A presentation of the central and basic concepts, techniques, and tools of computer science, with the emphasis on presenting a problem-solving approach and on providing a survey of all of the most important topics covered in degree programmes. Scheme is used throughout as the programming language and the author stresses a functional programming approach to create simple functions so as to obtain the desired programming goal. Such simple functions are easily tested individually, which greatly helps in producing programs that work correctly first time. Throughout, the author aids to writing programs, and makes liberal use of boxes with "Mistakes to Avoid." Programming examples 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 readers test their understanding of the material and develop ideas in greater depth, making this an ideal first course for all students coming to computer science for the first time.
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Introduction to computer science as a discipline
Exploring Computer Science with Scheme is an introductory computer science text that uses the language Scheme as a vehicle to teach programming and computer science concepts. The book is lively, fun, and thorough in its coverage of Scheme and computer science. You'll go beyond just learning how to program where most introductory computer science books leave you, and explore the world of computer science looking into object-oriented programming, database system design, compiler and interpreter development, operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the new field of soft computing.
For a more technical description, the four goals of the text are as follows:
1) Teach programming using the Scheme dialect of the LISP family. The text provides a solid introduction to programming in Scheme assuming no prior background in computer science or programming. Scheme is well suited for teaching advanced concepts easily without getting bogged down with implementation details and syntactic difficulties.
2) Place an emphasis on the functional programming paradigm. Functional programming is advantageous in that it fosters program design via functional composition in which individual functions can be more easily created and tested. Such a programming technique lends itself to the principles of top-down design and design for testability.
3) Teach and build programming and problem-solving skills. Throughout the text program design skills are given and programs are presented in a case study fashion to foster development of problem-solving skills.
4) Give a feel for what computer science really is. Give introductions and real programming applications to the different subfields of computer science including compilers and interpreters, operating systems, database systems, artificial intelligence, and soft computing.
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