The subject and tasks of informatics. Basic concepts of informatics. Objectives of Informatics

This article is devoted to the consideration of such issues as the subject and tasks of computer science. Before proceeding to their coverage, let us define the term, the meaning of which should be clearly marked.

The word "informatics" first appeared in France in the 60s of the last century to designate an area that deals with the automated processing of information and uses for this purpose electronic computers. This term was formed by the merger of the other two - "automation" and "information". It means automated processing of information or information automation. This term corresponds to the term "computer science" in English-speaking countries, that is, the science of computer technology.

We suggest the reader to preliminarily consider such topics as the subject and tasks of computer science, acquaintance with the history of its emergence.

History of Information Science

We can find the sources of information back in the depths of centuries. The need to express and remember it led many centuries ago to the emergence of speech, counting, writing. Our ancestors tried to invent and further improve the ways of storing information, its processing and distribution. Various evidence of attempts by people of the distant past to preserve it have been found in our days. These are methods such as records on clay tablets and birch bark, rock carvings, and then hand-written books.

In the 16th century a printing press appeared. His invention greatly increased the ability to store and process the necessary information. The information presented in hard copy was the main way of exchange and storage, and until the middle of the 20th century they continued to remain. Only with the advent of computers appeared fundamentally new, much more effective ways of storing, collecting, transmitting, processing, the subject and tasks of computer science were formulated.

General definition of informatics

You can give a lot of its definitions. This is due to the multifaceted nature of its methods, forms, capabilities and functions. The following definition of the concept of "informatics" is one of the most common.

Informatics is a field of human activity, which is associated with various processes of information transformation, carried out with the help of computers, as well as with their interaction with the appropriate application environment.

Cybernetics and Informatics

Often there is a confusion of two concepts: "cybernetics" and "computer science". Let's determine what their similarities are and how they differ from each other.

Cybernetics is the science of some general principles of management, operating in various systems: social, biological, technical, etc. The subject and tasks of computer science are somewhat different. She studies more widely the processes of creating and transforming information, almost without affecting the solution of tasks related to the management of certain objects, as cybernetics does. Its emergence became possible due to the development of computer technology, which is based on it and is inconceivable without it. The development of cybernetics is on its own and, although it uses the achievements of computer technology quite actively, does not depend on them at all, as it builds different models of object management.

Informatics in the broad and narrow sense of the word

In the broad sense of the word, informatics is the unity of the various branches of science, production and technology that are associated with the processing of information. And what about the narrow sense? It can identify 3 interconnected parts of computer science.

1. Informatics as a branch of the national economy

The first of these is the branch of the national economy. In this sense, computer science consists of some homogeneous set of firms that carry out various forms of management, which are engaged in the production of software products, computer equipment and the development of information processing technology. The significance, specificity, goals and tasks of informatics in this sense are determined by the fact that it is precisely on this basis that the growth of labor productivity in various branches of the national economy depends to a large extent. A lot of jobs around the world today are equipped with automation tools.

2. Informatics as a fundamental science

As a fundamental science, informatics develops a methodology for information support for various processes of object management based on computer information systems. It is possible to single out the following leading scientific directions in Europe: medical and economic informatics, computer-integrated production, development of network structure, informatics of environment and social insurance, professional information systems.

Let's describe the main goals and tasks of informatics fundamental. Its goal is to obtain generalized knowledge of various information systems, as well as to identify in their functioning and the construction of common patterns. Its tasks are as follows:

- explore various theories of information systems and technologies;

- Develop a methodology for how to create information support for certain computer systems.

3. Applied aspect

Describing the subject of computer science as an applied science, we note that it deals with:

- the creation of various information communication models that operate in a variety of areas of human activity;

- study of the regularities that exist in information processes (distribution, processing, accumulation);

- the development of technologies and information systems in specific areas, as well as the development of recommendations relating to their life cycle for various stages (design, production, operation, etc.).

The main tasks of computer science

Its main function is to develop tools and methods for converting information, as well as to use them in organizing various technological processes for its processing.

The following main tasks of informatics can be distinguished:

- research of information processes having any nature;

- solving engineering and scientific problems of introducing, creating, ensuring the most effective use of computer technology and technology in various areas of public life;

- the development of information technology, as well as the creation on the basis of research results of various information processes of the latest information processing technology.

Informatics as a Comprehensive Discipline

It should be said that it does not exist by itself. Informatics is a complex discipline (scientific and technical), which is aimed at creating new information technologies and techniques. They serve to solve problems arising in other areas. In the information society, the complex of its industry is the leading one. In the world there is a tendency to increasing awareness. It depends to a large extent on the progress of this particular area of knowledge, its unity as science, production and technology.

Areas of application of informatics

Informatics today is widely used in various areas of our life: in science, production, education and many other fields of activity. The need for costly and complex experiments inevitably arises in connection with the development of modern science. An example is the development of thermonuclear reactors. The role of computer science is to replace real experiments with machines. This saves significant resources, provides the opportunity to process the most modern methods of the results. In addition, these experiments take much less time than real ones. And in some areas of scientific knowledge (for example, in astrophysics) it is simply impossible to carry out a real experiment. Then computer science comes to the rescue. Basically, in these areas, all studies are carried out using model and computational experiments.

The further development of computer science, as well as of any other science, leads to new discoveries and achievements. There are new applications that were previously difficult to even guess.

Communication of informatics with other branches of knowledge

Informatics is a broad field of scientific knowledge that arose at the interface of applied and fundamental disciplines. As a complex scientific discipline, it is associated with the following branches of knowledge:

- with psychology and philosophy (through the theory of knowledge and the doctrine of information);

- with mathematics (through discrete mathematics, the theory of mathematical modeling and algorithms, mathematical logic);

- with linguistics it is connected through the doctrine of sign systems and formal languages;

- with cybernetics, as we have already noted, - through the theory of management and information;

- with radio engineering, electronics, chemistry and physics - through the material part of information systems and the computer.

In the field of view of the science of informatics, computing sciences come into play, which study the methods and principles of organizing various computing processes, global and local computer networks. On the other hand, it also includes cognitive sciences, which are designed to study human efforts in the field of thinking in order to improve the intellectual qualities of computers.

Informatics as a branch of economy

As a branch of the economy, informatics is a set of economic entities that are designed to serve users (information), manufacturing processing facilities, and creating software. There is a tendency to move from an industrial society, where everything is directed to the production and consumption of goods, to the information one.

Today, various means of informatics are widely used in the economy. They are used in practice:

- trade, production and banking management;

- auditing and accounting;

- Budgetary process in municipal and state institutions;

- e-business and e-commerce;

- management of the treasury, auctions and trade exchanges.

Economic informatics is a science that is intended to form the theory of modeling the activities of various economic entities, municipal, state and regional entities. Its goals are determined by the goals of the economy. That is, they consist in providing economic entities, municipal and state services and organizations with information technologies. What is the subject of informatics economics? It consists in the search for patterns that exist in information modeling, as well as methods for providing knowledge about the economic activities of organizations (enterprises) to an economic and other entity, and the introduction of information technology management in practice.

Methods of modeling and studying economic processes

There are many methods for modeling and studying economic processes. They are both specific and general scientific. General scientific: synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction, abstraction, analogy, concretization. All of them reveal regularities existing in stable phenomena or processes. Specific methods are oriented towards informational phenomena reflecting economic processes, such as:

- mathematical: deterministic, stochastic, simulation, optimization and network modeling, fuzzy mathematics, mathematical, system, factor, regression and other types of analysis;

- information and logical: graphs and diagrams, graphs, visual and standardized means of representing information flows and business processes.

What is a computer?

The basic concepts of computer science include various computers, since they are the main technical means that serve for its processing. They can be classified according to a number of features: by designation, the principle of operation, the size of the computing power, the methods of organizing the computational process itself, functional capabilities,

Classification of computers by purpose

It is possible to divide the computer by purpose into 3 following groups.

1. General purpose (universal). They are designed to solve various engineering and technical problems: mathematical, economic, information and other, which are characterized by a large amount of data to be processed, as well as the complexity of the algorithms. Characteristic features of computer data are their high performance, as well as the variety of data forms to be processed (symbolic, decimal, binary), the variety of operations (special, logical, arithmetic), significant memory capacity, as well as a developed information input-output system .

2. The second group is problem-oriented. Their purpose is to solve a narrower range of tasks, which are usually associated with technological objects, accumulation, registration and processing of small amounts of data.

3. Specialized serve to solve a very narrow range of tasks. This reduces the cost and complexity of such computers, while maintaining reliability and greater productivity.

Information technology

Describing the basic concepts of computer science, one can not say a few words about information technology. This is a combination of specific software and hardware that serve to perform various operations related to the processing of information in any areas of our lives. Information technology is sometimes called applied computer science or computer technology. This concept arose with the formation of an information society, in which the basis of social dynamics are information, rather than traditional material resources. This is a science, knowledge, intellectual abilities, organizational factors, creativity, initiative, etc. This concept, unfortunately, is so all-encompassing and general that specialists have not yet come to a clear formulation of it. The most successful definition of it was given by Academician Glushkov, who interpreted information technology as a human-machine technology for the transmission, processing, collection of information based on the use of various computers. It is rapidly developing and covers more and more types of social activities: management, production, education, science, medicine, financial and banking operations, everyday life, etc.

School Informatics Course

The main objective of the school subject "Informatics" is to ensure the conscious and lasting mastery of the students knowledge related to the processes of transformation, receipt, use, storage of information. On this basis, the computer science teacher should also reveal its role in the formation of the scientific picture of the world that has developed in our days, the importance of computer technology and information technology in the development of modern society. The task is also to instill in students the skills of rational and conscious use of computers in educational and professional activities.

The following questions should be covered by the computer science teacher:

- information, various information processes, as well as the languages of its presentation;

- information modeling;

- programming and algorithmization;

- computer as a means of information processing;

- existing today the new information technology for its processing.

These lines are cross-cutting, that is, they are studied at all stages (from the 2nd to the 11th grade). Computer science is divided into three levels at school. These levels take into account the age of the students, as well as their preparation.

The first level is the initial level (from the 2nd to the 6th grade), the second one is the basic (from the 7th to the 9th grade), the third is the profile (10th and 11th grades). In this case, the program for classes from 2 to 9 is a mandatory minimum. In the senior classes, in-depth training in informatics on various profiles is carried out. This provides training for professional activities. The topics that have already been covered are discussed in more detail, different classes of programs are studied.

Informatics: Unified State Exam

In this subject, the USE is one of the longest examinations, which lasts about 4 hours. In 2014, the minimum passing grade was 40. Preparation should begin long before the day of testing, and high results in this case will be provided.

The tasks in informatics are divided into blocks, depending on their complexity. А1-А13 - questions of a base level with a choice from several variants of the answer. For each correct choice, 1 point is assumed. Tasks for informatics В1-В15 are already tasks of increased complexity. Numbers or the last digits serve as a response to them. The most difficult tasks in computer science are C1-C4. It is necessary to give the fullest possible answer to them.

In each version of the USE, computer science tasks are related in one way or another to the computer. However, when solving tasks from category C, you can not use a calculator or a PC.