COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

OVERVIEW

Computer science or computing science (sometimes abbreviated CS) is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation , and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems.^[1a]^[1b]^[1c]^[1d] It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe, and transform information. Computer science has many sub-fields ; some, such as computer graphics , emphasize the computation of specific results, while others, such as computational complexity theory , study the properties of computational problems . Still others focus on the challenges in implementing computations. For example, programming language theory studies approaches to describe computations, while computer programming applies specific programming languages to solve specific computational problems, and human-computer interaction focuses on the challenges in making computers and computations useful, usable, and universally accessible to people.^[1]

Xcode IDE Basics Overview

XCODE is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Mac OS X.. not part of one's curriculum. I studied Computer Science with an emphasis in Software Animation as part of a second bachelor's degree. I will not be going in-depth in CS curriculum, as it's outside the intent of the Engineering Core Curriculum. I will address areas every Mechanical Engineering student can benefit by having these basics as part of their skill set. Traditionally, Mechanical Engineers have been required to learn FORTRAN and/or C Programming when they need to study Numerical Analysis, learn to write small-to-mid-size programs necessary to process large sets of data acquisition points to model fluid dynamics, heat transfer, stress/strain and more on their design. With CAD/CAM and Finite Element Analysis one can simulate designs today long before going to prototype manufacturing.

All problem sets will be pulled from these three textbooks, under this section.

REFERENCES

1. ^ Computer science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1a. ^ Comer, D. E.; Gries, D., Mulder, M. C., Tucker, A., Turner, A. J., and Young, P. R. (Jan. 1989). “Computing as a discipline.” Communications of the ACM 32 (1): 9. doi:10.1145/63238.63239 . “Computer science and engineering is the systematic study of algorithmic processes-their theory, analysis, design, efficiency, implementation, and application-that describe and transform information.” Computer science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1b. ^ Wegner, P. (October 13–15, 1976). “Research paradigms in computer science.” Proceedings of the 2nd international Conference on Software Engineering. San Francisco, California, United States: IEEE Computer Society Press , Los Alamitos, CA. “Computer science is the study of information structures.”
1c. ^ “Computer science is the study of computation.” Computer Science Department, College of Saint Benedict , Saint John's University
1d. ^ “Computer Science is the study of all aspects of computer systems, from the theoretical foundations to the very practical aspects of managing large software projects.” Massey University