is best for a given situation, we need techniques for describing and analyzing solutions formally. Computer science is the science of algorithms, including their discovery and analysis. As you learn to develop algorithms for problems you haven’t solved before, you will learn to think like a computer scientist.
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