Computing professions and disciplines

In the developed world, virtually every profession makes use of computers. However, certain professional and academic disciplines have evolved that specialize in techniques to construct, program, and use computers. Terminology for different professional disciplines is still somewhat fluid and new fields emerge from time to time: however, some of the major groupings are as follows:

• Computer engineering is the branch of electronic engineering devoted to the physical construction of computers and their attendant components.
• Computer science is an academic study of the processes related to computation, such as developing efficient algorithms to perform specific tasks. It tackles questions as to whether problems can be solved at all using a computer, how efficiently they can be solved, and how to construct efficient programs to compute solutions. A huge array of specialties has developed within computer science to investigate different classes of problems.
• Software engineering concentrates on methodologies and practices to allow the development of reliable software systems while minimizing, and reliably estimating, costs and timelines.
• Information systems concentrates on the use and deployment of computer systems in a wider organizational (usually business) context.
• Many disciplines have developed at the intersection of computers with other professions; one of many examples is experts in geographical information systems who apply computer technology to problems of managing geographical information.