Programming for the Puzzled

Author: Srini Devadas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262343193
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
Learning programming with one of “the coolest applications around”: algorithmic puzzles ranging from scheduling selfie time to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. This book builds a bridge between the recreational world of algorithmic puzzles (puzzles that can be solved by algorithms) and the pragmatic world of computer programming, teaching readers to program while solving puzzles. Few introductory students want to program for programming's sake. Puzzles are real-world applications that are attention grabbing, intriguing, and easy to describe. Each lesson starts with the description of a puzzle. After a failed attempt or two at solving the puzzle, the reader arrives at an Aha! moment—a search strategy, data structure, or mathematical fact—and the solution presents itself. The solution to the puzzle becomes the specification of the code to be written. Readers will thus know what the code is supposed to do before seeing the code itself. This represents a pedagogical philosophy that decouples understanding the functionality of the code from understanding programming language syntax and semantics. Python syntax and semantics required to understand the code are explained as needed for each puzzle. Readers need only the rudimentary grasp of programming concepts that can be obtained from introductory or AP computer science classes in high school. The book includes more than twenty puzzles and more than seventy programming exercises that vary in difficulty. Many of the puzzles are well known and have appeared in publications and on websites in many variations. They range from scheduling selfie time with celebrities to solving Sudoku problems in seconds to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. The code for selected puzzle solutions is downloadable from the book's website; the code for all puzzle solutions is available to instructors.

Algorithmic Puzzles

Author: Anany Levitin
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199740445
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Book Description
Algorithmic puzzles are puzzles involving well-defined procedures for solving problems. This book will provide an enjoyable and accessible introduction to algorithmic puzzles that will develop the reader's algorithmic thinking. The first part of this book is a tutorial on algorithm design strategies and analysis techniques. Algorithm design strategies — exhaustive search, backtracking, divide-and-conquer and a few others — are general approaches to designing step-by-step instructions for solving problems. Analysis techniques are methods for investigating such procedures to answer questions about the ultimate result of the procedure or how many steps are executed before the procedure stops. The discussion is an elementary level, with puzzle examples, and requires neither programming nor mathematics beyond a secondary school level. Thus, the tutorial provides a gentle and entertaining introduction to main ideas in high-level algorithmic problem solving. The second and main part of the book contains 150 puzzles, from centuries-old classics to newcomers often asked during job interviews at computing, engineering, and financial companies. The puzzles are divided into three groups by their difficulty levels. The first fifty puzzles in the Easier Puzzles section require only middle school mathematics. The sixty puzzle of average difficulty and forty harder puzzles require just high school mathematics plus a few topics such as binary numbers and simple recurrences, which are reviewed in the tutorial. All the puzzles are provided with hints, detailed solutions, and brief comments. The comments deal with the puzzle origins and design or analysis techniques used in the solution. The book should be of interest to puzzle lovers, students and teachers of algorithm courses, and persons expecting to be given puzzles during job interviews.

Learning Algorithms Through Programming and Puzzle Solving

Author: Alexander Kulikov
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780985731212
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
Learning Algorithms Through Programming and Puzzle Solving is one of the first textbooks to emerge from the recent Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) revolution and a com- panion to the authors' online specialization on Coursera and MicroMasters Program on edX. The book introduces a programming-centric approach to learning algorithms and strikes a unique balance between algorithmic ideas, programming challenges, and puz- zle solving. Since the launch of this project on Coursera and edX, hundreds of thousands students tried to solve programming challenges and algorithmic puzzles covered in this book.The book is also a step towards developing an Intelligent Tutoring System for learning algo- rithms. In a classroom, once a student takes a wrong turn, there are limited opportunities to ask a question, resulting in a learning breakdown, or the inability to progress further without individual guidance. When a student suffers a learning breakdown, that student needs immediate help in order to proceed. Traditional textbooks do not provide such help, but the automated grading system described in this MOOC book does!The book is accompanied by additional educational materials that include the book website, video lectures, slides, FAQs, and other resources available at Coursera and EdX.

Puzzles for Programmers and Pros

Author: Dennis E. Shasha
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470169362
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
Aimed at both working programmers who are applying for a job where puzzles are an integral part of the interview, as well as techies who just love a good puzzle, this book offers a cache of exciting puzzles Features a new series of puzzles, never before published, called elimination puzzles that have a pedagogical aim of helping the reader solve an entire class of Sudoku-like puzzles Provides the tools to solve the puzzles by hand and computer The first part of each chapter presents a puzzle; the second part shows readers how to solve several classes of puzzles algorithmically; the third part asks the reader to solve a mystery involving codes, puzzles, and geography Comes with a unique bonus: if readers actually solve the mystery, they have a chance to win a prize, which will be promoted on wrox.com!

Puzzled Programmers

Author: Michael Wiesenberg
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781556150319
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description

Programming Puzzles: Python Edition

Author: Matthew Whiteside
Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1836200307
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Book Description
"Programming Puzzles" by Matthew Whiteside offers an engaging collection of challenge and fun puzzles designed to sharpen your problem-solving skills and enhance your programming expertise Key Features A diverse range of puzzles to suit different skill levels Hints and solutions to facilitate learning and understanding Comprehensive explanations that deepen programming knowledge Book Description"Programming Puzzles" is a meticulously crafted collection designed to elevate your coding skills through engaging and challenging exercises. The book begins with a helpful guide on getting started, ensuring that readers are well-prepared to tackle the puzzles ahead. As you delve deeper, you'll encounter a series of challenge puzzles that test your logical thinking and problem-solving abilities, followed by fun puzzles that offer a more relaxed yet equally rewarding experience. Hints are provided for the challenge puzzles to guide you through particularly tough spots, ensuring you stay motivated without giving away the solutions. Once you've worked through the puzzles, comprehensive solutions are provided, allowing you to understand different approaches and learn from your mistakes. Each section of the book is designed to progressively build your skills, from basic logic to advanced problem-solving techniques, making it an invaluable resource for anyone looking to improve their programming abilities. The journey through this book is not just about finding solutions; it's about developing a deeper understanding of how to approach and solve complex problems. By the end of this book, you'll have honed your coding skills, enhanced your logical thinking, and gained a new appreciation for the art of problem-solving in programming.What you will learn Develop logical thinking and problem-solving skills Apply programming concepts to solve challenging puzzles Enhance coding proficiency through practical exercises Gain insight into different approaches to problem-solving Understand the logic behind complex programming solutions Improve debugging skills with detailed solution explanations Who this book is for The ideal audience for "Programming Puzzles" includes software developers, data scientists, computer science students, coding bootcamp graduates, and anyone preparing for technical interviews. This book is perfect for individuals looking to enhance their problem-solving and coding skills through a variety of engaging and challenging puzzles. A basic understanding of programming concepts and familiarity with the programming language are recommended prerequisites to fully benefit from the exercises and solutions provided.

Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities

Author: Nick Montfort
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262331985
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
A book for anyone who wants to learn programming to explore and create, with exercises and projects to help the reader learn by doing. This book introduces programming to readers with a background in the arts and humanities; there are no prerequisites, and no knowledge of computation is assumed. In it, Nick Montfort reveals programming to be not merely a technical exercise within given constraints but a tool for sketching, brainstorming, and inquiring about important topics. He emphasizes programming's exploratory potential—its facility to create new kinds of artworks and to probe data for new ideas. The book is designed to be read alongside the computer, allowing readers to program while making their way through the chapters. It offers practical exercises in writing and modifying code, beginning on a small scale and increasing in substance. In some cases, a specification is given for a program, but the core activities are a series of “free projects,” intentionally underspecified exercises that leave room for readers to determine their own direction and write different sorts of programs. Throughout the book, Montfort also considers how computation and programming are culturally situated—how programming relates to the methods and questions of the arts and humanities. The book uses Python and Processing, both of which are free software, as the primary programming languages.

Real-Time Phoenix

Author: Stephen Bussey
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
ISBN: 1680507753
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
Give users the real-time experience they expect, by using Elixir and Phoenix Channels to build applications that instantly react to changes and reflect the application's true state. Learn how Elixir and Phoenix make it easy and enjoyable to create real-time applications that scale to a large number of users. Apply system design and development best practices to create applications that are easy to maintain. Gain confidence by learning how to break your applications before your users do. Deploy applications with minimized resource use and maximized performance. Real-time applications come with real challenges - persistent connections, multi-server deployment, and strict performance requirements are just a few. Don't try to solve these challenges by yourself - use a framework that handles them for you. Elixir and Phoenix Channels provide a solid foundation on which to build stable and scalable real-time applications. Build applications that thrive for years to come with the best-practices found in this book. Understand the magic of real-time communication by inspecting the WebSocket protocol in action. Avoid performance pitfalls early in the development lifecycle with a catalog of common problems and their solutions. Leverage GenStage to build a data pipeline that improves scalability. Break your application before your users do and confidently deploy them. Build a real-world project using solid application design and testing practices that help make future changes a breeze. Create distributed apps that can scale to many users with tools like Phoenix Tracker. Deploy and monitor your application with confidence and reduce outages. Deliver an exceptional real-time experience to your users, with easy maintenance, reduced operational costs, and maximized performance, using Elixir and Phoenix Channels. What You Need: You'll need Elixir 1.9+ and Erlang/OTP 22+ installed on a Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows machine.

Puzzles with Coding

Author: Virag SHAH
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This is a unique puzzle book where puzzles solution and its coding both are given. This puzzle book is perfect for kids and computer programming beginners. Kids can solve the puzzles via thinking while programming beginners can solve the puzzles using coding.- A great way to keep your brain engaged- Entertainment for family- Boosts cognitive and mathematical skills- Coding solutions written in Python- Practice to improve your basic programming skillsThis book is recommended for kids who loves to solve the puzzle as well as adult and computer programming beginners who wants to practice coding.

Expert C Programming

Author: Peter Van der Linden
Publisher: Prentice Hall Professional
ISBN: 0131774298
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Book Description
Software -- Programming Languages.