A critical review of the notion of algorithm in computer science

Authors:
Karl M. Fant
Affiliations:
Theseus Research Inc., 1916 S. E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Venue:
CSC '93 Proceedings of the 1993 ACM conference on Computer science
Year:
1993

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Abstract

We first review the development of the notion of the algorithm as a fundamental paradigm of mathematics. We then suggest a definition of computer science that distinguishes it from all other sciences and from mathematics. Finally we argue that the conceptual concerns of computer science are quite different from the conceptual concerns of mathematics and that the notion of the algorithm is and has been an inappropriate and ineffective paradigm for computer science.