Konrad Zuse’s Guestbook: a Treasure Trove
Computer scientist Konrad Zuse created the world's first programmable computer, the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3.
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From Solar Sunrise to SolarWinds
The hack of critical departments of the U.S. government—and of many leading corporations—should come as no surprise.
The Personal Software Process encourages programmer discipline. Largely forgotten, it does have a few wrinkles, but understanding and applying its core ideas remains as fruitful as ever.
The Year-Round Joys and Benefits of Open Source Software
One of the things that makes us programmers feel warm and fuzzy is open source software. Companies support open source too. Why give something away for free? A lot of individuals contribute open source code out of a genuine sense of altruism. Yet when it comes to companies, it’s often a strategic choice, and one they expect to benefit from. Let's review how companies benefit from open source.
Computer Systems Research: The Joys, the Perils, and How to Count Beans Well
This post is meant to highlight my subjective take on the joys and the road bumps on the way to doing innovative work in computer systems.
Which birthdays would have special significance if our culture were binary-based instead of decimal-based?
Pitting Computers Against Each Other . . . in Chess
Guest blogger Monroe Newborn on the 50th anniversary of ACM computer chess tournaments.
Dijkstra Was Wrong About ‘Radical Novelty’: Metaphors in CS Education
The most cited CS education paper is, unfortunately, wrong.
Why Great Programmers Pull Back the Curtain While Programming
Want to be a great programmer? If so, you have to pull back the curtain and learn how software really works. A deeper understanding helps programmers further their skills and knowledge. And that can pay off for years to come.
Time to Assess National AI Policies
The Center for AI and Digital Policy has undertaken the first comparative review of national artificial intelligence policies.
Is Computer Science More or Less Suitable for Distance Learning?
How undergraduate computer science students perceive the discipline based on their distance learning experience during the 2020 Spring semester – the Corona Semester.
Why Focus on Technologies for Human Learning?
By choosing human learning as a topic area, computer scientists can contribute to major societal challenges, win grants in additional programs, and tackle new computer science challenges. Three classes of challenges are described.
How Do You Calculate on the Abacus?
Considering the use of one of the most long-lived calculating devices.
Sometimes the digital turn forces us to designate things that aren't there.
Here’s Why Resentment is the Key to Happiness
Do you find happiness to be fleeting? That shiny new car or big job promotion makes you happy for a few weeks but quickly turns into the same old same old? Maybe resentment is the key to happiness... Let me explain why.
Determining CS Student Preferences During the Corona Semester
What does the Corona Semester reveal about computer science students’ preferences when learning computer science?
Bringing Industry Back to Conferences, and Paying for Results
David Patterson wants to boost industry submissions to conferences, while Yegor Bugayenko suggests productivity should govern coders' pay when they work from home.
Tracking Down a Seminal Work on Computer Construction – in Russian
A Russian edition of Rutishauser's standard work on computer construction.
Why I Don’t Recommend CSRankings.org: Know the Values You are Ranking On
Just because a ranking is computable doesn't mean that it's right.
Measuring Up: How to Properly Measure Your Programmers
To measure or to not measure, that is the question. Ask programmers and many will tell you that measurement is a fool’s folly. Measurement undermines the team spirit, or it reduces dynamic solutions into simplified numbers that can never reflect the true complexity of the project. On the other hand, without measurement, project managers will struggle to stay on top of a project.
The Pros and Cons of Online Lab Classes for Computer Science – 2020 Pandemic Edition
Contrary to expectations, online lab classes during our current pandemic may actually have some benefits over their in-person counterparts.
Shape the Future of Computing
ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.
Get InvolvedCommunications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.
Learn More