Once Upon an Algorithm

Author: Martin Erwig
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262036630
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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

Once Upon a Time, There Was You

Author: Elizabeth Berg
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588368939
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
BONUS: This edition contains a Once Upon a Time, There Was You discussion guide. Even on their wedding day, John and Irene sensed that they were about to make a mistake. Years later, divorced, dating other people, and living in different parts of the country, they seem to have nothing in common—nothing except the most important person in each of their lives: Sadie, their spirited eighteen-year-old daughter. Feeling smothered by Irene and distanced from John, Sadie is growing more and more attached to her new boyfriend, Ron. When tragedy strikes, Irene and John come together to support the daughter they love so dearly. What takes longer is to remember how they really feel about each other. Elizabeth Berg’s immense talent shines in this unforgettable novel about the power of love, the unshakeable bonds of family, and the beauty of second chances.

Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller

Author: Oliver Darkshire
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1324092084
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 139

Book Description
Instant National Bestseller Shortlisted for the 2023 Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award "Witty, literary and very funny." —Minneapolis Star Tribune Welcome to Sotheran’s, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabeled keys, poisoned books, and some things that aren’t even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice. Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761) to apply for a job. Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon unteetering stacks of first editions and placating the store’s resident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a tram). A novice in this ancient, potentially haunted establishment, Darkshire describes Sotheran’s brushes with history (Dickens, the Titanic), its joyous disorganization, and the unspoken rules of its gleefully old-fashioned staff, whose mere glance may cause the computer to burst into flames. As Darkshire gains confidence and experience, he shares trivia about ancient editions and explores the strange space that books occupy in our lives—where old books often have strong sentimental value, but rarely a commercial one. By turns unhinged and earnest, Once Upon a Tome is the colorful story of life in one of the world’s oldest bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.

The Constitution of Algorithms

Author: Florian Jaton
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262542145
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
A laboratory study that investigates how algorithms come into existence. Algorithms--often associated with the terms big data, machine learning, or artificial intelligence--underlie the technologies we use every day, and disputes over the consequences, actual or potential, of new algorithms arise regularly. In this book, Florian Jaton offers a new way to study computerized methods, providing an account of where algorithms come from and how they are constituted, investigating the practical activities by which algorithms are progressively assembled rather than what they may suggest or require once they are assembled.

Algorithms in a Nutshell

Author: George T. Heineman
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
ISBN: 1449391133
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Book Description
Creating robust software requires the use of efficient algorithms, but programmers seldom think about them until a problem occurs. Algorithms in a Nutshell describes a large number of existing algorithms for solving a variety of problems, and helps you select and implement the right algorithm for your needs -- with just enough math to let you understand and analyze algorithm performance. With its focus on application, rather than theory, this book provides efficient code solutions in several programming languages that you can easily adapt to a specific project. Each major algorithm is presented in the style of a design pattern that includes information to help you understand why and when the algorithm is appropriate. With this book, you will: Solve a particular coding problem or improve on the performance of an existing solution Quickly locate algorithms that relate to the problems you want to solve, and determine why a particular algorithm is the right one to use Get algorithmic solutions in C, C++, Java, and Ruby with implementation tips Learn the expected performance of an algorithm, and the conditions it needs to perform at its best Discover the impact that similar design decisions have on different algorithms Learn advanced data structures to improve the efficiency of algorithms With Algorithms in a Nutshell, you'll learn how to improve the performance of key algorithms essential for the success of your software applications.

Algorithms

Author: Panos Louridas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262358670
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Book Description
In the tradition of Real World Algorithms: A Beginner's Guide, Panos Louridas is back to introduce algorithms in an accessible manner, utilizing various examples to explain not just what algorithms are but how they work. Digital technology runs on algorithms, sets of instructions that describe how to do something efficiently. Application areas range from search engines to tournament scheduling, DNA sequencing, and machine learning. Arguing that every educated person today needs to have some understanding of algorithms and what they do, in this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Panos Louridas offers an introduction to algorithms that is accessible to the nonspecialist reader. Louridas explains not just what algorithms are but also how they work, offering a wide range of examples and keeping mathematics to a minimum.

Computational Fairy Tales

Author: Jeremy Kubica
Publisher: Jeremy Kubica
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
"Introduces principles of computational thinking, illustrating high-level computer science concepts, the motivation behind them, and their application in a non-computer fairy tale domain."--Amazon.com.

Computer Science Distilled

Author: Wladston Ferreira Filho
Publisher: Code Energy
ISBN: 0997316012
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Book Description
A walkthrough of computer science concepts you must know. Designed for readers who don't care for academic formalities, it's a fast and easy computer science guide. It teaches the foundations you need to program computers effectively. After a simple introduction to discrete math, it presents common algorithms and data structures. It also outlines the principles that make computers and programming languages work.

Probably Approximately Correct

Author: Leslie Valiant
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN: 0465032710
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
Presenting a theory of the theoryless, a computer scientist provides a model of how effective behavior can be learned even in a world as complex as our own, shedding new light on human nature.

Computational Complexity

Author: Sanjeev Arora
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521424267
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 609

Book Description
New and classical results in computational complexity, including interactive proofs, PCP, derandomization, and quantum computation. Ideal for graduate students.