Computer Science is recognized as an independent discipline with an inherently mathematical nature. Its activity ranges from theoretical areas such as the theory of automata, system organization and logic design, formal languages and computability theory to applied areas such as scientific computing, programming languages, bioinformatics, software management and computer systems. The advent of the computer has facilitated a systems approach to solving many problems in science, business and industry. There is currently a great demand for information analysts to define how systems will perform these functions and for programmers to implement production systems on computers. The Computer Science plan is designed to prepare students for the challenges of a career in this rapidly evolving technological environment.
Considerable emphasis is placed on learning fundamental principles throughout the plan.
As well, students have the opportunity to explore the ways in which these principles are exploited in both current practice and likely future developments. The new Bioinformatics plan is not eligible for accreditation until after at least one student has graduated from the plan. Joint Honours plans involving Computer Science will not be accredited because they do not involve enough of the Computer Science plan. This accreditation recognizes that the quality of these plans meets published, generally accepted criteria for sound education in the discipline. There are a number of specialized Computer Science Major plans in addition to Honours Computer Science.