WHAT IS COMPUTER

SCIENCE?
Computer Science is the study of computers and computational systems. Unlike electrical
and computer engineers, computer scientists deal mostly with software and software
systems; this includes their theory, design, development, and application.
Principal areas of study within Computer Science include artificial intelligence, computer
systems and networks, security, database systems, human computer interaction, vision and
graphics, numerical analysis, programming languages, software engineering, bioinformatics
and theory of computing.
Although knowing how to program is essential to the study of computer science, it is only
one element of the field. Computer scientists design and analyze algorithms to solve
programs and study the performance of computer hardware and software. The problems
that computer scientists encounter range from the abstract-- determining what problems can
be solved with computers and the complexity of the algorithms that solve them – to the
tangible – designing applications that perform well on handheld devices, that are easy to
use, and that uphold security measures.
Graduates of University of Maryland’s Computer Science Department are lifetime learners;
they are able to adapt quickly with this challenging field.