Book Description
The new fourth edition of Barron’s Advanced Placement Computer Science test preparation manual has been updated with a new case study. This new GridWorld Case Study will be tested on the AP exam starting in May 2008. The manual presents four full-length AP practice exams, two each for Levels A and AB. Two of these exams are presented as diagnostic tests, with charts detailing the topics for each question. All four model tests have questions answered and explained. Prospective test takers will also find an extensive subject review, starting with a review of Java 5.0 and going on to cover all topics questioned in both the Level A and Level AB exams. There are new sections on storage of numbers and random numbers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

James Carter, the artist, book review.
The book, contents of which I was thoroughly familiar with, arrived in a timely fashion and in excellent condition.

Pretty ok review book
I use this book for some critical thinking questions for my students.This book as well as the Litvins includes review for the GridWorld case study. ... Read more

Book Description
KEY MESSAGE: Students and instructors alike continue to praise the broad coverage and clear exposition that Computer Science: An Overviewuses to present a complete picture of the dynamic computer sciencefield. Accessible to students from all backgrounds, Glenn Brookshearuses a language-independent context to encourage the development of apractical, realistic understanding of the field.

Introduction; Data Storage; Operating Systems; Networking and theInternet; Algorithms; Programming Languages; Software Engineering; DataAbstractions; Database Systems; Computer Graphics; ArtificialIntelligence; Theory of Computation.

For all readers interested in the basics of computer science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

9th ed. Author needs to take a writing class
This book was required for my college introductory computer science class. Surprisingly enough, I had to purchase a different computer science book in order to understand this book. The author writes in circles and rarely states definitions plainly. Many times, Brookshear attempts two or three times to restate the information he is trying to convey, but this just makes the book even more confusing. It is not "fun" to read.

This book reminds me of the old, stodgy computer books of the 1990s. The paper is thin, and the font is very tiny and faint. The layout seems to be stuck in the 1990s as well. There are no chapter review sections that plainly compile major themes and no terms/definitions lists. A glossary would have been great. Also, there are no quick reference facts posted in the page margins. One plus is that the publisher put key terms in bold but, like I mentioned above, the author keeps you searching and searching for definitions.

To help ensure I passed my computer science class, I purchased Computer Science Illuminated, 3rd ed., by Nell Dale and John Lewis and had no problems at all understanding the topic or the writing. Computer Science Illuminated includes the same information as Brookshear's book but is 100 times easier to read and understand.Plus, it is "fun" to read.Computer Science Illuminated

For Computer Science Beginners
This is a very good introductory survey course of Computer Science provided you're planning to major in CS.The reason I've rated the book at only 3 stars out of 5 is solely because of the first sentence in the Audience section of the Preface on page vii:

"I wrote this text for students of computer science as well as students from other disciplines."

That last clause (saying the book is also for non-CS types) is the killer.Basically, the book's level of detail far exceeds anything that any non-CS person would be willing to put up with.Mitigating that, the Organization section of the Preface on page viii lists those sections that non-CS students should read.The Table of Contents also has asterisks indicating suggestions for optional sections (though there's no indication in the actual text noting the optional nature of those sections).Still, overall, it feels like the author uses too technical a vocabulary for non-CS types even in those remaining sections.

Just to emphasize, this book is really for beginners in Computer Science.It's a survey book designed not to teach the material in depth, but to give the student enough knowledge of the material to wrap later courses around.But, that leads to another problem with the book.The book is written for someone with no knowledge of computers, BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, assumes that person is fairly familiar with the topic.In other words, if you don't know anything about computers, you'll soon be wallowing in an awful lot of technical concepts and terms and will probably get confused.On the other hand, if you're already somewhat familiar with the topic, the basic nature of the material will probably bore you.Sort of a Catch-22.

Still, if a person is just starting a Computer Science degree, this is probably a 4 star out of 5 book.For non-CSers, it would be a problem.For them, I'd recommend The Analytical Engine: An Introduction to Computer Science Using the Internet, Second Edition: An Introduction to Computer Science Using the Internet (with CD-ROM).

For the reviewer that has trouble comprehending...
If one can't understand the style of writing maybe one should not be in a CS 100 level course or even close to the college level! If anything, as reviewed earlier, I found this style made it easier to read a CS text... as a lot of the texts are just too technical; but rightfully so. This text was a relief from the standard curriculum required reading. You think this is bad? Try an English Comp reading essay or assignment. CS needs more of this if the discipline expects to recruit a wider spectrum of students, as science and engineering is already scarce with students as it is. Bottom line, if you're used to the technical reading of the CS curriculum, this book will serve as a reading relief as it is a fast and EASY read. As another reviewer stated, one weekend and this book is finished. If your trouble with reading comprehension is severe enough you should not be reading CS material to begin with - take a course in English and read some extra-curricula novels to build up reading skills first, like fiction.

Very Nice Overview
After finishing a first year sequence in CS I felt like I had accomplished a lot.. yet something was missing and I didn't know what. Before this past year I had virtually no real CS exposure and was thrown into the curriculum and was practically forced to progress at their speed and rate. Once the spring semester was over I immediately began to read this book and found it to be a very enjoyable read. It's so broad and easy to absorb that out of its eleven chapters I would complete two or three chapters in one sitting. I found that it really filled in holes left having gone from no experience in CS to finishing a first year University level curriculum. For a complete newbie, some concepts may be out of range but I don't think that should deter you. For someone like me having at least a years experience in CS I found it be a nice supplement to what I already know and a nice reinforcer on subjects I needed review as well as small introductions to material I may have not seen or looked into before. Definately keeping it in the personal library.

Great Book!!
I'm getting my B.S this semester from the College of Computer and Information Sciences. I ordered this book last week, and I definitely recommend it to any Computer Science graduate preparing for a job interview, you can review all the basics you studied in college on a weekend !! ... Read more

Product Description
Thoroughly revised and updated, Computer Science Illuminated, Third Edition, continues to excite and enlighten students on the dynamic and diverse field of computer science.Written by two of today s most respected computer science educators, Nell Dale and John Lewis, the text provides a broad overview of the many aspects of the discipline from a generic view point.Separate program language chapters are available as bundle items for those instructors who would like to explore a particular programming language with their students.The many layers of computing are thoroughly explained beginning with the information layer, working through the hardware, programming, operating systems, application, and communication layers, and ending with a discussion on the limitations of computing.Perfect for introductory computing and computer science courses, Computer Science Illuminated, Third Edition's thorough presentation of computing systems provides computer science majors with a solid foundation for further study, and offers non majors a comprehensive and complete introduction to computing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

fast service
Received book in excellent condition. The price was fair. It was cheaper than my college bookstore, but more expensive than purchasing it used at unknown websites. I prefered paying the extra amount for the piece of mind.

A great "CS 0" text
I am currently using this text for the fifth time in my survey course for non-majors.It does exactly what I want it to do: it gives the students a feel for each of the topics with just enough depth to be rigorous for non-majors without being overwhelming.It's not perfect for my tastes; I doless than a full chapter, for example, when talking about languages (only covering the introductions to Chapters 7 and 8), whereas I do a full week on an expanded coverage of databases (Chapter 12).But I have a hard time imagining a text with a better fit, and I have used this since its first edition.

Computer Science
This book is a very interesting book that covers all the basic topics of modern computer science. It is very in-depth and very informative. When I first read the book I was confused and did not understand the text but once you look at the many illustration the information makes sense. This book is a very good book for any college level computer science class.

A Learning Tool
I just finished using the Computer Science Illuminated textbook, and I found it extremely helpful.I think that the explanations in the book are easy to follow and are a valuable assest to learning new concepts.The textbook also highlights the most important vocabulary words in the margins so it is easy to find the definitions of many terms.There are also many helpful visual aids in the book, such as charts and graphs, which makes learning new material much easier.

What I found to be best about the book is the Excercises and practice problems at the end of each chapter.They are a good tool to test your vocabulary and evaluate your progress thorughout the chapter.The problems are also a great way to prepare for tests, as they are very helpful when trying to study.The only little thing I don't like about the book is the summaries at the end of each chapter.Although the book is easy to read and skim through, I don't think the summaries have enough information in them to give a good overview of the chapter.However, I would recommend this textbook to all students studying computer science.

Computer Science Illuminated
For the most part, I found Computer Science Illuminated to be textbook that emphasized clarity with details and definitions. It was helpful to me, a freshman college student taking computer science for the first time, because at the end of each chapter it contained questions that were good aids in understanding the chapter's material. I also found the charts and figures illustrating important terms and concepts to be helpful to my understanding as I read.
While the chapters were clearly organized and finding a definition was simple, the difficulty I found was in the synthesis of the chapters. This was the first time I've taken computer science and most of the information was new to me so putting it all together was difficult. It seemed sometimes the book assumed the reader understood how the concepts came together, but after even reading it over a few times, I was still confused. Overall I would recommend this book to someone looking for a basic overview of computer science. ... Read more

Book Description

• Boxed quotes offering advice from students who have aced the exams and from AP teachers and college professors
• Sample tests that closely simulate real exams
• Review material based on the contents of the most recent tests
• Icons highlighting important facts, vocabulary, and frequently asked questions
• Websites and links to valuable online test resources, along with author e-mail addresses so you can ask them follow-up questions
• Authors who are either AP course instructors or exam developers

Customer Reviews (4)

Solid
I scored a 5 on the Computer Science A exam using this book and Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java (Second Edition) by Maria Litvin. I studied both thoroughly, which was helpful because I felt a basic knowledge of Java programming would have been inadequate for the multiple-choice portion of the exam.

Best book to learn from
before i opened this book, i literally did not know anything about java. i had a shallow background in c++, but my comp sci teacher for java sucked and so did our textbooks. this book is best to learn and review everything for the test. the lessons are succinct and to the point. and i really do think that the practice tests are fairly accurate to the actual ap test. barron's practice tests are way too ridiculously hard. if you need to learn all the material thorough and fast, this is the best book to get it from. i had also tried maria litvin's, which is good, but if you dont know anything prior to opneing that book, its not going to help much. litvin's test i would think are harder than 5 steps, but easier to barron's. i've taken the practice tests for barron's and the actual one is not that much alike. i would say use 5 steps for a realistic picture of what its going to be like in may and litvin's if you want to be safe.

Totally worth it
I got a 5 on the AB exam, thanks to this book. It goes over every single concept on the exam, and the tests are hard, which is good practice for the exam itself. When I took the exam I was a lot less nervous, because I've seen most of those problems in this prep book. If you work hard enough with this book, a 5 is guaranteed.

just right
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) ... Read more

Product Description
This is the third edition of the best-selling AP Computer Science exam prep book.Thorough review chapters cover all of the A- and AB-level material and the GridWorld case study.Includes five complete practice exams, three A and two AB, with no overlap. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Tests are good but reviews arent
i used this book along wiht the 5 steps one, and thank god i did. maria litvin's prep book is not at all a good book to use if you havent picked up much during the school year and need help quick for the ap test. the best thing about this book is the practice tests. they're actually harder than the real one in may, but it makes sure taht you are thoroughly prepared. i know a lot of people use that same justification for the barron's practice tests, but i found that the barron's ap comp sci practice tests were too hard to an unlikely extreme. litvin's challenges you, barron's just tortures you. the lessons and review in this book were rather disappointing. it didnt teach you a whole lot. i used 5 steps to actually learn the material. i would highly recommned this book to those you know their stuff and just want to prep. and to those you are completely lost in the subject, use 5 steps or some other material to reivew the information and then this book for last minute prepreations.

oh and also, the links they give you are really great for studying frq.

a little bit too easy
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)

A boon to AP Java students
This is a great book. I feel that I owe them for making this book. The authors do a great job in simply summarizing the concepts covered on the AP test, and providing great examples - the free response questions were right on the money! Highly suggested.

Great Review Manual for the AP Comp Sci Exam in Java
Maria Litvin has done an extraordinary job of putting together the new "Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java".This review manual, which has enough detail to double as a text book, has everything students need to focus on prior to taking the exam.It addresses everything in the ETS Java subset that students should have studied during the school year and has outstanding multiple choice and free response practice exam questions. The tests even include questions about the Java Marine Biology Simulation program which students need to know for the exam.Her web site also includes the 2003 C++ free response questions, which have been translated into Java.If you are searching for a great review manual with great practice questions, this is it!

Definetly Better then Barron's Guide for Review
The Barron's giude is very nice, but it basically reteaches evrything for the student, which is only good if you have the typicall AP Computer Science teacher, like the ones in the Reviews :My teacher was horribale, she doesn't know anything about Java/C++/Pascal.She only knew about some other language and never assigned homework and was just horrible.If that is your teacher then get barron's, but if your school is respectable enough to actually try to get a good Computer Science teacher then get this book, it actually reviews.Another plus over barron's, this book actually has tips and an introduction to the test, Barron's only has 3 pages compared to a chapter with Litvin's guide on this subject. ... Read more

Book Description
The Princeton Review realizes that scoring high on the AP Computer Science A & AB Exams is very different from earning straight A’s in school. We don’t try to teach you everything there is to know about computer science–only the strategies and information you’ll need to get your highest score. In Cracking the AP Computer Science A & AB Exams, we’ll teach you how to

·Use our preparation strategies to raise your score
·Master the program design, testing, and performance issues found on the exam
·Test your knowledge with review questions for each topic covered

This book includes 2 full-length practice tests, one each for Computer Science A and Computer Science AB. All of our practice questions simulate those you’ll see on the actual exam, and we explain how to answer every question. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

not enough
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) ... Read more

Book Description

This thoughtfully written volume uses the Internet as a central theme, studying its history, technology, and current use. Experimental problems use Web-based tools, enabling readers to learn programming fundamentals by developing their own interactive Web pages with HTML and JavaScript. Covers a broad range of topics balanced with programming depth in a hands-on, tutorial style. Uses revised HTML and JavaScript code throughout (updated to match current XHTML 1.0 and ECMA-262 standards, respectively). Introduces event-driven pages earlier. Updates statistics on the Internet/Web and computer specifications. Provides new material throughout on recent developments and new technologies. Appendices provide a useful reference for programmers.

Customer Reviews (2)

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

Customer Reviews (15)

Mathematical Structures For Computer Science Review
Mathematical Structures for Computer Science was a good buy. It was cheaper than the college book store and in good condition.

First one hundred pages were a waste
I was forced to buy this book for class.The first 100 pages have been useless for me.I can't understand why my school is using it.From this point, I'll be reading a Discrete book my wife used 5+ years ago and I'll just work the required problems in this text.

A good reference
I used this book in my Data Structures class. It has sample problems with solutions in the back of the book so you understand what they were talking about (unfortunately, I cannot say the same for a lot of data structures texts) The sample problems were also good for review for an exam.This was one of the few Computer Science textbooks that I have actually kept as a reference.

CS Professors Love This Book.CS Students Hate It.
If you are seasoned in the ways of computer science and mathematics, you will probably love this book. However if you are new to the concepts presented in the pages of this book, you will probably hate it. It is particularly bad once you really start getting into the meat of things, around chapter three. The examples and explanations are utterly terse.

Here is how the book defines "cardinality": "...The number of elements in a finite set is the cardinality of the set, so this would be a set of cardinality k." That is the best explanation the book offers as to the meaning of the word cardinality, a word my professor used close to fifty times every lecture, a word that really deserves better explanation than a single sentence, especially with regard to sets.

If I were providing something constructive the author, I would probably say that definitions should be much easier to find and much more detailed and examples of definitions should cover all the angles. I suppose my largest complaint with the book would simply be that if you are a CS student and you REALLY NEED a strong foundation in the concepts of discrete math, this book doesn't quite get there. The book misses its target audience.

Not quite the best, but close
Although there is now consensus over the coverage in a first course in discrete mathematics, the level of difficulty one finds in books for this audience has a wide range. Some opt for the basic approach, with very little rigor, and anything labeled as a proof is either trivial or an advanced waving of the hands. Notational complexity is kept to a minimum, which is fine for the beginner, but limits the value as the student goes on into more advanced courses. On the other end, there are those where rigorous proofs abound, it reads more like a book for traditional math majors rather than one largely designed for computer science majors.
While Gersting is somewhere in the middle, the slant is more towards the advanced. The first four chapters cover logic, the fundamentals of proofs, set theory and relations and functions respectively. This order is in complete agreement with my beliefs. I would not give any book that does not start with these basic topics a second look much less consider adopting it. Graphs are covered in chapters five and six; Boolean algebra in seven and the theory of computation is covered in chapter eight. The treatment is on the high end, but still within the bounds of a first course in discrete mathematics. Worked examples are everywhere and a large number of exercises are at the end of each section. Practice problems are embedded inside the chapters and solutions to all the practice problems are found in an appendix.
While I believe I have found a better book to use in my discrete class, this one is my second choice. In fact I successfully used it for two years, until I replaced it. The primary reasons for the change was that the new book has biographical sketches of mathematicians (something I adore), the font is larger and there are more solutions to the exercises.
... Read more

Book Description
This new edition of Invitation to Computer Science follows the breadth-first guidelines recommended by CC2001 to teach computer science topics from the ground up.The authors begin by showing that computer science is the study of algorithms, the central theme of the book, then move up the next five levels of the hierarchy: hardware, virtual machine, software, applications, and ethics. Utilizing rich pedagogy and a consistently engaging writing style, Schneider and Gersting provide students with a solid grounding in theoretical concepts, as well as important applications of computing and information technology.A laboratory manual and accompanying software is available as an optional bundle with this text. ... Read more

Book Description
The elements of good writing are an essential part of success in science. With comprehensive practical help for students and experienced researchers, Writing for Computer Science: - Gives extensive guidance for writing style and editing; - Presents sound practice for graphs, figures, and tables; - Guides the presentation of mathematics, algorithms and experiments; - Shows how to assemble research materials into a technical paper; - Offers guidelines and advice on spoken presentations. This second edition contains detailed new material on research methods, the how-to of being a scientist, including: - Development of ideas into research programs; -Design and evaluation of experiments; - How to search for, read, evaluate, and referee other research; - Research ethics and the qualities that separate good and bad science. Writing for Computer Science is not only an introduction to the doing and describing of research, but is a handy reference for working scientists in computing and mathematical sciences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essential for any computer scientist!
It's the computer scientist's "Elements of Style". Concise and clearly written. A must have!

Many examples and clear guides
This book is a perfect guide for producing reports/theses papers related to Computer Science.I was in the midst of writing a thesis and was struggling with the conventions and styles to use, but after a quick perusal of this book I had all my doubts cleared.Examples are numerous and clear and easily aid you in the writing process.Also, I like this book because it explains the motivation for certain styles and conventions rather than just stating them.

This book was recommended to me by a professor, and I noticed it sitting in several of my professor's offices, as well as offices of several graduate students I worked with.

Comprehensive and clear
If you think you want this book, you do want it. It's a great guide to writing any report/paper/book in the field of computer science.It has great suggestions for describing mathematics and algorithms, how to gatherdata from experiments and how to present it.It contains good advice aboutthe general act of writing, and discusses some of the conventions followedin Comp. Sci. It is extremely well written - lucid and concise.Itcovers a great deal of material in only 175 pages.It is short enough thatI often reread the relavent chapter before I sit down to write a section ofa paper. For novices, it's a great introduction.For experts, you'llprobably learn something and it is a good catalog of things to keep in mindwhile writing.(NOTE: I checked this book out of my school's librarybefore I bought it; you might be able to do the same.) ... Read more

Book Description
Covers computer science fundamentals using C++ and is appropriate for a variety of C++ courses.Thistextbook is designed to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement Test for C++ (A and AB). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

teacher uses in High School Classroom
This is a good book, I teach and use it in a high school classroom.
Good explinations for beginner programmer, (minor changes needed to code since book has been out a long time... i.e. 'using namespace std').Code examples download_able from the internet.

Good If You Have No Computer Programming Experience
I used this book at the University level in an Introduction to Computer Science class. Having never taken any sort of computer programming before, I found it easy to read and follow. Loved the step by step programs with each section.

Good learning
Both as a reference and an introduction to various subjects, this book has served well as out C++ class's primary textbook. It has projects at the end that you have to learn from even if you couldn't quite get the rest of it. Excellent stuff.

This is a great book.
Introduction to Computer Science Using C++ is a great textbook.I am currently a Junior at Fairfield High School and this is my textbook for my Computer Science II class.We're preparing to take the AP test and this text has done an astounding job.While books such as Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days Third Edition may be a better choice, this is still a great source for learning C++.It covers a wide range of topics, from file I/O to matrices, vectors, and more.If you're looking for a book that's easy to understand, this book is definitely a great buy for you.

Not adequate for AP Computer Science
We use this book in our AP Computer Science class, and although it is easy to read, it lacks a lot of detail.I do not recommend this book to anyonestudying for the AP Computer Science AB exam. ... Read more

Book Description

Be smarter than your computer

If you don't understand computers, you can quickly be left behind in today's fast-paced, machine-dependent society.

Computer Science Made Simple offers a straightforward resource for technology novices and advanced techies alike. It clarifies all you need to know, from the basic components of today’s computers to using advanced applications. The perfect primer, it explains how it all comes together to make computers work. Topics covered include:

* hardware
* software
* programming
* networks
* the internet
* computer graphics
* advanced computer concepts
* computers in society


Look for these Made Simple titles:

Accounting Made Simple
Arithmetic Made Simple
Astronomy Made Simple
Biology Made Simple
Bookkeeping Made Simple
Business Letters Made Simple
Chemistry Made Simple
Earth Science Made Simple
English Made Simple
French Made Simple
German Made Simple
Inglés Hecho Fácil
Investing Made Simple
Italian Made Simple
Keyboarding Made Simple
Latin Made Simple
Learning English Made Simple
Mathematics Made Simple
The Perfect Business Plan Made Simple
Philosophy Made Simple
Physics Made Simple
Psychology Made Simple
Sign Language Made Simple
Spanish Made Simple
Spelling Made Simple
Statistics Made Simple
Your Small Business Made Simple




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Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Seller
Book was in perfect condition as promised. Service was great and shipping wason time. The price was also very reasonable. Overall excellent seller. Would buy from again and recommend to others.

explains hardware and software to a general audience
Spraul gives a quick and easy introduction to explaining this mysterious thing call computer science. He explains the common Neumann architecture of a single CPU computer. Something which has essentially remained unchanged since the Manhattan Project.

Then he talks about the software that runs on this hardware. From this model of software running on 1 computer, the discussion segues naturally into a network of such machines. Wherein the Internet appears. And its common version, the Web, which many users casually and wrongly assume to be synonymous with it.

There is little specialised hardware knowledge or maths required for the book. Indeed, the Boolean logic is shown to be utterly simple. Though, within the constraints of his presentation, the reader is not shown enough to appreciate that from the Boolean logic, one can build up an entire edifice of digital maths. [It's properly the subject of a more advanced text.] ... Read more

Book 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 (49)

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

Book Description
Designed for beginning computer science students, this text engages students by relating core topics to their real-world applications.The text is written in a comfortable, informal manner, and light humor is used throughout the text to maintain interest and enhance learning.A robust CD containing labs and other interactive material is available with each copy of the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

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

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 an undergrad CS major. 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'm slowly working my way through it as I already have an undergrad degree in CS and I'm now after 10 years out of school I'm working on an MS in CS. Reading this book I'm having a lot of "a-ha!" moments on things that weren't covered very well in my undergraduate education.

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

Book Description
The second edition of this successful textbook continues to provide a clear introduction to formal reasoning relevant to the needs of modern computer science and sufficiently exacting for practical applications. Improvements have been made throughout with many new and expanded text sections. The coverage of model-checking has been substantially updated and additional exercises are included. Internet support includes worked solutions for teacher exercises and model solutions to some student exercises. First Edition Hb (2000): 0-521-65200-6First Edition Pb (2000): 0-521-65602-8 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Excellent introduction
I read this book to learn the basics of model checking, and I found it an excellent introduction. Logic can be a dry and intimidating subject but this text presents the theory in an engaging style. Concepts are always introduced with concrete examples to explain them and to show how they should be used to reason about software. Thisbook is essentially theoretical, there is no presentation of real world uses of the methods.

a reader
In my opinion (I refer to the II edition)the logic treatment is fairly complete for acomputer science student (anyway it's missing the treatment of Prolog and the relevant logic).This book is also an excellent introduction to Model Checking of Clarke.

Not for undergrads, advanced textbook
The coverage of this book is quite good for what concerns logic in computer science. However, using it as an introduction on logic for computer scientists is probably ambitious because the explanations are rather complicated for undergraduates. A first course on logic and another on AI would not hurt before getting into this one. Too many notions of computer science (syntax and semantics of programming languages, complexity) are needed to fully understand some topics, hence it is better that you already have a broad view of all aspects of computer science before reading this one. As an advanced course textbook to formal techniques in computer sciente on the other hand, this one would do the job.

It's a decent book
A lot of good material is covered and in a relatively tight fashion. The presentation of logic is well done, but when getting into the BDDs, the explanations get a little complicated and I personally had to read it over several times before I could make sure I understood what was going on. This book also does not have anything on symmetry, so if that's what you're looking for, there are better books out there. However, this book can hold its own and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning the basics of model checking provided they can take handle some of the heavy duty reading.

Great intro to logic
This book is a good introduction to logic.It is highly readable, notdry.It explains logic in the language of humans, not arcane mathematics,yet it somehow is able to remain rigorous.This makes logic make sense,rather than it being an abstract intellectual pursuit detached from lifeand other topics.

Half the book is on logic, half on model checking. I've only read the logic part so far, so I cannot compare the modelchecking treatment to that in Clarke et al.'s "ModelChecking."

The logic treatment is not specific to computer science(or at least did not seem to be so, for someone not a student ofmathematics and logic), so in my opinion the title is a misnomer; perhaps abetter title would be "Logic for People, and Model Checking Too." ... Read more

Book Description
The aim of this textbook is to present the central and basic concepts, techniques, and tools of computer science. The emphasis is on presenting a problem-solving approach and on providing a survey of all of the most important topics covered in computer science degree programmes. Scheme is used throughout as the programming language and the author stresses a functional programming approach which concentrates on the creation of simple functions that are composed to obtain the desired programming goal. Such simple functions are easily tested individually. This greatly helps in producing programs that work right first time. Throughout, the author presents techniques to aid in the writing of programs and makes liberal use of boxes which present "Mistakes to Avoid." Many programming examples are discussed in detail which illustrate general approaches to programming. These include: * abstracting a problem; * creating pseudo code as an intermediate solution; * top-down and bottom-up design; * building procedural and data abstractions; * writing progams in modules which are easily testable. Numerous exercises help the readers test their understanding of the material and develop some ideas in greater depth. As a result this text will make an ideal first course for all students coming to computer science for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great intro to Computer Science, not just to programming
The first part of this book will give the basic programming `how to' knowledge: Common abstractions and basic program design.

The second part introduces Computer Science and will show you what others have been doing with the techniques explained in the first part. It will give a panoramic view of modern CS: databases, operating systems, artificial intelligence, compilers, `soft-computing', etc...

Only the chapter on compilers seems a bit confusing, everything else is clearly explained.

You won't need a good background in maths to follow it.

excellent university teaching tool
I was a former teaching assistant this past summer for a lower divisioncomputer science course at UC Berkeley. We used this book as our primarytext. From several semesters of teaching introductory computer sciencecourses I can say that this book has proven to be an indispensible item forme. Ranging from concise writing to thought provoking questions, it is anexcellent introduction to future computer scientists. I recommend this toanyone. ... Read more

Book Description
When you think about how far and fast computer science has progressed in recent years, it's not hard to conclude that a seven-year old handbook may fall a little short of the kind of reference today's computer scientists, software engineers, and IT professionals need.With a broadened scope, more emphasis on applied computing, and more than 70 chapters either new or significantly revised, the Computer Science Handbook, Second Edition is exactly the kind of reference you need. This rich collection of theory and practice fully characterizes the current state of the field and conveys the modern spirit, accomplishments, and direction of computer science.Highlights of the Second Edition:? Coverage that reaches across all 11 subject areas of the discipline as defined in Computing Curricula 2001, now the standard taxonomy ? More than 70 chapters revised or replaced ? Emphasis on a more practical/applied approach to IT topics such as information management, net-centric computing, and human computer interaction ? More than 150 contributing authors--all recognized experts in their respective specialties ? New chapters on: cryptography computational chemistry computational astrophysics human-centered software development cognitive modeling transaction processing data compression scripting languages event-driven programming software architecturePAGE TWO-THREE ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An excellent and complete reference
This book provides a single substantive and comprehensive reference for practicing engineers and computer scientists, as well to other professional with strong computer experience and interest.

The handbook cover all mayor fields of CS&E, including algorithms and data structures, architecture, artificial intelligence and robotics, computational science, database and information retrieval, graphics, human-computer interaction, operating systems and networks, programming languages and software engineering.

An exceptional review of core CS material
I'm using this book to relearn core CS material in preparation for the CS GRE after several years in the industry. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is not a book from which to learn concepts for the first time. If you've never heard of (e.g.) "undecidability", don't get this book intending to learn about it. However, if you know enough to know what you don't know, this book will efficiently fill in the gaps.

The book consists of over 100 chapters covering material across nearly major area of computer science. Each chapter is 20-30 pages long and is geared to someone who has seen the material before but is in need of a review and summary of core terminology and historical context. Someone experienced in one field who wants to be able to read current technical material in another field will also find it useful.

Most of the authors are academics; the remainder are members of major research labs. Some of their chapters, like James Feldman's piece on Digital Logic, are truly extraordinary. Most others range from solid to exceptional. The material isn't just that of concern to traditional academic CS; I was pleasantly surprised to see an entire section (8 chapters worth) on practical software engineering topics (development process and lifecycle models, requirements and specification, design, validation, tools, testing, project management, etc). The material was authored around 1995 or 1996, and nearly all of it is still relevant and as up-to-date as is appropriate for this sort of collection.

One minor weakness is there's no cross-chapter index or glossary. The book is organized as a collection of papers, and each paper includes its own index, bibliography, and glossary. To find material about the web, for instance, you have to hunt through the (excellent) 20-page table of contents for the relevant subsections scattered throughout. This weakness is far from fatal, however. Should the next edition add an index, it will only add value to an already exceptional collection, by making it easier to locate references to material that spans subfields.

Again, highly recommended for targeted learning.

Alot of info.....A little unreadable
There is a wealth of information in this book.Many engineers will enjoy having this reference.However, if you are not in the industry, or still a little low on the mathmatics totem pole.This book will appear to you asthough it is written in Greek!It practically is with all of thedifferential notation.When I am finished with my CSE degree, I will tryto read it again.Until then, it will stay on the shelf.Definitely NOTlight reading! ... Read more

Book Description
The Invocation Model of Process Expression argues that mathematics does not provide the most appropriate conceptual foundations for computer science, but, rather, that these foundations are a primary source of unnecessary complexity and confusion.  It supports that there is a more appropriate conceptual model that unifies forms of expression considered quite disparate and simplifies issues considered complex and intractable.  This book presents that this model of process expression is alternative theory of computer science that is both valid and practical. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Karl Fant's Remarkable Book
I've known the author of "Computer Science Reconsidered" for almost thirty years, so while I'll try to be objective, expect some personal bias as well as some disagreements with Karl. Traditional computer science places the sequential algorithm and Boolean logic at the heart of computer science. Karl takes a much wider view. He sees computer science as the theory of "process expression" - for instance, given the process of adding a million numbers, how is this process physically accomplished(physically expressed) and symbolically represented(symbolically expressed)? In general, this will be done most efficiently concurrently, and not necessarily by specifying an algorithm, but perhaps by using some clockless physical system that is smart enough to 'resolve' the problem in some partially specified, automatic manner. Karl's book takes clockless concurrent process to be fundamental(as it is in nature). He describes very primitive processes in a new and idiosyncratic language that may be off-putting to some readers, but in truly concurrent processes, notions like 'state' and 'register' are far too narrow and completely inappropriate, so much traditional process language must be abandoned. It seems obvious to me that Karl is on the right track - his approach seems radical until one starts to be embarrased at the primitive, unnatural state of today's computer science, where timing circuits must still be designed (yet nature doesn't do this), and all process details must still be specified (nature doesn't do this). Besides, the foundation of today's c.s. is about Turing Machines and the question, "Is a given process possible," when pragmatically c.s almost always instead asks, "How is a given process best done?" Every revolution takes place in a context. I have found that Karl's ideas intersect in bits and pieces with Carver Mead's ideas on making computers more like Fruit Fly brains (low power - millions of times more efficient than those clunky silicon things), and Judea Pearl's causality flow diagrams (where, as in Boolean Logic, equations by themselves are incomplete symbolic process expressions), the Relational Quantum Mechanics of Carlo Rovelli (where there are no objective, universal system