Description
The purpose of the Computing Handbook Set is to provide a single, comprehensive reference for specialists in computer science, information systems, information technology, software engineering, and other fields who wish to broaden or deepen their understanding in a particular subfield of the computing discipline. Our goal is to provide up-to-date information on a wide range of topics in a form that is accessible to students, faculty, and professionals.
The discipline of computing has developed rapidly since CRC Press published the second edition of the Computer Science Handbook in 2004 (Tucker, 2004). Indeed, it has developed so much that this third edition requires repartitioning and expanding the topic coverage into a two-volume set.
The need for two volumes recognizes not only the dramatic growth of computing as a discipline but also the relatively new delineation of computing as a family of five separate disciplines, as described by their professional societies—The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), The IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), and The Association for Information Systems (AIS) (Shackelford et al., 2005).
These separate disciplines are known today as computer engineering, computer science, information systems, information technology, and software engineering. These names more or less fully encompass the variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs that have evolved around the world, with the exception of countries where the term informatics is used for a subset of these disciplines. The document “Computing curricula 2005: The overview report” describes computing this way (Shackelford et al., 2005, p. 9):
In a general way, we can define computing to mean any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computers. Thus, computing includes designing and building hardware and software systems for a wide range of purposes; processing, structuring, and managing various kinds of information; doing scientific studies using computers; making computer systems behave intelligently; creating and using communications and entertainment media; finding and gathering information relevant to any particular purpose, and so on.
To add much flesh to the bones of this very broad definition, this handbook set describes in some depth what goes on in research laboratories, educational institutions, and public and private organizations to advance the effective development and utilization of computers and computing in today’s world. The two volumes in this set cover four of the five disciplines in the following way:*
1. Volume I: Computer Science and Software Engineering
2. Volume II: Information Systems and Information Technology
This set is not designed to be an easy read, as would be gained by browsing a collection of encyclopedia entries on computing and its various subtopics. On the contrary, it provides deep insights into the subject matter through research-level survey articles. Readers who will benefit most from these articles may be undergraduate or graduate students in computing or a related discipline, researchers in one area of computing aiming to expand their knowledge of another area, or other professionals interested in understanding the principles and practices that drive computing education, research, and development in the twenty-first century.
This set is designed as a professional reference that serves the interests of readers who wish to explore the subject matter by moving directly to a particular part and chapter of the appropriate volume. The chapters are organized with minimal interdependence, so that they can be read in any order. To facilitate rapid inquiry, each volume also contains a table of contents and a subject index, thus providing access to specific topics at various levels of detail.
The Preface to Volume I provides a more detailed overview of the organization and content of this volume. A similar overview of the coverage of information systems and information technology appears in the Preface to Volume II.