Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Martin Erwig
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Weight:   0.369kg
ISBN:  

9780262545297

ISBN 10:   0262545292
Pages:   332
Publication Date:   09 August 2022
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I Algorithms Computation and Algorithms -- Hansel and Gretel 1 A Path to Understanding Computation 19 2 Walk the Walk: When Computation Really Happens 33 Representation and Data Structures -- Sherlock Holmes 3 The Mystery of Signs 49 4 Detective's Notebook: Accessory after the Fact 63 Problem Solving and Its Limitations -- Indiana Jones 5 The Search for the Perfect Data Structure 83 6 Sorting out Sorting 103 7 Mission Intractable 121 Part II Languages Language and Meaning -- Over the Rainbow 8 The Prism of Language 141 9 Finding the Right Tone: Sound Meaning 159 Control Structures and Loops -- Groundhog Day 10 Weather, Rinse, Repeat 175 11 Happy Ending Not Guaranteed 189 Recursion -- Back to the Future 12 A Stitch in Time Computes Fine 205 13 A Matter of Interpretation 225 Types and Abstraction -- Harry Potter 14 The Magical Type 245 15 A Bird's Eye View: Abstracting from Details 263 Glossary 287 Notes 303 Index 313

Reviews

“[A] thoughtful and approachable guide to the fundamentals of how computer science exists as an intellectual discipline.” —Times Higher Education   “[A] fun and accessible read. . . . Once Upon an Algorithm is recommended to anyone new to the field of computer science with an interest in learning about the theoretical basics of the field as well as its application to our lives.” —LSE Review of Books   “This brilliant book not only makes computing and informational thinking more accessible, but it also shows the undeniable relevance of those domains to daily life.” —Digicult

[A] thoughtful and approachable guide to the fundamentals of how computer science exists as an intellectual discipline. -Times Higher Education [A] fun and accessible read. . . . Once Upon an Algorithm is recommended to anyone new to the field of computer science with an interest in learning about the theoretical basics of the field as well as its application to our lives. -LSE Review of Books This brilliant book not only makes computing and informational thinking more accessible, but it also shows the undeniable relevance of those domains to daily life. -Digicult

Author Information

Martin Erwig is Professor of Computer Science in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University.

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