Introduction to Programming Concepts with Case Studies in Python [Üçoluk & Kalkan 2012-10-30].pdf

Introduction to Programming Concepts with Case

Studies in Python

Göktürk Üçoluk

Sinan Kalkan

Introduction

to Programming

Concepts with Case

Studies in Python

Sinan Kalkan

Department of Computer Engineering

Middle East Technical University

Ankara, Turkey

Göktürk Üçoluk

Department of Computer Engineering

Middle East Technical University

Ankara, Turkey

ISBN 978-3-7091-1342-4

ISBN 978-3-7091-1343-1 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-7091-1343-1

Springer Wien Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012951836

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Preface

Purpose

This is a book aiming to be an introduction to Computer Science concepts as far

as programming is concerned. It is designed as the textbook of a freshman level

CS course and provides the fundamental concepts and abstract notions for solv-

ing computational problems. The Python language serves as a medium for illustra-

tion/demonstration.

Approach

This book introduces concepts by starting with the Q/A ‘WHY?’ and proceeds by

the Q/A ‘HOW?’. Most other books start with the Q/A ‘WHAT?’ which is then fol-

lowed by a ‘HOW?’. So, this book introduces the concepts starting from the grass-

roots of the ‘needs’. Moreover, the answer to the question ‘HOW?’ is somewhat

different in this book. The book gives pseudo-algorithms for the ‘use’ of some CS

concepts (like recursion or iteration). To the best of our knowledge, there is no other

book that gives a recipe, for example, for developing a recursive solution to a world

problem. In other textbooks, recursion is explained by displaying several recursive

solutions to well-known problems (the deﬁnition of the factorial function is the most

famous one) and hoping for the student to discover the technique behind it. That is

why students following such textbooks easily understand what ‘recursion’ is but get

stunned when the time comes to construct a recursive deﬁnition on their own. This

teaching technique is applied throughout the book while various CS concepts got

introduced.

This book is authored in concordance with a multi-paradigm approach, which is

ﬁrst ‘functional’ followed by ‘imperative’ and then ‘object oriented’.

The CS content of this book is not hijacked by a programming language. This

is also unique to this book. All other books either do not use any PL at all or ﬁrst

introduce the concepts only by means of the PL they use. This entanglement causes

Preface

a poor formation of the abstract CS concept, if it does at all. This book introduces

the concepts ‘theoretically’ and then projects it onto the Python PL. If the Python

parts (which are printed on light greenish background) would be removed, the book

would still be intact and comprehensible but be purely theoretical.

Audience

This book is intended for freshman students and lecturers in Computer science or

engineering as a text book of an introductory course frequently named as one of:

– Introduction to Programming

– Introduction to Programming Constructs

– Introduction to Computer Science

– Introduction to Computer Engineering

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Faruk Polat and I. Hakkı Toroslu from the Middle East

Technical University’s Department of Computer Engineering and Reda Alhajj from

the Department of Computer Science of University of Calgary for their constant

support. We would also like to thank Chris Taylor for her professional proofreading

of the manuscript and our student Rowanne Kabalan for her valuable comments on

the language usage. Moreover, we are very grateful to Aziz Türk for his key help in

the ofﬁcial procedures of publishing the book.

Last but not least, we thank our life partners Gülnur and Gökçe and our families:

without their support, this book would not have been possible.

Department of Computer Engineering,

Middle East Technical University,

Ankara, Turkey

Göktürk Üçoluk

Sinan Kalkan

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