Concrete Abstractions: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Scheme [Paperback]

Max Hailperin (Author), Barbara Kaiser (Author), Karl Knight (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0534952119 | ISBN-13: 978-0534952112 | Publication Date: September 10, 1998 | Edition: 1

This text covers the basics of programming and data structures, and gives first-time computer science students the opportunity to not only write programs, but to prove theorems and analyze algorithms as well.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Max Hailperin holds SB and PhD degrees from MIT and Stanford, respectively. He is Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Gustavus Adolphus College, where he has taught since 1990. In 2002 he received the college's distinguished teaching award. He has published a previous textbook, Concrete Abstractions: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Scheme (co-authored with Barbara Kaiser and Karl Knight), as well as journal articles and conference papers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 670 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology; 1 edition (September 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534952119
• ISBN-13: 978-0534952112
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Beginning & Introductory
  • #66 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Algorithms > Data Structures

More About the Author

I write to help people learn. For that reason, my books are available free on the web. See https://gustavus.edu/+max/os-book/ and https://gustavus.edu/+max/concrete-abstractions.html

I earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great foundations, June 20, 2000

By 

"n_beran" (Iowa City, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concrete Abstractions: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Scheme (Paperback)

Concrete Abstractions provides a great intoduction to the world of Computer Science. It covers well basic ideas of abstractions, software design, algorithms, sorting, and much more. Even after one gets a handle on the ideas presented, the book serves well as a handy reference. Very sound theory with challenging exercises. I recommend it to anyone studying computer science in a college environment. The only downside is that the book relies on the Scheme programming language; an obscure academic language. This isn't a large setback as the theory covered in the book is easily applied to all languages.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book., October 1, 2010

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W. Ghost (Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concrete Abstractions: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Scheme (Paperback)

This is a great book. I don't like the way some subjects are presented (the chapter on memory and state for example), but this is just a matter of taste. The book is really good.

For people learning Scheme and functional programming it's worth having.
For anyone interested in Computer Science and programming, it's also great -- lots of concepts from CS are presented in a nice way.
The book follows the (very successful) approach by Abelson and Sussman: first comes pure functional programming, then there's abstraction of state.There are really good exercises, *all with connection to real world problems*.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scheme - A Good Choice to Teach CS, September 4, 2001

By 

WryCoder (Ipswich, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concrete Abstractions: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Scheme (Paperback)

Scheme has been taught to every student taking computer 'science' at MIT for the past 20 years, and it is increasingly used throughout the world to teach that subject. The mainstream languages C++ and Visual Basic are considered to be poorly designed, and C is too low level to be a good choice in a course intended to provide a comprehensive introduction to computer science (which goes far beyond what the average person calls 'programming').

Scheme is a variant of Lisp, which is the second oldest computer language, after Fortran. It is, however, a thoroughly modern language, and has strongly influenced the design of other modern languages like ML and Python.

The book starts in Scheme, then adds object oriented techniques and assembly language. It finishes with a transition to Java, which is, of course, similar to C++. This approach will provide a much broader background than a typical text using C++ or C could.