02/04/2025, 22:52 Computer scientist - Wikipedia

Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes
Computer scientist
in the academic study of computer science.[1]
Occupation
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical
Occupation Academic
side of computation. Although computer scientists type
can also focus their work and research on specific
Description
areas (such as algorithm and data structure
Competencies Computer science and other
development and design, software engineering,
formal sciences (e.g.
information theory, database theory, theoretical
mathematics, logic, statistics,
computer science, numerical analysis, programming
information theory, systems
language theory, compiler, computer graphics,
science)
computer vision, robotics, computer architecture,
operating system), their foundation is the theoretical Education Doctoral degree, master's
required degree, bachelor's degree
study of computing from which these other fields
derive.[2] Fields of Universities,
employment private corporations,
A primary goal of computer scientists is to develop financial industry,
or validate models, often mathematical, to describe government, military
the properties of computational systems (processors,
Related jobs Logician, mathematician
programs, computers interacting with people,
computers interacting with other computers, etc.)
with an overall objective of discovering designs that yield useful benefits (faster, smaller, cheaper,
more precise, etc.).

Education
Most computer scientists possess a PhD, M.S., or Bachelor's degree in computer science, or other
similar fields like Information and Computer Science (CIS), a closely related discipline such as
mathematics[2] or physics.[3]

Areas of specialization
Theoretical computer science – including data structures and algorithms, theory of
computation, information theory and coding theory, programming language theory, and formal
methods
Computer systems – including computer architecture and computer engineering, computer
performance analysis, concurrency, and distributed computing, computer networks, computer
security and cryptography, and databases.
Computer applications – including computer graphics and visualization, human–computer
interaction, scientific computing, and artificial intelligence.
Software engineering – the application of engineering to software development in a systematic
method

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Employment
Employment prospects for computer scientists are said to be excellent. Such prospects seem to be
attributed, in part, to very rapid growth in computer systems design and related services industry,
and the software publishing industry, which are projected to be among the fastest growing
industries in the U.S. economy.[2]

Computer scientists are often hired by software publishing firms, scientific research and
development organizations, or universities where they develop the theories and computer models
that allow new technologies to be developed.

Computer scientists can follow more practical applications of their knowledge, doing things such as
software engineering. They can also be found in the field of information technology consulting, and
may be seen as a type of mathematician, given how much of the field depends on mathematics.[4]
Computer scientists employed in industry may eventually advance into managerial or project
leadership positions.[5]

See also
Computational scientist
Software engineering
List of computer scientists
List of computing people
List of pioneers in computer science

References
1. Orsucci, Franco F.; Sala, Nicoletta (2008). Reflexing Interfaces: The Complex Coevolution of
Information Technology Ecosystems, Information Science Reference. p. 335. ISBN 978-
1599046273.
2. "Computer and Information Research Scientists" (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Infor
mation-Technology/Computer-and-information-research-scientists.htm). U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. 29 March 2012. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120402000057/https://ww
w.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/Computer-and-information-research-scie
ntists.htm) from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
3. "Fields of Employment for Physics Bachelors in the Private Sector, tuty of 2010 & 2012
Combined" (https://www.aps.org/careers/statistics/bsprivatesec.cfm). American Physical
Society. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20111017135613/https://www.aps.org/careers/st
atistics/bsprivatesec.cfm) from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
4. "Computing Disciplines & Majors" (https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/education/com
puting-disciplines.pdf) (PDF). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190906122742/https://w
ww.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/education/computing-disciplines.pdf) (PDF) from the
original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
5. Perry, Benjamin Beau. "What is a computer scientist?" (http://people.cs.ksu.edu/~bbp9857/cs.h
tml). The University of Newcastle. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20160821154940/htt
p://people.cs.ksu.edu/~bbp9857/cs.html) from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved
9 September 2019.

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