How To Learn Computer Science

How To Learn Computer Science is for all ambitious students of computer science. Reading this book will illuminate the subject, explaining where each topic comes from, looking at its history and exploring links to wider culture. The book tackles some key stumbling blocks in each topic such as common misconceptions: mistaken ideas about the topic that slow you down and cause frustration. Plenty of 'fertile questions' prompt you to think hard about the topic, and each chapter encourages you to 'Stretch It' by trying some ambitious activities, 'Link It' to other topics and 'Build It' in the form of a practical project. You will also find links to helpful resources and further reading for greater depth, and some super study skills that will help you achieve a top grade. Read this book for a top grade in Computer Science! Alan Harrison is head of computing at a school in Manchester. He is a Computing at School master teacher and community leader, a National Centre for Computing Education training facilitator and a Raspberry Pi Foundation content author. @mraharrisoncs

The follow-up to Cory Althoff's bestselling The Self-Taught Programmer, which inspired hundreds of thousands of professionals to learn to program outside of school! Fresh out of college and with just a year of self-study behind him, Cory Althoff was offered a dream first job as a software engineer for a well-known tech company, but he quickly found himself overwhelmed by the amount of things he needed to know, but hadn’t learned yet. This experience combined with his personal journey learning to program inspired his widely praised guide, The Self-Taught Programmer. Now Cory's back with another guide for the self-taught community of learners focusing on the foundations of computer science. The Self-Taught Computer Scientist introduces beginner and self-taught programmers to computer science fundamentals that are essential for success in programming and software engineering fields. Computer science is a massive subject that could cover an entire lifetime of learning. This book does not aim to cover everything you would learn about if you went to school to get a computer science degree. Instead, Cory's goal is to give you an introduction to some of the most important concepts in computer science that apply to a programming career. With a focus on data structures and algorithms, The Self-Taught Computer Scientist helps you fill gaps in your knowledge, prepare for a technical interview, feel knowledgeable and confident on the job, and ultimately, become a better programmer. Learn different algorithms including linear and binary search and test your knowledge with feedback loops Understand what a data structure is and study arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, binary trees, binary heaps, and graphs Prepare for technical interviews and feel comfortable working with more experienced colleagues Discover additional resources and tools to expand your skillset and continue your learning journey It's as simple as this: You have to study computer science if you want to become a successful programmer, and if you don't understand computer science, you won't get hired. Ready for a career in programming, coding, or software engineering and willing to embrace an "always be learning" mindset? The Self-Taught Computer Scientist is for you.

Who this book is for:This book is perfect for students who are keen to learn CS concepts and have no prior programming background. In addition to learning a lot of Computer Science concepts, you will do a series of interesting projects and programming activities. You will work on a few big projects, and you will also write many small "practice programs". You will learn and apply concepts of computer programming and computer science when you write these programs. Snap! language:The choice of programming language is critical to achieve the intended objectives of teaching CS to beginners. In this book we use the Snap! programming language. Snap! is an entertaining and powerful language, and yet it is easy to learn. It is known as a "low floor and high ceiling" language - it allows the learner to build his/her vocabulary without getting mired in the complexities of syntax and grammar.There is a lot of material on Snap! Programming on the Internet, including videos, online courses, Snap! projects, and so on. This book is meant to offer a more organized and tutorial-like treatment to learning Snap!. It is also focused more on learning CS concepts rather than Snap! itself.Why learn programming:The idea of using computer programming as a medium for learning is rapidly gaining acceptance. The benefits of learning programming and computer science concepts well before college - even in elementary grades - are well-understood. Here is a list of some of the amazing things that happen when young people engage in computer programming:- Students become active and creative learners, because they explore ideas through a hands-on activity with an infinitely powerful tool.- They learn to think about and analyze their own thinking, because that is the only way to program computers.- They learn to solve complex problems by breaking them into smaller sub-problems.- They learn a new way of thinking (called "computational" thinking).- In the world of programming, answers are not simply "right" or "wrong"; this prepares a child's mindset for real-life problems.- Their learning processes are transformed from acquiring facts to thinking creatively and analytically.How the book is organized:The book is organized as a series of units - each containing a bunch of CS concepts and associated programming activities. Typically, each unit also includes a major programming project that helps you practice all the concepts learnt till then.

Learn Computer Science provides the depth aspects of the computer science, software and hardware. In the book a walkthrough of computer science concepts you must know. Especially designed for readers who this field, it is a one of the best and easy computer science guide. It helps to learn the fundamentals you need to program computers in facts. The main topics such as data processing, memory management, database, basics of programming, security, compilers, data structures and Information & communication are covered in this book Learn Computer Science book for students and teachers working in the related fields of computing, database management and computer networking readers. Students focusing on computer science engineering will also find this book helpful.

Master the basics of solving logic puzzles, and creating algorithms using Swift on Apple platforms. This book is based on the curriculum currently being used in common computer classes. You’ll learn to automate algorithmic processes that scale using Swift in the context of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Begin by understanding how to think computationally: to formulate a computational problem and recognize patterns and ways to validate it. Then jump ahead past the abstractions and conceptual work into using code snippets to build frameworks and write code using Xcode and Swift. Once you have frameworks in place, you’ll learn to use algorithms and structure data. Finally, you’ll see how to bring people into what you’ve built through a useable UI and how UI and code relate. What You'll Learn Recognize patterns and use abstractions Build code into reusable frameworks Manage code and share version control Solve logic puzzles Who This Book Is For Young professionals interested in learning computer science from an Apple platform standpoint.

Understand essential computer science concepts and skills. This book focuses on the foundational and fundamental concepts upon which expertise in specific areas can be developed, including computer architecture, programming language, algorithm and data structure, operating systems, computer networks, distributed systems, security, and more. According to code.org, there are 500,000 open programming positions available in the US— compared to an annual crop of just 50,000 graduating computer science majors. The US Department of Labor predicted that there will be almost a million and a half computer science jobs in the very near future, but only enough programmers to fill roughly one third of these jobs. To bridge the gap, many people not formally trained in computer science are employed in programming jobs. Although they are able to start programming and coding quickly, it often takes them time to acquire the necessary understanding to gain the requisite skills to become an efficient computer engineer or advanced developer. What You Will Learn The fundamentals of how a computer works The basics of computer programming and programming paradigms How to write efficient programs How the hardware and software work together to provide a good user experience and enhance the usability of the system How computers can talk to each other How to ensure the security of the system The fundamentals of cloud offerings, implications/trade-offs, and deployment/adoption configurations The fundamentals of machine learning Who This Book Is For Computer programmers lacking a formal education in computer science, and anyone with a formal education in computer science, looking to develop a general understanding of computer science fundamentals

The influx of computer technology into classrooms during the past decade raises the questions -- how can we teach children to use computers productively and what effect will learning to program computers have on them? During this same period, researchers have investigated novice learning of computer programming. Teaching and Learning Computer Programming unites papers and perspectives by respected researchers of teaching and learning computer science while it summarizes and integrates major theoretical and empirical contributions. It gives a current and concise account of how instructional techniques affect student learning and how learning of programming affects students' cognitive skills. This collection is an ideal supplementary text for students and a valuable reference for professionals and researchers of education, technology and psychology, computer science, communication, developmental psychology, and industrial organization.

Get to grips with the building blocks of programming languages and get started on your programming journey without a computer science degree Key FeaturesUnderstand the fundamentals of a computer program and apply the concepts you learn to different programming languagesGain the confidence to write your first computer programExplore tips, techniques, and best practices to start coding like a professional programmerBook Description Learning how to code has many advantages, and gaining the right programming skills can have a massive impact on what you can do with your current skill set and the way you advance in your career. This book will be your guide to learning computer programming easily, helping you overcome the difficulties in understanding the major constructs in any mainstream programming language. Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners starts by taking you through the building blocks of any programming language with thorough explanations and relevant examples in pseudocode. You'll understand the relationship between computer programs and programming languages and how code is executed on the computer. The book then focuses on the different types of applications that you can create with your programming knowledge. You'll delve into programming constructs, learning all about statements, operators, variables, and data types. As you advance, you'll see how to control the flow of your programs using control structures and reuse your code using functions. Finally, you'll explore best practices that will help you write code like a pro. By the end of this book, you'll be prepared to learn any programming language and take control of your career by adding coding to your skill set. What you will learnGet to grips with basic programming language concepts such as variables, loops, selection and functionsUnderstand what a program is and how the computer executes itExplore different programming languages and learn about the relationship between source code and executable codeSolve problems using various paradigms such as procedural programming, object oriented programming, and functional programmingWrite high-quality code using several coding conventions and best practicesBecome well-versed with how to track and fix bugs in your programsWho this book is for This book is for beginners who have never programmed before and are looking to enter the world of programming. This includes anyone who is about to start studying programming and wants a head start, or simply wants to learn how to program on their own.