We investigate computable subshifts and the connection with effective symbolic dynamics. It is shown that a decidable Pi(0)(1) class P is a subshift if and only if there exists a computable function F mapping 2(N) to 2(N) such that P is the set of itineraries of elements of 2(N). Pi(0)(1) subshifts are constructed in 2(N) and in 2(Z) which have no computable elements. We also consider the symbolic dynamics of maps on the unit interval. (C) WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim