What is Theory of computation?
The '''theory of computation''' is a [[branch]] of [[mathematics]]. Generally it is seen as belonging to [[computer science]]. The field of study of this subject is to see if a certain problem can be solved by a [[computer]]. If this is the case, then the question is to know if it can be solved in an efficient way. There are two major branches in it. The first is [[computability theory]]. It looks to see if a certain problem can be solved by a computer. Since this is a theoretical field of study, no real computers are used. They are replaced by a system called the [[Turing machine]]. Once it is known if such a solution exists, computer scientists want to know if it can be found, and perhaps how it can be improved. This field of study is covered by the [[complexity theory]]. That theory has developed concepts to compare different methods of solving a problem to one another. Such methods are usually called [[algorithm]]s. This is similar to comparing cooking recipes and seeing which of two recipes is easier to do. {{Computer science}} [[Category:Fields of mathematics]] [[Category:Theoretical computer science]] {{Math-stub}}