Communications of the ACM

Home/Magazine Archive/February 2022 (Vol. 65, No. 2)/Abstractions, Their Algorithms, and Their Compilers/Abstract

Turing lecture

Abstractions, Their Algorithms, and Their Compilers

By Alfred Aho, Jeffrey Ullman
Communications of the ACM, February 2022, Vol. 65 No. 2, Pages 76-91
10.1145/3490685
Comments

View as: Print Mobile App ACM Digital Library In the Digital Edition Share:

Computational thinking, which centers around devising abstractions for problems so they can be solved with computational steps and efficient algorithms, is a concept that serves not only computer science (CS) but progressively more of science and everyday life. After Jeannette Wing published her influential paper on computational thinking,⁵⁰ the discussion of computational thinking has greatly expanded in scale to include topics such as modeling natural processes as information processing.¹⁸

At the heart of computational thinking is abstraction, the primary subject of this essay. While abstractions have always been an essential part of computer science, the modern emphasis on computational thinking highlights their importance when teaching CS to a broad audience.

No entries found

Log in to Read the Full Article

Sign In

Sign in using your ACM Web Account username and password to access premium content if you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber or Digital Library subscriber.

Need Access?

Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.

Create a Web Account

If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.

Join the ACM

Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine

Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.

Purchase the Article

Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.