Computer Science is the branch of Engineering that studies the hardware, data networks and software necessary to process information automatically. Although it may seem like a very abstract definition, we are sure that you know much more about Computer Science than you think. And if not, keep reading a little more.
Surely it sounds familiar to you what hardware is. And if it doesn’t ring a bell, surely you have used hardware on many occasions without knowing that it is called that. The hardware is desktop computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, printers, game consoles, DVD players, music players, etc. Did you know what hardware is? What you may not have known is that these devices are internally made up of electronic components that are also called hardware: do microprocessors, memory cards, graphics cards, hard drives or accelerometers sound familiar to you? For sure yes! And even if you don’t see them, there are thousands of devices called embedded systems that help cars take better curves, planes to fly in the worst weather conditions or traffic lights to control traffic intelligently; they are also hardware and are also studied in Computer Science.
Also, today it is hard to imagine isolated hardware. Almost all hardware is connected via data networks. Surely you know the Internet, which is the largest data network in the world. Millions of computers, tablets, phones and even cars are continuously connected to this network to exchange information in real time and make our lives easier. Does all this sound familiar to you?
Surely you also know what software is. They are programs that tell the hardware what to do: exchange a message with a relative, show the movie listings, find opportunities to study abroad, view the latest photos of our friends on a social network, make a video conference, generate the images of a video game or also exchange data with a phone or tablet. Did you also know what software is? Of course! What you might not know is that in the world of software there are two specialties: Software Engineering, which studies how to develop software in a business context, and Computing, which studies complex problems such as artificial intelligence, speech recognition or searching for information on the Web.
Simple, right? The hardware is the machines and the software that allows us to tell them what we want them to do. Hardware and software are the classic specialties of Computer Science, but there are others that are called interdisciplinary because they mix it with other branches of knowledge. For example, the Information Systems and Information Technology specialties mix Information Technology with business management; that of Clinical Informatics deals with the application of informatics and communications in the field of health; and that of Biomedical Engineering the mixture with Mechanical Engineering and Biomedicine. If by themselves the hardware and software specialties are already promising and have thousands of professional opportunities… can you imagine mixing them with others?
