On the Differences between Informatics and Other Scientific Disciplines

The genesis of informatics as a scientific discipline is considered, and the evolution of the concept of informatics and its formation in the scientific community are analyzed. The background of the term’s appearance in the Russian language and its origin and development from the original concept of documentation to the modern understanding are studied. The main attention is paid to the analysis of various approaches to defining the essence of informatics as a basic science, industry discipline, and interdisciplinary area.