Computing 5213 225828810 2008-07-15T16:18:21Z Epbr123 1395162 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/OrgasGirl|OrgasGirl]] to last version by Malhonen (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{For|the formal concept of computation|computation}} {{For|the magazine|Computing (magazine)}} [[Image:MemoryRam.jpg|thumb|RAM (Random Access Memory)]] {{Wiktionary|computing}} {{portalpar|Information technology}} '''Computing''' is the activity of developing and using [[computer]] technology, including [[computer hardware]] and [[computer software|software]]. It is the computer-specific part of [[information technology]]. [[Computer science]] is the study of the theoretical foundations of computing and the application of the theories in computing. ''Computing Curricula 2005''<ref name=curricula>The Joint Task Force for Computing Curricula 2005. [http://www.acm.org/education/curric_vols/CC2005-March06Final.pdf Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report (pdf)]</ref> defined computing: <blockquote>''In a general way, we can define computing to mean any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computers. Thus, computing includes designing and building hardware and software systems for a wide range of purposes; processing, structuring, and managing various kinds of information; doing scientific studies using computers; making computer systems behave intelligently; creating and using communications and entertainment media; finding and gathering information relevant to any particular purpose, and so on. The list is virtually endless, and the possibilities are vast.''</blockquote> ==Definitions== The term ''computing'' has sometimes been narrowly defined, as in a 1989 [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]] report on ''Computing as a Discipline''<ref>[http://cs.gmu.edu/cne/pjd/GP/CompDisc.pdf Computing as a Discipline (pdf)]</ref>: <blockquote>''The discipline of computing is the systematic study of algorithmic processes that describe and transform information: their theory, analysis, design, efficiency, implementation, and application. The fundamental question underlying all computing is 'What can be (efficiently) automated?'''</blockquote> ''Computing Curricula 2005''<ref name=curricula/> also recognizes that the meaning of ''computing'' depends on the context: <blockquote>''Computing also has other meanings that are more specific, based on the context in which the term is used. For example, an information systems specialist will view computing somewhat differently from a software engineer. Regardless of the context, doing computing well can be complicated and difficult. Because society needs people to do computing well, we must think of computing not only as a profession but also as a discipline.''</blockquote> The term ''computing'' is also synonymous with counting and calculating. In earlier times it was used in reference to mechanical computing machines. ==Science and theory== * [[Computer science]] * [[Theory of computation]] * [[:Category:Computational models|Computational models]] * [[Digital Bibliography & Library Project]], as of July 2007, lists over 910 000 bibliographic entries on computer science and several thousand links to the home pages of [[computer scientist]]s * [[Scientific computing]] * [[Metacomputing]] ==Hardware== See [[information processor]] for a high-level block diagram. * [[Computer]] * [[Computer hardware]] * [[Hardware design|Computer Hardware Design]] * [[Computer network]] * [[Computer system]] * [[History of computing hardware]] ===Instruction-level taxonomies=== After the commoditization of [[random-access memory|memory]], attention turned to optimizing CPU performance at the instruction level. Various methods of speeding up the fetch-execute cycle include: * designing [[instruction set architectures]] with simpler, faster instructions: [[RISC]] as opposed to [[Complex instruction set computer|CISC]] * [[Superscalar]] instruction execution * [[Very long instruction word|VLIW]] architectures, which make parallelism explicit ==[[Computer software|Software]]== * [[Software engineering]] * [[Computer programming]] * [[Computer|Computational]] * [[Software patent]] * [[Firmware]] * [[Operating system]]s * [[Application software|Application Software]] ** [[Database]]s ** [[Geographic information system]] ** [[Spreadsheet]] ** [[Word processor]] * [[Programming languages]] ** [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]]s ** [[compiler]]s * [[Speech recognition]] ==History of computing== *[[History of computing hardware]] from the [[tally stick]] to the [[quantum computer]] *[[History of computer science]] *[[Punch Card]] *[[Unit record equipment]] *[[IBM 700/7000 series]] *[[IBM 1400 series]] *[[System/360]] *[[Early IBM disk storage]] ==Business computing== <div style="-moz-column-count:3; column-count:3;"> * [[Accounting software]] * [[Computer-aided design]] * [[Computer-aided manufacturing]] * [[Computer-assisted dispatch]] * [[Customer relationship management]] * [[Data warehouse]] * [[Decision support system]] * [[Electronic data processing]] * [[Enterprise resource planning]] * [[Geographic information system]] * [[Management information system]] * [[Material requirements planning]] * [[Strategic enterprise management]] * [[Supply chain management]] * [[Product Lifecycle Management]] * [[Utility Computing]] </div> ==Human factors== * [[Accessible computing]] * [[Human-computer interaction]] * [[Human-centered computing]] ==[[Computer network]]== === Wired and wireless computer network === * Types ** [[Wide Area Network]] ** [[Metropolitan Area Network]] ** [[City Area Network]] ** [[Village Area Network]] ** [[Local Area Network]] *** [[Wireless Local Area Network]] * [[Mesh networking]] * [[Collaborative workspace]] * [[Internet]] * [[Network Management]] === Computing technology based wireless networking (CbWN)=== The main of goal of CbWN is to optimize the system performance of the flexible wireless network. * [[Source coding]] ** [[Codebook]] design for side information based transmission techniques such as [[Precoding]] ** Wyner-Ziv coding for [[Cooperative wireless communications]] * [[Security]] ** [[Dirty paper coding (DPC)|Dirty paper coding]] for cooperative multiple antenna or user precoding * [[Intelligence]] ** [[Game theory]] for wireless networking ** [[Cognitive radio|Cognitive communications]] ** Flexible sectorization, [[Beamforming]] and [[SDMA]] * [[Software]] ** [[Software-defined radio|Software defined radio (SDR)]] ** Programmable air-interface ** Downloadable algorithm: e.g., downloadable codebook for [[Precoding]] ==[[Computer security]]== <div style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> * [[Cryptology]] - [[cryptography]] - [[information theory]] * [[Software cracking|Cracking]] - [[demon dialing]] - [[Hacker (computer security)|Hacking]] - [[war dialing]] - [[war driving]] * [[Social engineering (computer security)|Social engineering]] - [[Dumpster diving]] * [[Physical security]] - [[Black bag job]] * [[Computer insecurity]] * [[Computer surveillance]] * [[Defensive programming]] * [[Malware]] * [[Security engineering]] </div> ==[[Data]]== ===Numeric data=== * [[integral data type]]s - bit, byte, etc. * [[real data type]]s: ** [[Floating point]] ([[Single precision]], [[Double precision]], etc.) ** [[fixed-point arithmetic|Fixed point]] ** [[Rational number]] * [[Decimal]] ** [[Binary-coded decimal]] (BCD) ** [[Excess-3]] BCD (XS-3) ** [[bi-quinary coded decimal|Biquinary-coded decimal]] * representation: [[Binary numeral system|Binary]] - [[Octal]] - [[Decimal]] - [[Hexadecimal]] (hex) *[[Computer mathematics]] - [[Computer numbering formats]] - ===Character data=== * storage: [[Character (computing)|Character]] - [[string (computer science)|String]] - [[plain text|P]][[lain Iwakura|lain]][[plain text| text]] ** representation: [[ASCII]] - [[Unicode]] - [[Multibyte]] - [[EBCDIC]] ([[Widecharacter]], [[Multicharacter]]) - [[Fieldata]] - [[Baudot]] ===Other data topics=== *[[Data compression]] *[[Digital signal processing]] *[[Image processing]] *[[Indexed]] *[[Data management]] *[[Routing]] ==[[Mechatronics]]== *[[Punch card]] *[[Key punch]] *[[Unit record equipment]] Data Protection Act ==Classes of computers== <div style="-moz-column-count:3; column-count:3;"> * [[Analog computer]] * [[Calculator]] * [[Desktop computer]] * [[Desktop replacement computer]] * [[Digital computer]] * [[Embedded computer]] * [[Home computer]] * [[Laptop]] * [[Mainframe computer|Mainframe]] * [[Minicomputer]] * [[Microcomputer]] * [[Personal computer]] * [[Portable computer]] * [[Personal digital assistant]] (aka PDA, or [[Handheld computer]]) * [[Programmable logic controller]] or PLC * [[Server (computing)|Server]] * [[Supercomputer]] * [[Tablet PC]] * [[Video game console]] * [[Workstation]] </div> ==Companies - current== <div style="-moz-column-count:3; column-count:3;"> * [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] * [[Avaya]] * [[Dell, Inc.|Dell]] * [[Fujitsu]] * [[Gateway Computers]] * [[Groupe Bull]] * [[Hewlett-Packard]] * [[Hitachi, Ltd.]] * [[Intel Corporation]] * [[International Business Machines|IBM]] * [[Lenovo]] * [[Microsoft]] * [[NEC Corporation]] * [[Novell, Inc.|Novell]] * [[Panasonic]] * [[Red Hat]] * [[Silicon Graphics]] * [[Sun Microsystems]] * [[Unisys]] </div> ==Companies - historic== * [[Acorn Computers Ltd|Acorn]], bought by [[Olivetti]] * [[Bendix Corporation]] * [[Burroughs Corporation]], merged with [[Sperry Corporation|Sperry]] to become [[Unisys]] * [[Compaq]], bought by [[Hewlett-Packard]] * [[Control Data]] * [[Cray]] * [[Data General]] * [[Digital Equipment Corporation]], bought by [[Compaq]], in turn bought by [[Hewlett-Packard]] * [[Digital Research]] - produced system software for early [[Intel]] microprocessor-based computers * [[English Electric Company]] * [[Ferranti]] * [[General Electric]], computer division bought by [[Honeywell]], then [[Groupe Bull|Bull]] * [[Honeywell]], computer division bought by [[Groupe Bull|Bull]] * [[International Computers Limited|ICL]] * [[Leo Computers|Leo]] * [[Lisp Machines, Inc.]] * [[Marconi Company|Marconi]] * [[Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems]] produced the first widely sold microcomputer system (kit and assembled) * [[Nixdorf Computer AG|Nixdorf Computer]], bought by [[Siemens AG|Siemens]] * [[Olivetti]] * [[Osborne Computer Corporation|Osborne]] * [[Packard Bell]] * [[Prime Computer]] * [[Raytheon]] * [[Royal McBee]] * [[RCA]] * [[Scientific Data Systems]], sold to [[Xerox]] * [[Siemens AG|Siemens]] * [[Sinclair Research Ltd|Sinclair Research]], created the [[ZX Spectrum]], [[Sinclair ZX80|ZX80]] and [[Sinclair ZX81|ZX81]] * [[SWTPC|Southweat Technical products Corporation]] produced microcomputers systems (kit and assembled), peripherals, and software based on [[Motorola]] [[6800]] and [[6809]] microcomputer chips * [[Sperry Corporation|Sperry]], which bought [[UNIVAC]], and later merged with [[Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs]] to become [[Unisys]] * [[Symbolics]] * [[UNIVAC]] * [[Varian Data Machines]], a division of [[Varian Associates]] which was bought by [[Sperry]] * [[Wang Laboratories|Wang]] ==Organizations== ===Professional=== * [[Association for Computing Machinery]] (ACM) * [http://www.asc.org.uk/ Association for Survey Computing] (ASC) * [[British Computer Society]] (BCS) * [[Canadian Information Processing Society]] (CIPS) * [[Computer Measurement Group]] (CMG) * [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE), in particular the [[IEEE Computer Society]] * [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]] * [[International Electrotechnical Commission]] (IEC) ===Standards bodies=== ''See also: [[Standardization]] and [[Standards organization]]'' * [[International Electrotechnical Commission]] (IEC) * [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) * [[IEEE|Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE) * [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) * [[World Wide Web Consortium]] (W3C) ===Open standards=== ''See also [[Open standard]]'' * [[Apdex|Apdex Alliance]] -- ''Application Performance Index'' * [[Application Response Measurement]] (ARM) ==See also== * [[List of computer term etymologies]] * [[Load (computing)]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{Technology}} {{IT giants}} [[Category:Computing| ]] [[ar:حوسبة]] [[es:Informática]] [[ko:전산]] [[ja:コンピューティング]]