Counting, Calculate, and Compute.
Counting
- Counting is the action of finding the number of elements of a finite set of objects.
- The development of counting led to the development of mathematical notation, numeral systems, and writing.
Calculation
A calculation is a deliberate process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more results, with variable change.
- Calculus
Computation
- Calculate comes from the Greek word Κάχληκα or gravel in English because Greeks used gravel for counting. According to Chris B. Behrens's humble opinion, calculation involves numbers and the word usually connotes a simple process, but computation may be done by applying specific rules, with or without numbers, and the word is chosen for more complex tasks.
- Calculation is a prerequisite for computation. The difference in the meaning of calculation and computation appears to originate from the late medieval period.
Computation is any type of calculation that includes both arithmetical and non-arithmetical steps and follows a well-defined model understood and described as, for example, an algorithm.
Physical phenomenon
A computation can be seen as a purely physical phenomenon occurring inside a closed physical system called a computer. Examples of such physical systems include digital computers, mechanical computers, quantum computers, DNA computers, molecular computers, microfluidics-based computers, analog computers or wetware computers. This point of view is the one adopted by the branch of theoretical physics called the physics of computation as well as the field of natural computing.
An even more radical point of view is the postulate of digital physics that the evolution of the universe itself is a computation - pancomputationalism.
Mathematical models
In the theory of computation, a diversity of mathematical models of computers has been developed. Typical mathematical models of computers are the following:
- State models including Turing machine, pushdown automaton, finite state automaton, and PRAM
- Functional models including lambda calculus
- Logical models including logic programming
- Concurrent models including actor model and process calculi
Your Opinion?
