--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Computer Science is a science of…" description: "\"Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png" --- # Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the… ![“Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.” quote by Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png) > “Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.” [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Computer science abstracts problems by building appropriate models and devising mechanizable techniques to solve them. **In simple terms:** Abstraction creates useful models for problem solving. Key Takeaway Apply abstraction to simplify complex tasks. Themes abstraction modeling problem solving algorithm design technology Mood analytical educational Type Abstraction:1 Appropriate:1 Computer:1 Computer programming:1 Computer science:1 Computers:1 Creating:1 Devising:1 Learning:1 Models:1 Problem:1 Programming:1 Science:1 Solve:1 Technique:1 Technology:1 Science Abstraction:1 Abstraction Creating:1 When to use this quote - software development - AI research - educational curricula Key Concepts computational theory software engineering systems thinking automation Questions to Reflect On - When does abstraction hinder understanding? - How to balance detail with simplicity? A Different Perspective Abstraction can oversimplify real‑world nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstraction Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-creating-642348/) [Appropriate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriate/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computer programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-programming/) [Computer science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-science/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Devising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devising/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-abstraction-642347/) [Solve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solve/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/i-think-that-it-s-extraordinarily-important-that-we-in-computer/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Good code is its own best documentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mcconnell/good-code-is-its-own-best-documentation/) [Steve McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mcconnell/) > [Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/controlling-complexity-is-the-essence-of-computer-programming/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [Experience comes from bad judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/experience-comes-from-bad-judgment/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [ The best way to prepare \[to be a programmer\] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-best-way-to-prepare-to-be-a-programmer-is-to-write-programs-and/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove defective code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-pattis/when-debugging-novices-insert-corrective-code-experts-remove/) [Richard E. Pattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-pattis/) > [Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kernighan/debugging-is-twice-as-hard-as-writing-the-code-in-the-first-place/) [Brian Kernighan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kernighan/) > [The unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/the-unavoidable-price-of-reliability-is-simplicity/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Computer science is to biology what calculus is to physics. It's the natural mathematical technique that best maps the character of the subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-morowitz/computer-science-is-to-biology-what-calculus-is-to-physics-it-s-the/) [Harold Morowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-morowitz/) > [Most of you are familiar with the virtues of a programmer. There are three, of course: laziness, impatience, and hubris.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wall/most-of-you-are-familiar-with-the-virtues-of-a-programmer-there-are/) [Larry Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wall/) > [We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-should-forget-about-small-efficiencies-say-about-97-of-the-time-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/when-i-m-working-on-a-problem-i-never-think-about-beauty-i-think-only/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [My first introduction to computers and computer programming came during my freshman year of college. I majored in electrical engineering with a minor in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-bryant/my-first-introduction-to-computers-and-computer-programming-came/) [Kimberly Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-bryant/) > [Computer Science is the only discipline in which we view adding a new wing to a building as being maintenance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-horning/computer-science-is-the-only-discipline-in-which-we-view-adding-a-new/) [Jim Horning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-horning/) > [The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-question-of-whether-computers-can-think-is-like-the-question-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [“our perceptions of the external world are habitually clouded by the verbal notions in terms of which we do our thinking. We are for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/our-perceptions-of-the-external-world-are-habitually-clouded-by-the/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred Aho" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/alfred-aho-217733_abstraction_computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstrac_43225.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the…” — Alfred Aho", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alfred Aho", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Computer Science is a science of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```