What Computational Science Means to Me

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

My latest attempt to define what "computational thinking" actually means is now on the web in draft form—comments would be very welcome. In brief, the eight principles are:

• It's all just data.
• Data doesn't mean anything on its own—it has to be interpreted.
• Programming is about creating and composing abstractions.
• Models are for computers, and views are for people.
• Paranoia makes us productive.
• Better algorithms always trump better hardware.
• Automation is the key to acceleration.
• The tool shapes the hand.