Questions about genesis and development of computer science as a scientific discipline and its applications.
-1
votes
6answers
252 views
A question on the very essence of “theoretical computer science” [closed]
What is the point of the study? Why would anyone want to just make a career, passion, or otherwise interest or hobby in something that purports itself as theories for computational systems in general? ...
7
votes
0answers
93 views
Who are the legislators of Paxos?
In the seminal distributed systems paper The Part Time Parliament (the Paxos protocol), Leslie Lamport names fictional legislators who are involved in the Paxon parliament protocol.
According to this ...
1
vote
0answers
18 views
Difference between Analytical and Difference Engines
I'm not sure if one can compare the two, mainly because what I've read so far, I didn't quite understand, but what are the key differences between these 2 engines?
3
votes
2answers
45 views
Parallel Computing: Past Vs Present
Parallel computing is not new but it is becoming common now a days. This is essentially driven by the need of the users (they need to process more data now) and also because of physical limitations on ...
6
votes
1answer
132 views
Why is the laplace transform not popular for image processing convolution?
Why is the laplace transform not popular for image processing convolution? Most textbooks only conver the Fourier transforms.
3
votes
1answer
70 views
Why the name Recursively Enumerable and Recursive?
Why did the sets of languages accepted/decided by a TM get the name Recursively Enumerable and Recursive, respectively?
3
votes
1answer
69 views
Origin of theta-joins
I've taken an introductory database course where like many good database courses, they taught relational algebra, including $\theta$-joins. However, I've recently read E. F. Codd's 1970 paper, A ...
9
votes
2answers
247 views
How are programming languages and foundations of mathematics related?
Basically I am aware of three foundations for math
Set theory
Type theory
Category theory
So in what ways are programming languages and foundations of mathematics related?
EDIT
The original ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Understanding Dijkstra's notation $f.x.y$
I recently discovered that I have a fondness for the work of Dijkstra. I am currently reading random EWDs, and stumbled across one with some notation that I couldn't quite grasp.
Dijkstra states that ...
-1
votes
1answer
72 views
Where did the terms memory pool and memory leak come from?
I wonder where those terms came from.
Is it computer science related?
Or are they related to civil engineering, or swimming sports?
Is it some analogy with filling water in a pool, or something ...
5
votes
2answers
144 views
Importance of recursion in computability theory
It is said that computability theory is also called recursion theory. Why is it called like that? Why recursion has this much importance?
3
votes
0answers
109 views
Reasons behind the choice of 172.16/192.168? [closed]
It is a known fact that there are three blocks of IPv4 Addresses that were chosen to be reserved for private networks:
...
2
votes
0answers
57 views
Are there some popular science videos on computer algorithms to recommend?
I am seeking for some popular science videos on computer algorithms for my last lecture delivered in this term. The topic of the videos includes but are limited to algorithm design, algorithm ...
5
votes
1answer
76 views
Origin of quantum complexity theory
Who was/were the first person/people to introduce the topic of quantum complexity theory and problem classes like BQP and QMA?
8
votes
2answers
162 views
What is the origin of the client server model?
I was wondering if someone knew the origin of the client server model. Where does the term come from (paper, software application, book)?
5
votes
1answer
70 views
Who (and when) first defined interval graphs?
I've been searching google scholar for references and narrowed down the first mention to somewhere around 1963 with a very weird jitter in 1949.
So, I'm trying to track down the original paper ...
3
votes
2answers
190 views
Don Knuth and MMIXAL vs. Chuck Moore and Forth — Algorithms and Ideal Machines — was there any cross-pollination / influence in their ideas / work?
Question:
To what extent is it known (or believed) that Chuck Moore and Don Knuth had influence on each other's thoughts on ideal machines, or their work on algorithms?
I'm interested in citations, ...
4
votes
1answer
61 views
Who conceived the concept of Discrete Event Simulation, and when?
I'm trying to trace back the origin of the general concept of Discrete Event Simulation and found a 1968 article by Fishman and Kiviat mentioning the term. It is titled The statistics of ...
6
votes
1answer
176 views
Origins of the term “distributed hash table”
I am currently researching for my diploma thesis in computer science with a topic in the area of distributed hash tables. Naturally, I came to the question were the term distributed hash table came ...
6
votes
1answer
107 views
Historical relation between computer science and the theory of dynamical systems
I have asked this question at math.stackexchange, but I have been redirected here.
My question is, if there is any historical relation between the fields of Dynamical systems (and related fields such ...
7
votes
2answers
247 views
Why is Turing completeness right?
I am using a digital computer to write this message. Such a machine has a property which, if you think about it, is actually quite remarkable: It is one machine which, if programmed appropriately, can ...
28
votes
5answers
5k views
How not to solve P=NP?
There are lots of attempts at proving either $\mathsf{P} = \mathsf{NP} $ or $\mathsf{P} \neq \mathsf{NP}$, and naturally many people think about the question, having ideas for proving either ...
18
votes
2answers
388 views
Why is a regular language called 'regular'?
I have just completed the first chapter of the Introduction to the Theory of Computation by Michael Sipser which explains the basics of finite automata.
He defines a regular language as anything ...
4
votes
2answers
80 views
When did commercial Speech Recognition first begin using grammar (sentence structure) for prediction?
It seems as though modern speech recognition (e.g., through Android, iOS phones) make use of grammar or sentence structure. (e.g., it might have a tough time distinguishing between "grammar" and ...
21
votes
5answers
2k views
Why has research on genetic algorithms slowed?
While discussing some intro level topics today, including the use of genetic algorithms; I was told that research has really slowed in this field. The reason given was that most people are focusing on ...
