Customer Reviews

Computer Science: An Overview

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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As noted by other reviewers, this book is a useful and usable broad survey for beginning CS and other interested students, and as such it deserves five stars. But I wish to describe it from a narrow perspective. Readers of another review of mine who sought help with the GRE/CS mentioned this book; I was surprised to find it now as a top match under Book Search: GRE Computer Science, because it makes no claim to prepare students for the GRE/CS, and it does not appear in the Full Result list. Given its elementary nature, can it help with the GRE/CS? A qualified YES, if the text and problems are studied thoroughly: it will definitely aid moving from a scores in the 500s to ones in the 600s, but I doubt it would help move from 700s to 800s. What it does is give the reader a positional sense of core concepts and techniques plus cover material in areas that typically appear on the GRE/CS but may lie beyond the average liberal-arts undergraduate required curriculum. The solutions go somewhat beyond answers, unlike the required ETS books (if you can get the old editions). The result should be quicker knowledge for factual questions on the exam, confidence to tackle more of the novel problems, and better discernment on which to leave unanswered.

I agree completely with the reader from Colorado. This is a great book.

I picked it up on impulse when purchasing a textbook for a computer architecture course at university. Usually when I buy a book on impulse, I regret it. Not this time. This is the best one-volume coverage of computer science I've seen.

The book is written as an "overview", but anyone who reads it thoroughly will come away with quite a sophisticated understanding of the fundamentals of computing. It covers basically everything -- starting with simple concepts like binary and working all the way through to artificial intelligence and other advanced ideas. It covers databases, programming, hardware, networking, and everything else. I can't think of an important topic in computer science that has been left out of this book.

I also agree with the reader from Colorado that the writing is dense in places, but that is only because there is no unnecessary fluff. You may have to re-read a paragraph here and there, but if you do, you are almost guaranteed to understand the concepts presented. This is not a "Dummies Guide to Computer Science". It's a book for intelligent, interested students. As a result, the author does not talk down to the reader at all. His writing tone is very professional and matter-of-fact throughout. (The diagrams are also excellent, and complement the text very well.)

As a bonus, there are "review" questions at the end of every section, and clear, well explained answers at the end of the book. I admit I haven't been doing all the exercises, but I have skimmed over some, and I am sure that anyone who does the exercises for each section will come away with a very solid understanding of the subject.

If you want a broad understanding of what computer science is about, and how all the different topics interrelate, I highly recommend this book. If you're new to computer science (especially if you are just starting a university course), this will help you. Even if you are graduating with a computer science degree, this will help you to integrate what you have learned, and will help you see the forest as well as the trees.

This book is in its fifth edition for a reason: It's very good.

After banging my head in frustration over this mystical topic for some time now, I have finally found a book that gives great explanations for everything I wanted to know. Most universities and authors are bent on using something like C++ to teach this topic, but you walk away not understanding memory, binary, processors and the like. Rather, you walk away with some knowledge of algorithms only. I can't say enough how wonderful this book has been. I am certain that I will be reading in more than once. If you are wondering how a computer works...get this book. The reading is thick, you must pay attention to every sentence or you may get lost, but after you have fought your way through it, you will know how this stuff really works. A great book!