If the only thing you could do with physics was build rockets, then physics would be akin to rocket building. There is no such thing as computers without programming. That CS isn't about programming is such an absurd perspective. Even if you consider that some CS research is mostly focused on hardware, the vast majority of CS research is about software. The vast majority of CS research is about writing programs.
Algorithms without computers (in the "plastic box with CPU+memory" sense) are definitely a thing. Computers in the end, as we experience them everyday, are just one particularly manufacturable manifestation of Turing machines. A bunch of stuff in life and nature is amenable to algorithmic treatment. "Algorithms to live by" is one popular example of that aspect of computer science applied to life.
Programming is just a way to write down a mechanism. A mechanical computer would be "programmed" quite differently than by writing code in a text editor.
Algorithms are programs. Computing is running an algorithm, the program. Computing is programming! The Turing machine was a theoretical concept created to prove things about whether we could program a machine to solve a certain class of problems.
It was stated above that 'a function is effectively calculable if its values can be found by some purely mechanical process'. We may take this statement literally, understanding by a purely mechanical process one which could be carried out by a machine. It is possible to give a mathematical description, in a certain normal form, of the structures of these machines. The development of these ideas leads to the author's definition of a computable function, and to an identification of computability with effective calculability. It is not difficult, though somewhat laborious, to prove that these three definitions [the 3rd is the λ-calculus] are equivalent.
— Turing (1939) in The Undecidable, p. 160
Computer science is most definitely the science of programming machines (computers). It seems ridiculous to me to say CS is not the study of programming. Does CS involve other disciplines like math and physics? Yes. Of course. But it uses math and physics towards the end of programming a machine to carry out the programs.
You’re making pretty strong claims and passing them off as fact. It doesn’t feel like a discussion and I think you’re harming the discourse.
Let’s consult Wikipedia:
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information.[1][2][3] Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (including the design and implementation of hardware and software).[4][5][6] Computer science is generally considered an academic discipline and distinct from computer programming which is considered to be a technical field.[7]
It directly contradicts the narrative you’re peddling. Please, listen to people trying to explain the nuance to you and actually engage. Don’t just keep repeating the same misconception ad nauseam.
Yes, analog computers are very interesting. Though they typically do include arithmetic operations. They were often programmed with patch bays and the program is the patch bay configuration. So the programming was still discrete.
Wikipedia is literally telling you there’s a difference between the abstract study of the logic that underpins how we approach designing and programming computers, and the actual tools and processes used to do so, and you’re just ignoring it. IDK how else to help you.
Nobody is arguing that computers don't compute. Why are you stuck on that minutia?
This is patently incorrect. An algorithm is an idea, whereas a program contains a concrete representation (implementation) of one or more algorithms executable on a computer.
