The Science of Computing

C H A P T E R 9

Empirical Computer

Science

B

efore the 1980s, a vast number of arguments had been made about

what computing is and what direction it should take. Many arguments

about the nature of computing as a discipline made a case for how to build it

on a solid theoretical foundation. Other arguments about computing’s essence

looked at its subject matter. Some argued that the aims of computing define

the nature of the discipline: to create and to study are different things. And

many discussants argued that what’s important is not what is investigated

but how it is investigated: Many were of the opinion that there is only one

way to do science, and that ...