The academic, political, and funding aspects of computer science tend to depend on whether a department is formed with a mathematical emphasis or with an engineering emphasis. Computer science departments with a mathematics emphasis and with a numerical orientation consider alignment with computational science. Both types of departments tend to make efforts to bridge the field educationally if not across all research.

Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

Theoretical Computer Science is mathematical and abstract in spirit, but it derives its motivation from the practical and everyday computation. Its aim is to understand the nature of computation and, as a consequence of this understanding, provide more efficient methodologies.

Data structures and algorithms are the studies of commonly used computational methods and their computational efficiency.

This branch of computer science aims to manage networks between computers worldwide.

Computer security is a branch of computer technology with the objective of protecting information from unauthorized access, disruption, or modification while maintaining the accessibility and usability of the system for its intended users.

Social computing is an area that is concerned with the intersection of social behavior and computational systems. Human–computer interaction research develops theories, principles, and guidelines for user interface designers.

Programming languages can be used to accomplish different tasks in different ways. Common programming paradigms include: