Product Description
Written for the beginning computing student, this text engages readers by relating core computer science topics to their industry application. The book is written in a comfortable, informal manner, and light humor is used throughout the text to maintain interest and enhance learning. All chapters contain a multitude of exercises, quizzes, and other opportunities for skill application. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

computer science book
Unless you really love computers and have a lot of time on your hands for doing the programming chapters. It jumps around a bit so if you like that it will work for you...

Great Introduction to the Subject
I bought this book to learn more about how computers operate.I am a self-learner who prefers textbooks because of the depth they provide but I like a textbook that read more like a novel for someone not taking the class.A good textbook does not need supplementary material (like lectures) in order to be understandable and helpful.This book meets and exceeds all expectations.It is written well, starts from the beginning, and explains topics in a logical and easy to understand way.The topics build on each other, so start from the beginning unless you have background knowledge.Some info is outdated and could definitely benefit from a newer edition.Highly recommend!

My selection for a textbook the next time I teach a course in the fundamentals of computing for computer science majors
During my career, I have taught beginning computer course across the spectrum from classes that are a basic introduction to how a computer is used to those that cover the fundamentals of computing for prospective computer science majors. This book is at the later end of that spectrum.
The coverage delves into some of the basic principles of computing; there are segments of source code in assembly all the way through Java. When it is time to solve some basic problems via a computer program, the solutions are expressed in Java. Other areas covered are the history of computing, the design and structure of computing solutions, data structures, basic computer architecture; the design of databases, security and ethics, how data is represented in a computer, operating systems, networking and the Internet.
There is some depth to the coverage in each of these areas, giving the instructor many options as to how in-depth you wish to go. A set of simple test questions is given at the end of each chapter and solutions to all are included in an appendix. Recently, I have taught a course in the fundamentals of computing for computer science majors. I do not know if and when I will teach such a course again. However, if I do, this will most certainly be the text that I will use.

Computer Science is fun!
I had to buy this for school and it was actually one of the only textbooks I have somewhat enjoyed reading.In the beginning of every chapter, there is a section called the "lighter side of the lab" and it always made me giggle a little.I learned a lot from this book and I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the basics of your computer "under the hood". ... Read more

Product Description
Aho and Ullman have created a C version of their groundbreaking text. As in that text, this book combines the theoretical foundations of computing with essential discrete mathematics. It follows the same organizations as its predecessor, with all examples and exercises in C. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Desert Island Book
This is the best all-around foundational book covering Computer Science and Discrete Math; I wish it was used when I was a Computer Science student. I think the bad reviews were written by people who mistook this as an introductory book to CS, it's not. To get anything from this book you should know C well and be mathematically mature.

The book provides numerous examples and mathematical background for recursion, iteration, algorithmic efficiency, combinatorics and probability, as well as the major data structures.

I think if you take the time to go through this book you'll be well rewarded.

Good Mix of Discrete Math And Programming
I'm not sure what the reviewers giving it 1-2 stars are complaining about?Maybe they just don't get it.I've been programming professionally for 8 years and I have yet to see a better book that ties Discrete Math with Computer Science.I think it gives a great example of how Induction and Recursive thinking are linked.I bought this book 3 years ago and I occasionally re-visit it to do all the exercises.... There's a lot but they are good.It's like going to the gym for a good workout but in the context of Computer Science.

No, it's not introductory, but if you're having a hard time with Discrete Math and have a solid programming background, are willing to sit down and "Work out" the excercises, then this book is for you.

Excellent book, even for experienced readers
Overall, I think this book is an excellent book that anyone serious about computer science should own. I think that this book is good both for those new to computer science and those who have been involved in computer science for several years.

For those new to computer science, I would not use this as a first book (this is made clear in the introduction, as well). The expectation is that the reader will already understand the basics of programming, so prior experience or an introductory course in computer science would be appropriate. Many of the examples make use of pointers, which can occasionally be confusing to students unfamiliar with programming, so it would definitely be a good idea for the reader to be familiar with a language like C or Pascal before starting this book. Once that foundation is in place, this is an excellent book to learn the basics of the field of computer science.

For more experienced readers, this book serves as an amazing review and does a good job of collecting lots of information in one place. Explanations are solid, so the book can serve as a good reference for multiple topics. Note that the level of detail is not appropriate if you are just interested in one thing -- if you are interested only in details of algorithms, a book like the MIT Press Algorithms book would be more appropriate.

An always useful reference
I've used this book for the namesake course at university, 2 years ago. It proved to be perfectly adequate at that time. It was very readable and complete. And this would be enough for me to give it a five stars rate.
But there's more. After these two years I've collected many other books in various areas of CS, but when I need a quick reference on any specific topic or I don't remember the formal definition of a concept, I always find this book in my hands. It is one of the references I use most often.
It has been my first book by the couple Aho-Ullman. Now I've understood that whenever these two "emeritus guys" writes something, it always worths time and money to read them.

No "Foundation" whatsoever
This is a poorly written, poorly designed book.Mathematicians may enjoy having this one on their shelf since they are probably the only ones that would enjoy the arcane, obfuscating language of the material.Since computer science is a practical application of mathematics, it would help to have a book that sets the foundations for newcomers in practical language with practical examples.This book does neither.I cite from page 370:"Suppose a relation R, from domain A to range B, has the property that for every member of A there is at most one element b in B such that aRb.Then R is said to be a partial function from domain A to range B."This is just a small example of the author's droning about set theory.A computer science major would be better served by, "A function cannot produce more than one answer", but nowhere in the text is this practical application mentioned.It's as though the publisher offered the author a bonus for long-windedness and theoretical prattle.This book should be in a graduate seminar on how NOT to write computer science texts. ... Read more

Product Description
In the 1990's it was realized that quantum physics has some spectacular applications in computer science. This book is a concise introduction to quantum computation, developing the basic elements of this new branch of computational theory without assuming any background in physics. It begins with an introduction to the quantum theory from a computer-science perspective. It illustrates the quantum-computational approach with several elementary examples of quantum speed-up, before moving to the major applications: Shor's factoring algorithm, Grover's search algorithm, and quantum error correction. The book is intended primarily for computer scientists who know nothing about quantum theory, but will also be of interest to physicists who want to learn the theory of quantum computation, and philosophers of science interested in quantum foundational issues. It evolved during six years of teaching the subject to undergraduates and graduate students in computer science, mathematics, engineering, and physics, at Cornell University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

elegant explanations
Mermin is perhaps best known as theco-author of 'Solid State Physics', a longstanding text of its subject. But his interests are diverse, and one of these is presented here. He explains the intriguing use of quantum computing. Starting with the concept of a Qbit.

The text assumes you've done some non-relativistic quantum mechanics. After all, the entire subject is based on quantum effects producing different results than traditional computing. You should know the bra and ket notation, that was first introduced by Dirac. This notation is amazingly concise and pervades the text. It is probably fair to say that 90% of the discussion uses this notation.

The derivations are elegant and surprisingly simple, compared to the intricacies of other applications of quantum mechanics. There is relatively little discussion of experimental methods. This is primarily a theoretical text.

One conclusion is that this field is young. No serious computations are yet capable, compared to those on computers using traditional classical physics. ... Read more

Product Description

Formal concept analysis has been developed as a field of applied mathematics based on the mathematization of concept and concept hierarchy. It thereby allows us to mathematically represent, analyze, and construct conceptual structures. The formal concept analysis approach has been proven successful in a wide range of application fields.

This book constitutes a comprehensive and systematic presentation of the state of the art of formal concept analysis and its applications. The first part of the book is devoted to foundational and methodological topics. The contributions in the second part demonstrate how formal concept analysis is successfully used outside of mathematics, in linguistics, text retrieval, association rule mining, data analysis, and economics. The third part presents applications in software engineering.

Product Description
Best-selling author, Walter Savitch, uses a conversational style to teach programmers problem solving and programming techniques with Java. Readers are introduced to object-oriented programming and important computer science concepts such as testing and debugging techniques, program style, inheritance, and exception handling. It includes thorough coverage of the Swing libraries and event driven programming. The Java coverage is a concise, accessible introduction that covers key language features. Thorough early coverage of objects is included, with an emphasis on applications over applets. The author includes a highly flexible format that allows readers to adapt coverage of topics to their preferred order. Although the book does cover such more advanced topics as inheritance, exception handling, and the Swing libraries, it starts from the beginning, and it teaches traditional, more basic techniques, such as algorithm design.The volume provides concise coverage of computers and Java objects, primitive types, strings, and interactive I/O, flow of control, defining classes and methods, arrays, inheritance, exception handling, streams and file I/O, recursion, window interfaces using swing objects, and applets and HTML.For Programmers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

Savitch is an Moron
Why does he think he is so god damn special that he needs to create a method with his last name for input? This teaches NOTHING about input!!! Sorry but once you get hired at a company they will NOT be using SavitchIn

This guy an IDIOT.

DO NOT GET THIS BOOK
This book is a complete waste of money. First, the software installation instructions are terrible for a beginner programmer. The flow of the book jumps around like 2 kangaroos during mating season. It starts by saying that this book is for the beginner then jumps right into the first program then back to basics. The author doesn't explain terms like "class" and "method" to a level that the simple person can understand. Those who say this is a good book obviously didn't read it. Don't buy this book just get a good instructor who has several years of experience. Note the help websites that are in the front of the book DON'T EXIST.

Bad choice for people withoutprogramming experience
It would be a good book if it went right to the point. But it goes over and over again through the same ideas, making it very confusing. They give you the first example and then they revise it over an over again, adding more code and saying that the first example is not good.

"We will say a bit more about the class Container later in this chapter" p. 730

Another example (in the same page!):

"An invocation of the method add can be written in the simplier form contentPane.add(label); instead of the slightly more complex (and slightly less efficient) expression getContentPane().add(label);" -which they give several pages before.

Why don't they give you the good one from the very beginning, so you don't need to re-learn and erase your notes from the chapter making the learning process super slow?

I also find it unorganized and boring. I think programming could be tought in a more interesting way, like in the book Head First Java, 2nd Edition. It is an interesting, fun and great book to learn Java. It is too bad that the professor's choice was Savitch, instead.

Liked it - But did not adopt it because of 'SavitchIn'
I really liked the book. Savitch explains how to program in plain english - and he is easy to read. The only fault in the book (and the reason I did not adopt it in my Java courses is that he used 'SavitchIn'( a nice class he made for user input ) instead of what the student needs to learn.
Again - this is a REALLY GOOD JAVA BOOK. But he really needs to lose the 'SavitchIn' class. (Well, at least use it as an ALTERNATE way to get user input.) What a shame. And I really like his chapters on Swing.

Good Java learning book
The way he writes this book makes it seem as if he's right there talking to you - using words you understand. The explanations are crystal clear.
Savitch is to Java as Malik is to C++. Both make it easy to learn - and after all, that's what I buy a book for - to learn.
Only drawback is the high price, but I suggest you bite the bullet so you won't have buyer's remorse. Go ahead and get the better book. (Also get the Schaums Outline.) ... Read more

Product Description
Illustrates key computing concepts using examples in the most popular programming languages. This is an essential guide for the hundreds of thousands of students studying Introduction to Computer Science or Introduction to Programming, presenting the basic concepts of computerscience and illlustrating them with examples in C/C++, and Java. More than 285,000 college majors and 11,000 high school Advanced Placement candidates are enrolled in required Computing Science courses. Explains algorithm development and data abstraction. Supplements leading computer science textbooks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good supplement for anyone learning basic computer programming
This is a pretty good introduction to basic undergraduate ideas in computer science including different number systems (hex, binary), computing structures (components, architecture), and the concept of program layout and algorithms. This book does not go deep into these concepts, but at least it makes the student aware that these issues exist and gives a very brief idea of how they work. In other words, don't expect any in-depth examination of computational complexity in the section on algorithms. The lion's share of the book is dedicated to simple programming concepts. First the ideas of variables, constants, operators, operator precedence, and input/output are introduced. Then these concepts are used to examine the constructs of control structures, functions, subroutines, arrays, strings, files, and data structures. There is a very basic chapter on object oriented programming that includes the advantages of object orientation as well as an introduction to terminology and program structure. Simple programs are shown as examples and also given as exercises in four popular languages - C, C++, Visual Basic, and Java.

This book was written in 1999, so the properties of the four featured programming languages have changed some, but not enough to nullify the usefulness of this book. I would say that this book is suitable for high school and freshman college students getting their first look at the basics of computing and of programming in any language. This book does not substitute as an introductory textbook for learning the four programming languages used, but it would make a nice supplement.

overview of 4 popular languages
This book is unique in that it is both low-priced and provides an overview of four popular languages- C, C++, Java and VisualBasic (I couldn't find anything on Pascal and Fortran, unlike what the Publisher's reviewimplies). It is sometimes heavy going and or lacks detail in places, andwill need to be supplemented by other books and courses. Still, it'sgoodvalue for the price. ... Read more

Product Description
Revised And Updated, The Second Edition Of Explorations In Computer Science: A Guide To Discovery Provides Introductory Computer Science Students With A Hands-On Learning Experience.Designed To Expose Students To A Variety Of Subject Areas, This Laboratory Manual OffersChallenging Exercises In Problem Solving And Experimentation.Each Lab Includes Objectives, References, Background Information, And An In-Depth Activity, And Numerous Exercises For Deeper Investigation Of The Topic Under Discussion. ... Read more

Product Description
Computer Science & Perl Programming: Best of The Perl Journal is the first of three volumes from the archives of The Perl Journal that O'Reilly has exclusive rights to distribute. This book is a compilation of the best TPJ has to offer: 71 articles providing a comprehensive tour of how experts implement computer science concepts in the real world, with code walkthroughs, case studies, and explanations of difficult techniques that can't be found in any other book.This insightful volume covers:

tips for beginnersregular expressionsdata structuresnetworkingdatabasessoftware development processesobject-oriented programmingadvanced Perl programming techniques

Customer Reviews (5)

Good but not great
The material is great, but the first edition (at least) suffers from enough typesetting flaws to make some content difficult to follow. There are several instances where the prose indicates some text is supposed to be highlighted in some way but it is not e.g; bold to indicate differences from an earlier code listing, or variables missing the distinguishing overlines resulting in incomprehensible formulae.

Good, but over my head
I enjoyed learning the algorithms they presented, but I don't have much use for them in my work.This is a good collection for those who are interested in doing very difficult work in the easiest Language to Succeed in; Perl.

Absolutely lovable and entirely unique
The title is misleading in that it doesn't give the full impact of what's going on with this book. This book was written by somnething of a who's-who of the Perl community and it's similiarly a massive aggregation the best applications of nearly all of Perl's features. It's true that it's edited versions of TPJ articles but TPJ has always been hands-on and the feel is more as though the best pages were ripped out of already great Perl books to be arranged and edited into one volume. I urge you to think of this as a book in the vein of Programming Perl but written by everyone but Larry Wall. =)

Because nearly every article was written as the result of a Perl feature manifesting itself to violently break through a hard problem, this book contains a collection of examples that no single human could possible contrieve. Other books (even Programming Perl by comparison) relatively thoroughly demonstrate and document the language features but only this one shows each feature shining as it solves real problems in real problems taken from real life. You'll get a feel not only for the syntax of features but how to think about them. You'll start to spot new and better applications for Perl's features in your own programming work.

Compared to other books, it's more verbose than Programming Perl and it neglects the bare basics and moves much further with the ideas. It examines more macro scale ideas than the Perl Cookbook and generalizes thier applications rather than giving numerous specifics. The closest example I can think of is the styles and much of the contents of Advanced Perl Programming, Learning Regular Expressions, Learning Algorithms with Perl and several others rolled into one.

It goes into more depth on why things are the way they are than any other Perl book. For example, one chapter demonstrates how things would go wrong if the order of operators were different than how they are and using the good and bad arrangements walks the reader through infering what the relative orders are. Where other books list the order of operations in a matter-of-fact way, this one leaves you with a sense of order and rationality of things that your intuition and creativity can feed off of when programming.

Quoting from the foreword (Hi Mark Jason Dominus!): "It does not suffer from the usual flaw of the anthology, which is that the best you can hope for is that more than half of the articles are above average. On the contrary, it is by turns brilliant, witty, and profound.". And from the preface: "In a sense, this book was written very carefully and methodically over six years. ... Every issue, there were a lot of new subscribers, many of whom were new to Perl. Common sense dictated that I should include beginner articles in every issue, but I didn't like where that line of reasoning led. If I catered to the novices in every issue, far too many articles would be about beginner topics. ... So I did something very unusual for a magazine: I made it easy (and cheap) for subscribers to get all of the back issues when they subscribed, so they'd be able to enjoy the introductory material. A side effect of this approach was that the articles hang together very well: they tell a consistent "story" in a steady progress from TPJ #1 to TPJ #20...".

Perl's books have always been one of it's major strengths and I'm happy this trend continues. Computer Science & Perl Programming is delightful.

Computer Science and Perl Programming
Ahh how I miss The Perl Journal. This volume brings me right back to the good old days of humor and fine code. Unfortunately, The Perl Journal has been relegated to a quarterly supplement appearing in Sys Admin magazine. Thankfully, some of the knowledge found in the pages of The Perl Journal has been compiled here.

Computer Science and Perl Programming is a collection of 70 articles from The Perl Journal. It is the first volume of a set of three and, in my opinion, the best volume. Jon Orwant, the original editor of The Perl Journal, has done a great job in putting together this volume.

This volume is divided into tips for beginners, regular expressions, data structures, networking, databases, software development processes, object-oriented programming, and advanced Perl programming techniques. I particularly enjoyed the regular expressions, and networking sections. The data structures section was also very useful, as data structures in Perl can tend to be a bit odd. This volume has a good bit of programming knowledge crammed into it, and seems to be a bit more serious than the other two volumes.

All in all, a great read and a great reference to keep around. I would definitely advise anyone interested in Perl to pick up this set, you won't regret it.

Great collection
Computer Science and Perl Programming is a collection of 70-odd articles from The Perl Journal magazine. As the title suggests it focusses on more of the theoretical side of perl. This is the first volume in a series of three books. The second one focusses on web and graphics, and the third one on games and diversions.

CS & PP is divided into seven sections as follows: Beginner Concepts, Regular Expressions, Computer Science, Programming Techniques, Software Development, Networking and Databases. The articles are straight reprints from TPJ and are written by a number of leading perl people such as Larry Wall, Damian Conway, Mark Jason Dominus, etc. Jon Orwant, the publisher of TPJ is the editor for this book.

I haven't finished this book yet but I've greatly enjoyed the articles I've read. A vast array of topics are covered, such as B-Trees, random number generators, benchmarking, makemaker, DBI and even Win32::ODBC and Microsoft Office. There's something for every perl programmer in this book. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dated, but still a good introduction to some areas of computer science
In the 1980's, I was teaching mathematics at the college level and we made the decision to offer a course in discrete mathematics for computer science students. While I was trained in mathematics, I did not know the precise meaning of the term in this context. Therefore, I purchased this book and read through it. Shortly after that, I wrote the proposal to add a course in discrete mathematics to our curriculum and it passed all the confirmatory hurdles.
Since the definition of what is considered discrete mathematics for computer science students has changed over the years, the coverage here is not consistent with the modern approach. The chapters are:

*) Mathematical models
*) Mathematical reasoning
*) Sets
*) Binary relations
*) Functions
*) Counting and algorithm analysis
*) Infinite sets
*) Algebras

As you can see, there is no graph theory and there is no mention of switching theory and only one page devoted to Boolean algebra. Therefore, while this book was excellent at the time and remains a solid introduction to some areas of discrete mathematics, the field has moved somewhat beyond this coverage.
... Read more

Product Description

A Balanced Introduction to Computer Science, 3/e is ideal for Introduction to Computing and the Web courses in departments of Math and Computer Science.

Customer Reviews (4)

GETTING THE BASICS DOWN!
This book was required for a college course.It is a great book to learn about Computer Science in general.The book focuses on the internet and creating basic Web-pages.You will learn how to work with JavaScript and HTML code.You gain the knowledge to generally understand how to possibly make a Forum website.The book stresses text/number input, manipulation of text/numbers, and then output of text/numbers in various ways.You will learn about the history of the internet, the difference between what the Internet is and the World Wide Web.Yes, there is a difference!The drawback to this book is that there are a lot of type-o's in the code examples.You will learn enough in the book to be able to proof read the example, but it may cause you some headaches.

Well rounded computer science book
This book has a well balanced approach to explaining the topic of computer science. The author covers the history of computer science along with real world applications. The book breaks down key computer science topics with good diagrams and easy to understand language in addressing issues like the internet, networking, the internal workings of computers, and application development. In addition, the book provides thought provoking questions and introduces example programs that help the reader solidify their understanding of the concepts. I recommend this book to anyone trying to grasp the world of computer science.

many mistakes, poor formatting
I was asked to grade students' homework based on Chapter 10 of this book. I found that this book contains a lot of mistakes and complicates the subject greatly. Moreover, some side-notes miss the right-most part of the text, i.e. you cannot read those side-notes without guessing what letters are missing.

For example, in the aforementioned Chapter 10, there is a diagram, which shows that public-key encryption involves the following: the sender first encrypts the message with private key, then with public key; the recipient first decrypts the message with private key, then with public key. This sounds quite complicated, and looks like they have tried to present encryption and signature-verification at the same time, but call it "public key encryption". Clearly, it should not have been this complicated, or at least it should have been called appropriately.

As one more example from Chapter 10: they say that for LANs Ethernet technology is used. They claim that this technology uses Ethernet bus, and when one computer sends a message to another computer, all computers receive the message and check the intended recipient of the message, and discard the messages that they are not intended to receive. (Clearly, this describes how Ethernet Hubs work, which can be found rarely these days as opposed to Fast Ethernet Switches.) However, later on they say that the speed of the aforementioned Ethernet is 10, 100, or 1000 Mbits per second. This is where the problem begins -- I have never saw a Gigabit Ethernet Hub (as opposed to Switch), and I don't think that Fast Ethernet Hubs were popular either. Clearly, this is one more instance of confusing the reader and presenting false information.

I would never recommend this book to anyone. If the author wanted to keep the subject simple, he should have avoided the technical details all together. If he wanted to present some technical detail, then he should have made sure that they don't contradict each other and are not missing important points and updates.

Suitable for an introduction to computer science course
There are generally two courses for beginners in computing. "Introduction to Computers" is usually designed for people who know very little about computers and are interested in using them in their daily life. While "Introduction to Computer Science" covers some of the same material, it is designed for those who want to know how computers work, and perhaps even take some courses in computer science. This book is written for the second type of course.
Programming is introduced via HTML, which is in complete agreement with what I tell everyone who expresses an interest in learning to program. HTML is easy to understand, demonstrates some of the ideas of advanced programming and the feedback is immediate. Furthermore, initial programs can be small and since the student will most certainly be familiar with surfing the web, the results will make sense to them.
What most people consider to be true programming, writing code with variables, functions, if constructs, loops and user interaction, are introduced with JavaScript. This is also a sound decision, JavaScript is powerful enough to introduce the basics of programming, builds on the previous HTML coding and is freely available. Other chapters cover a brief history of computing, how data is represented in computers, the fundamentals of digital logic and the impact computers are having on society. A large number of images are used to reinforce the text, and exercises are embedded inside the chapters with another set at the end of the chapter.
If you are in the queue to teach an introduction to computer science course, then you should examine this book. It is well written and the level of presentation is appropriate for the typical student taking such a course. It could also be used for self-study.
... Read more

Product Description
This new Java edition of the AP Computer Science manual presents four full-length AP Computer Science practice exams with questions answered and explained. Two are A exams, two are AB exams, and all four are modeled on the actual exam. A general subject review covers all topics tested on the exam, including Java language features; classes and objects; inheritance and polymorphism; program design and analysis; one- and two-dimensional arrays; recursion; linked lists; stacks, queues and priority queues; trees; collections; and sorting and searching. A final chapter describes the Marine Biology Simulation Case Study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

hard--but worth it
maria litvin - i'd recommend it to anyone who never learned java b4. this book definitely stresses over concept, but the problems are not enough and much easier than the test i took in may. as a result, i'd recommend u to buy this book, but a harder book to go along with it like ds-marketing or barron's.
princeton - this book is pretty alright. it has good information, but i don't think it's enough. the way the author writes is understandable, but again, problems are not enough. sometimes there are only 4 problems per chapter. also, the practice test at the end of the chapter are not enough. there's only 1 set for A and 1 set for AB.
barron's - this book places emphasis on the problems. for example, in marine biology, there's at least 40 problems. don't buy this if u get bored easily because reading this book is like reading college textbooks. however, i can guarantee u that this book will raise ur score much quicker than any other book. however, this book is MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than the actual exam. i'd say that if u get a raw score of 50/80 on the practice test, u can probably get a 5.
5 steps - i borrowed this book from a friend about a week before the test. i feel like this book is almost exactly like the test. it has every type of problem, and gives excellent short summaries at the end of each chapter. it's quite understandable.
b4 taking compsci ap, i did 5 books: maria litvin, barron, princeton, 5 steps to a 5, and ds-marketing. i'd say that if u have a pretty decent teacher, u'll probably only need 5 steps or barron's. otherwise, i'd recommend at least 2 of the books above. however, remember that ds-marketing DOES NOT have marine biology (which makes up about 20% of the exam)

Barron's books really prepares for APCS A
This book is great.The students say that the questions in the book are generally harder than the actual test, but they cover the appropriate topics.It is very well organized.This is the only book that is needed for the AP A test.
Thanks Roselyn.

If you can only buy one review book, buy this one.
What I look for in a review book is LOTS of questions.This one has just that, and all with detailed answers.The style of questions is pretty close to the AP exam and it contains plenty of material for the AB exam.The Marine Biology section is very helpful.
The only draw back might be that the book is a little large for a review book, and some of the questions are very hard.

Contents and practice tests are too trivia
To use this book for review purpose, the contents are too detailed. But it also lacks of examples and exercises to serve as a textbook. The practice questions are very different from the actual exams. While it is a good idea to target the practice questions slightly harder than the actual exams, it loses the purpose if problems are simply tricky, trivia or unclear.

Great Practice tests
I am giving this book 4 stars only becuase I thin the "review" is just reteaching you, and has no good tips for actually taking the test.The practice tests are really good, I think they are as hard as the real thing (based on the sample questions given by collegeboard), and also there is a grading scale, unlike it's preceder.It made me feel a lot better that I only has to get 70% right to get a 5 on the AB exam.All in all this is a great book, but I would advice you to get Litvin's instead.Get this book from the library. ... Read more

Product Description

Having sold more than 2 million copies over its lifetime, How Computers Work is the definitive illustrated guide to the world of PCs and technology. In this new edition, you’ll find detailed information not just about every last component of hardware found inside your PC, but also in-depth explanations about home networking, the Internet, PC security, and even how cell phone networks operate. Whether you’re interested in how the latest graphics cards power today’s most demanding games or how a digital camera turns light into data, you’ll find your answers right here.

Ron White is a former executive editor and columnist for PC Computing, where he developed the visual concept behind How Computers Work. Founder of one of the

earliest PC user groups, he has been writing about computers for 25 years and is known for building wildly extreme computers.

Timothy Edward Downs is an award-winning magazine designer, illustrator, and photographer. He has directed and designed several national consumer, business, technology, and

lifestyle magazines, always infusing a sense of “how it works” into every project.

A full-color, illustrated adventure into the wonders of TECHNOLOOGY

This full-color, fully illustrated guide to the world of technology assumes nothing and explains everything. Only the accomplished Ron White and award-winning Tim Downs have the unique ability to meld descriptive text with one-of-a-kind visuals to fully explain how the electronic gear we depend on every day is made possible. In addition to all the content you’ve come to expect from prior editions, this newly revised edition includes all-new coverage of topics such as:

•    How tablet PCs put the power of a PC quite literally in your hands

•    How Windows Vista makes your Windows desktop translucent and makes your PC more secure

•    How advances in optical disc technology such as dual-layer DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray discs continue to push the envelope

•    How Apple’s new iPhone is revolutionizing what cell phones can do

•    How BitTorrent technology enables anyone to share information with everyone

For a decade, How Computers Work has helped newbies understand new technology, while at the same time hackers and IT pros have treasured it for the depth of knowledge it contains. This is the perfect book about computing to capture your imagination, delight your eyes, and expand your mind, no matter what your technical level!

Category: General Computing

Covers:    PCs/Hardware

User Level:    Beginning–Intermediate

The book has incredible depth, explaining everything you could want to know about your computer, with each piece of hardware being given full treatment over two to five pages. (Macintosh and UNIX users should be aware, though, that the book's model is the "Wintel," a Windows PC with an Intel microprocessor.) The book is well-structured and can easily be used as a reference resource beyond the first reading. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (94)

If you think you know computers, think again! You will learn!
The layout & photos just make this book EXCEPTIONAL!
Great detailed information & history.
This is the best book for all levels of PC knowledge.
Can't say enough good things about it!

Must be an Impulse Buy
I suspect many of those who buy this book never finish it. Despite the enticing illustrations and efficient short, numbered paragraphs, it soon becomes apparent this is a professional writer's superficial treatment of a vast landscape of information, compiled from easily available sources, rather than an expert's distillation of that information for a general reader. That would be OK except so much of the basic science is wrong that, after a while, it becomes annoying.

Good starting place
Very graphic heavy for easy-to-understand layouts. A good place to start with understanding computers. If you are looking for a more systematic approach, this book might frustrate you a little. It gives you snippets of information without providing a "roadmap" to know how this fits and where we are going. But overall, a really good resource for the general public.

Shipping not Intellectual Content
The product arrived as stated in the shipping terms.
The product was in it's original wrapping, and in pristine condition.

I cannot rate the intellectual content of the book. It is simply for a class of mine and I have no other books to compare it too.

I enjoy purchasing from Amazon, especailly since the price is ALWAYS significantly lower than that of the school's bookstore.

Quick service
The item came quick and was in good condition. Exactly what I was looking for. ... Read more

Product Description

This text makes in-depth explorations of a broad range of theoretical topics in computer science. It plunges into the applications of the abstract concepts in order to confront and address the skepticism of readers, and instill in them an appreciation for the usefulness of theory. A two-part presentation integrates logic and formal language—both with applications. Chapter topics cover mathematical preliminaries, propositional logic, proving things: why and how, predicate logic, proving with predicates, program verification, logic programming, language models for computer science, language models, finite automata and their languages, regular expressions, Lex: a tool for building lexical scanners, context-free grammars, pushdown automata and parsing, and turing machines. For future computer scientists.

Customer Reviews (6)

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????
To all. I am sorry but this book is horrible. It offers no solution's in the back, nor is there a solutions manual. SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHECK MY ANSWERS??? Please tell me. And don't say go to the office hours because they aren't always available.

...but get this, there is a solutions manual, but students can't have access to it because the AUTHOR doesn't want his audience to know the secrets behind the answers. The truth is, avoid this class at all costs!! This book SUCKSSSS!!! And I literally mean it... how you gonna quiz me on questions in the book that I can't even check to see if I got the answers right on the HW? SMH AUTHOR... smh. You shouldn't make this book $100.00 and offer the students few pages, resources, and good explanations to what you're trying to explain.

This book reminds me of an elegent proof
If you are looking for a cookbook or picture book approach or googled snippet of information this is not the book for you. What you will find is a book written with logical clarity usually missing in computer science and discrete math books.If you like to think logically and understand a topic instead of just memorizing it and if you are interested in the role of abstraction, logic and proofs in computer science, this is the book for you.

Pure Garbage
This book is one the worst books I have used. I took this class with one of the authors and this book seems to be really lacking and so does the author when it comes to teaching. Get something better. But you will probably be stuck with having to get this for the course since the homeworks are from this book.

The worst book I have ever read.
The book is very poor on examples and the ones that it has do not make any sense. Topics like automata and removing nondeterminisim are not explained well enough(only one non-sense example for nondeterminism). Awful diagrams. It is not going step by step to understand Prolog and Lex. In short, if you have choice don't buy the book and if you have bought it already, don't waste time reading it. Unfortunately, I had not other option, I have bought the book and am reading it.

I Just Don't Understand Why We Use This Book
So far, my impression of this book is this.First, it's not very well written, and is often hard to understand.Concepts are not very well elaborated on.I'm having to go on the net to get better explanations...Second, I wish they would use more pictures for certain concepts, definately not a book for a visual learner.Honestly, I don't know why we are required to use this book for class, but I guess if I must, I'll use it.Professors should read this rating thing before they get these books...Hope this helps. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Fun
A refreshing approach to learning Python. The examples are thought provoking, instructional with real world applicability.

This book is the perfect foundation on which to build your Python programming skills
I entered a graduate program in computational linguistics with a linguistics background with no computer science or programming experience. All of my specialization courses use Python and, unfortunately, my university doesn't offer Python courses. Discovering that I wasn't all that wonderful at self-teaching myself to program, I resolved to take an introductory Java programming course offered by my university's computer science department. The course served as an excellent foundation and made this text, which I think is already very clear and accessible, that much easier to follow. My opinion is that this book would make an excellent text for an introductory course in Python programming or a wonderful resource to someone who knows a bit about programming but would like to understand Python. I had tried other Python books in the past, but found myself either lost or bored. The authors of this book know how to hold their audience's attention.

Great Book for My Return to Programming
I had not programmed for 30 years and wanted to do a bit for a small project. After trying several Python books I found this one. I suspect that no one programming book will appeal to all, but this one was a great book to get me started again. Well-written. Good examples. Clear explanations.

A fine 'first timers' pick for any computer or general lending library
PRACTICAL PROGRAMMING: AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE USING PYTHON provides an invaluable guide to the basics of computer programming, allowing those with a bare-bones introduction to learn programming fundamentals, working with databases, downloading data, and more. From using functions to debugging systems and designing algorithms, this covers all the essentials and is a fine 'first timers' pick for any computer or general lending library.

A Superior Introduction to Computer Science & Data Structures Using Python
As a result of superior pedagogy and a language that includes built in features like lists and dictionaries, and a standard library that comes with everything; this instructional book provides an introduction to Computer Science and Data Structures which excels using the modern programming language Python.This text is much more than a learn to program in "XXX" book, it gives a firm foundation for all subsequent courses in Computer Science and practical examples of how Data Structures are employed in real world problems involving graphics and databases.It also gives the necessary demonstrations of algorithms for Searching and Sorting, and a modern introduction to Object-Oriented programming.

In short, this volume provides an excellent foundation text in Computer Science, while incorporating instruction in the Python Language and giving practical examples of how to employ the Algorithms and Data Structures in real-world situations.It will give the student a strong basis for all further study in Computer Science and Programming. ... Read more

Product Description
Mathematics textbook specifically geared towards the topics most important to computer science, featuring theorems and proofs, as well as sound logic. Topics covered include propositional calculus, predicate calculus, resolution, hoare logic, and temporal logic. Also features a companion Website. Softcover. DLC: Logic, Symbolic and mathematical. ... Read more

Product Description
This book helps you write computer solutions to mathematical problems-at all levels. Supplies complete programs, complete subroutines, and fragments of code to be included directly within the user's program. 3 1/2 inch disk included. DLC: Engineering mathematics - Data processing. ... Read more

Product Description

John Vince explains a wide range of mathematical techniques and problem-solving strategies associated with computer games, computer animation, virtual reality, CAD, and other areas of computer graphics.

Covering all the mathematical techniques required to resolve geometric problems and design computer programs for computer graphic applications, each chapter explores a specific mathematical topic prior to moving forward into the more advanced areas of matrix transforms, 3D curves and surface patches. Problem-solving techniques using vector analysis and geometric algebra are also discussed.

All the key areas are covered including: Numbers, Algebra, Trigonometry, Coordinate geometry, Transforms, Vectors, Curves and surfaces, Barycentric coordinates, Analytic geometry.

Plus – and unusually in a student textbook – a chapter on geometric algebra is included.

Customer Reviews (2)

Broad but cursory
This give a very broad overview of many topics from matrix transformations to analytic geometry, but in a paperback less than a half inch thick, the topics are only given a cursory introduction.

not a book to learn new material from
Vince takes you through what is hopefully a revision course on maths that you will need if you are going to program graphics. The topics include matrix algebra. (Of course.) This gives the essence of translation and scaling in a three dimensional space. Then analytic geometry and B splines are covered.

The book has no problem sets. Though it does have one chapter at the end devoted to sample problems with their answers. It is not a book to learn new material from. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Service
Good condition, Delievered as scheduled. Even sent an email to make sure everything was ok. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (24)

Good for the class I took
Used this book mostly for homework. The class I had it for was pretty easy, so I didn't need it much for reference. However, when the occasional confusion surfaced in class, I could immediately gostraight to the book and sort out what was going on. Explains things very clearly with good examples.

Horrible
I suffered through the first few weeks of my Discrete Mathematics course, and got my first C on an assignment EVER.This immediately sent up red flags.I was struggling to understand the concepts as presented in this book, despite that I have had no problem understanding Algebra, Trgonometry and Calculus.On a hunch that the book might be bad, I checked Amazon, and now you are seeing what I saw: low ratings!

I ordered Susanna Epp's book, and for the remainder of the course I read her coverage of a topic, and used this book only for the class-assigned homework problems.My grades are back to A's.So, it wasn't just me.It was this horrible book.The author just doesn't communicate the topics in a way that can be understood by those new to the subject.There are many cases of terms used without being defined, and concepts being refered to that have not yet been introduced (in other words, out-of-order presentation of topics).Worse than this, the step-by-step examples tend to use only the simplest cases, yet more difficult cases appear in the chapter exercises.In most of the text, the concept is explained, and then the student is asked to apply it (as an exercise) without an example, and expected to flip to the back of the book if they need to see the solution.

If you are stuck with this as I required textbook, I pity you.Get Susanna Epp's book (Or Rosen's) if you'd like to actually learn the topic.

OK but not great
I used this book for an undergraduate course in Discrete Mathematics. I'd say that the book tended to confuse more than clarify, at least in its initial explanation of things. Working through the example problems often helped correct that, though. My professor thought the author was pretty ambitious to be aimed at undergrads and ended up skipping most of the material on Turing machines; he also skipped the material on Probability because our computer science students must take a Prob & Stats course; otherwise, he stuck very closely to the book.

I felt the book was structured well in that new chapters often built upon previous ones. The chapters on Formal Logic and Proof Techniques were long and detailed, but have since helped with my programming assignments. The chapters on Sets, Relations, Graphs, Trees, and Algorithms were the most valuable since they directly relate to my courses in Databases and Analysis of Algorithms.

The book helped but I feel that my professor is what really made it work for me. The book isn't bad, but it's not great either; if anything, it's "alright."

Fast Delivery As Described
Although Amazon's shipment estimator gave me a 3-week estimate, the product arrived at my house within five days of payment.The book was in the condition described; no marks inside, binding intact & firm, and ready to be sold again after I finish using it.It was a good decision to buy this book from the seller rather than paying 3x the price to buy it used at my University's bookstore!

Needs better explanations
This book definitely needs a teacher who thoroughly understands the material.Should not be used as a self teaching tool.Instead of every other exercise question having an answer in the back of the book, only a few starred ones are available in each section.Also, each lesson and practice problems don't cover all the areas in the exercises.There will be some exercises for which there are no examples in the book, including symbology not explained in the book. ... Read more