what is computer sciencecomputer science is often difficult to define this is probably due to the unfortunate use of the word "computerin the name as you are perhaps awarecomputer science is not simply the study of computers although computers play an important supporting role as tool in the disciplinethey are just that tools computer science is the study of problemsproblem-solvingand the solutions that come out of the problem-solving process given problema computer scientist' goal is to develop an algorithma step-by-step list of instructions for solving any instance of the problem that might arise algorithms are finite processes that if followed will solve the problem algorithms are solutions computer science can be thought of as the study of algorithms howeverwe must be careful to include the fact that some problems may not have solution although proving this statement is beyond the scope of this textthe fact that some problems cannot be solved is important for those who study computer science we can fully define computer sciencethenby including both types of problems and stating that computer science is the study of solutions to problems as well as the study of problems with no solutions it is also very common to include the word computable when describing problems and solutions we say that problem is computable if an algorithm exists for solving it an alternative definition for computer sciencethenis to say that computer science is the study of problems that are and that are not computablethe study of the existence and the nonexistence of algorithms in any caseyou will note that the word "computerdid not come up at all solutions are considered independent from the machine computer scienceas it pertains to the problem-solving process itselfis also the study of abstraction abstraction allows us to view the problem and solution in such way as to separate the so-called logical and physical perspectives the basic idea is familiar to us in common example consider the automobile that you may have driven to school or work today as drivera user of the caryou have certain interactions that take place in order to utilize the car for its intended purpose you get ininsert the keystart the carshiftbrakeaccelerateand steer in order to drive from an abstraction point of viewwe can say that you are seeing the logical perspective of the automobile you are using the functions provided by the car designers for the purpose of transporting you from one location to another these functions are sometimes also referred to as the interface on the other handthe mechanic who must repair your automobile takes very different point of view she not only knows how to drive but must know all of the details necessary to carry out all the functions that we take for granted she needs to understand how the engine workshow the transmission shifts gearshow temperature is controlledand so on this is known as the physical perspectivethe details that take place "under the hood the same thing happens when we use computers most people use computers to write documentssend and receive emailsurf the webplay musicstore imagesand play games without any knowledge of the details that take place to allow those types of applications to work they view computers from logical or user perspective computer scientistsprogrammerstechnology support staffand system administrators take very different view of the computer they introduction