Once Upon an Algorithm: How Stories Explain Computing

Erwig, Martin

ISBN 10: 0262036630 / ISBN 13: 9780262036634

Edité par The MIT Press, 2017

Fast Free Shipping â Very good condition with a sturdy cover and clean pages. Lightly read and well cared for, showing only minimal shelf wear. May contain a few small marks but remains a solid copy to enjoy. Supplemental items like CDs or access codes may not be included. N° de réf. du vendeur GWV.0262036630.VG

Synopsis :

This easy-to-follow introduction to computer science reveals how familiar stories like Hansel and Gretel, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter illustrate the concepts and everyday relevance of computing.

Picture a computer scientist, staring at a screen and clicking away frantically on a keyboard, hacking into a system, or perhaps developing an app. Now delete that picture. In Once Upon an Algorithm, Martin Erwig explains computation as something that takes place beyond electronic computers, and computer science as the study of systematic problem solving. Erwig points out that many daily activities involve problem solving. Getting up in the morning, for example: You get up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast. This simple daily routine solves a recurring problem through a series of well-defined steps. In computer science, such a routine is called an algorithm.
 
Erwig illustrates a series of concepts in computing with examples from daily life and familiar stories. Hansel and Gretel, for example, execute an algorithm to get home from the forest. The movie Groundhog Day illustrates the problem of unsolvability; Sherlock Holmes manipulates data structures when solving a crime; the magic in Harry Potter’s world is understood through types and abstraction; and Indiana Jones demonstrates the complexity of searching. Along the way, Erwig also discusses representations and different ways to organize data; “intractable” problems; language, syntax, and ambiguity; control structures, loops, and the halting problem; different forms of recursion; and rules for finding errors in algorithms.
 
This engaging book explains computation accessibly and shows its relevance to daily life. Something to think about next time we execute the algorithm of getting up in the morning.

À propos de l?auteur: Martin Erwig is Professor of Computer Science in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University.

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Once Upon an Algorithm: How Stories Explain ...
Éditeur : The MIT Press
Date d'édition : 2017
Reliure : Couverture rigide
Etat : very_good