The ever increasing performance of computer hardware and improvements to the accuracy of numerical algorithms are revolutionizing scientific research in many disciplines, but perhaps none more so than astrophysics. I will begin by describing why computation is crucial for the solution of a variety of problems at the forefront of research in astronomy and astrophysics, with particular emphasis on understanding accretion flows onto black holes. I will outline the challenge of developing, testing, and implementing numerical algorithms for the investigation of these problems. Finally, I will present results that demonstrate how computation can help us understand the basic physics of magnetized accretion disks.