James Bond-like spies have been eclipsed by a new generation of operatives who don't travel the world (not physically, anyway) or drink martinis, shaken or stirred.
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Programming Programming Languages, and Analyzing Facebook’s Failure
Mark Guzdial considers an idea with significant educational implications, while Susan Landau looks into the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal.
Finding errors is not the same strategy as making sure that a product works.
Teaching Two Programming Languages in the First CS Course
Should we teach two different programming languages in the first CS course? Probably not -- here's what we know.
Articulation of Decision Responsibility
Can we establish a locution for the results of a program that does not ascribe decision-making power?
Massive software failure once again, with no lesson from past occurrences and no lesson for future systems.
ACM Public Policy Update: 100-Day Highlights
Chronicling the First 100 Days this year of ACM's member-driven policy efforts in Europe and the U.S.
Commenting on Code, Considering Data’s Bottleneck
Edwin Torres considers the enduring value of code comments, while Walid Saba wonders if we have overreacted to the knowledge acquisition bottleneck.
The ability to hack algorithms and make data structures optimal was a virtue of programmers a few decades ago. The current reality is much different, with the ability of programmers to work remotely, communicate, and share information emphasized as more valuable skills today.
Evidence from Broward County of integrated CS curriculum having an impact on standardized tests
Fostering Inclusion, Keeping the Net Neutral
ACM-W chair Jodi Tims offers ways everyone can promote inclusiveness, while Daniel A. Reed assesses the debate over Net neutrality.
Examples of Phenomenology in Computing
The branch of philosophy known as phenomenology can broaden our understanding of what is really going on in the tasks we address with computing.
What Went Wrong? Facebook and ‘Sharing’ Data with Cambridge Analytica
The road to the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal is strewn with failures.
Securing Threats to Election Systems
Election systems are supposed to be disconnected from the Internet, for obvious and sensible reasons. Most elections today, however, use computers.
Time To End The vi/Emacs Debate
If you still use Emacs, I feel for you. Perhaps it is time to give vi a try.
A Computing Education Research Perspective on Programmable Programming Languages
Computing education researcher take on the implications of programmable programming languages
The Costs and Pleasures of a Computer Science Teacher
Mark Guzdial considers the enormous opportunity costs of computer science teachers, while Bertrand Meyer ponders the pleasures of arguing with graduate students.
Why Code Comments Still Matter
Some believe that commenting code is bad, but comments still matter in our programs.
Did We Just Replace the ‘Knowledge Bottleneck’ With a ‘Data Bottleneck’?
In practice, it seems that avoiding the knowledge acquisition bottleneck has not resulted in any net gain.
Reacting to the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, which now tries to extend nuclear deterrence to cyberspace.
Deciding When the Design is Wrong in Programming Languages and Education
When do we decide that errors are due to bad design in programming languges and education?
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