ACM Computing Classification System
subject classification system for computing

The ACM Computing Classification System (CCS) is a subject classification system for computing devised by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The system is comparable to the Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC) in scope, aims, and structure, being used by the various ACM journals to organize subjects by area.
History
The system has gone through seven revisions, the first version being published in 1964, and revised versions appearing in 1982, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1998, and the now current version in 2012.
Structure
It is hierarchically structured in four levels. For example, one branch of the hierarchy contains:
Computing methodologies
Artificial intelligence
Knowledge representation and reasoning
Ontology engineering
See also
Computer Science Ontology
Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme
arXiv, a preprint server allowing submitted papers to be classified using the ACM CCS
Physics Subject Headings
References
Coulter, Neal (1997), "ACM's computing classification system reflects changing times", Communications of the ACM, 40 (12), New York, NY, USA: ACM: 111–112, doi:10.1145/265563.265579, S2CID 42548816.
Coulter, Neal (chair); French, James; Glinert, Ephraim; Horton, Thomas; Mead, Nancy; Ralston, Anthony; Rada, Roy; Rodkin, Craig; Rous, Bernard; Tucker, Allen; Wegner, Peter; Weiss, Eric; Wierzbicki, Carol (January 21, 1998), "Computing Classification System 1998: Current Status and Future Maintenance Report of the CCS Update Committee" (PDF), Computing Reviews, New York, NY, USA: ACM: 1–5.
Mirkin, Boris; Nascimento, Susana; Pereira, Luis Moniz (2008), "Representing a Computer Science Research Organization on the ACM Computing Classification System", in Eklund, Peter; Haemmerlé, Ollivier (eds.), Supplementary Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Conceptual Structures (ICCS-2008) (PDF), CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 354, RWTH Aachen University, pp. 57–65.
External links
dl.acm.org/ccs is the homepage of the system, including links to four complete versions of the system:
the 1964 version Archived 2016-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
the 1991 version Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
the 1998 version
the current 2012 version.
“ACM Computing Classification System” enters the record as subject classification system for computing. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Computing, Classification and System can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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