Clever logic and engineering created computers. Information is stored with “bits”: on and off switches, often implemented with electrical voltage, that can be sewn together to represent vast amounts of complex data. To make sense of it all, computer science employs data types and structures (such as many variations of lists, tables, and trees).
Code is instructions for computers. It’s what we use to create, access, analyze, and manipulate our data. When your calculator is multiplying two numbers or your video game is taking you through a realistic fantasy world, human-written code has laid down the precise steps -- or algorithm -- that the computer uses to complete a task. An efficient algorithm can allow a computer to perform complicated computations in very short amount of times. In computer science, you learn to think algorithmically and to write in the language of code.
Whether it’s modern cryptography built on number theory, quantum computing driven by modern physics, or artificial intelligence developing computers that mimic the human mind, advancements in computer science are expanding the frontier of human knowledge and capability. Computer science on Brilliant explores the fundamental building blocks, practical implementation, advanced algorithms, and more.
