On the Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science. An Introductory Essay

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Computer Science - Theory, grade: 4.00, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: The paper presents an analytical exposition, critical context and integrative conclusion on the discussion on the meaning, significance and potential applications of theoretical foundations of computer science with respect to Algorithms Design and Analysis, Complexity Theory, Turing Machines, Finite Automata, Cryptography and Machine Learning.An algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value or sets of values as input and produces some values or sets of values as output. A Turing machine consists of a finite program, called the finite control, capable of manipulating a linear list of cells, called the tape, using one access pointer, called the head. Cellular automata is an array of finite state machines (inter-related).A universal Turing machine U is a Turing machine that can imitate the behavior of any other Turing machine T. Automata are a particularly simple, but useful, model of computation which were were initially proposed as a simple model for the behavior of neurons. A model of computation is a mathematical abstraction of computers which is used by computer scientists to perform a rigorous study of computation. An automaton with a finite number of states is called a Finite Automaton (FA) or Finite State Machine (FSM).The Church-Turing Thesis states that the Turing machine is equivalent in computational ability to any general mathematical device for computation, including digital computers. The important themes in Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) are efficiency, impossibility results, approximation, central role of randomness, and reductions (NP-completeness and other intractability results).

Auteur

Professor Gabriel Kabanda is an exceptional strategist, seasoned academician, data scientist, expert evaluator, shrewd business consultant and leader talented with competences for dealing with business and with people. He is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems; a Professor of Applied Business Informatics (MIS/BIS) at the University of Zimbabwe Business School since January, 2000; an Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity in USA at both California State University - Chico (Cybersecurity for Executives Program Faculty, Regional and Continuing Education) [https://rce.csuchico.edu/cybersecurity-for-executives/faculty] and Ithaca College (New York; and the former Pro Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise Development) of Zimbabwe Open University. He holds a Post-Doctorate of Science - D.Sc. (Atlantic International University, USA), Ph.D.(California, PWU), M.Sc. (Swansea University, UK) degrees in Computer Science, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics (University of Zimbabwe). Gabriel is a Fellow and the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences, Secretary General of the Africa-Asia-Dialogue Network [https://www.theaadn.org/aadn-executive-committee/], a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (USA), and a member of the African Science, Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC) of the African Union. His international awards include Who's Who of Professionals (1997), the Golden Academic Excellence and Professional Achievement award (2013), the South African Department of Science and Technology s most accomplished African scientist and outstanding researcher (2017), and UNESCO s Most Notable and Top Distinguished Professor of the 21st Century (May, 2021). He is currently the Qualified Country Co-Investigator (CCI) for Zambia and Zimbabwe of the international Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) 2020 Project, which is a unique large-scale study of cultural practices, leadership ideals, and generalized and interpersonal trust in more than 160 countries in collaboration with more than 500 researchers [https://globeproject.com/about]. Gabriel has published 100 research publications and has supervised 11 Ph.D theses and 100 Masters Dissertations.