000			02419 a2200193 4500
005			20181126123124.0
020			_a9780262534307
040			_cIIT Kanpur
041			_aeng
082			_a005.10285 _bD49p
100			_aDevadas, Srini
245			_aProgramming for the puzzled _blearn to program while solving puzzles _cSrini Devadas
260			_bMIT Press _c2017 _aCambridge
300			_axii, 259p
520			_aLearning 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
650			_aMathematical recreations -- Data processing
650			_aPuzzles -- Data processing
942			_cBK
999			_c559770 _d559770