Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming [Paperback]

Richard E. Pattis (Author), Jim Roberts (Editor), Mark Stehlik (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471597252 | ISBN-13: 978-0471597254 | Publication Date: July 11, 1995 | Edition: 2nd

Uses a creative approach to teach the basic skills and concepts of programming quickly. This edition offers excellent insights into problem solving and program design processes. It will also improve comprehension of such computer science considerations as loop invariants and recursion. Includes 60 color line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Since 1981, Karel the Robot has been instructing students in the delicate practice of programming. With all sorts of new ways to teach programming, is the Karel method still valid? As long as introductory programming is about learning to think, there's room for Karel and his universe. You learn in the beginning about Karel's world and how to move him around ever so carefully in his streets and avenues. From these simple steps, you learn how to improve Karel's programming vocabulary so that you can do more with less code. You then advance to conditional statements and more complicated repeating instructions, ending up with skills such as ordering your robot to search his space for objects. Karel proves that a lot of programming expertise can be taught with a few well-chosen exercises and an emphasis on logical thinking and clean programming. Let's hope Karel the Robot never ends up on the junk heap.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Solutions Manual available. -- The publisher, John Wiley & Sons

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2nd edition (July 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471597252
• ISBN-13: 978-0471597254
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Robotics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excepcional book for beginners in computer programming., September 18, 1998

By 

Peter Jandl Jr ([e-mail]) (Itatiba, SP, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming (Paperback)

I am a teacher in Universidade Sao Francisco (Itatiba, SP, Brazil), working with Computer Cience undergraduate studants. "Karel, the Robot" is the book we were looking for to introduce programming concepts. Once you started, it is dificult to stop reading: the concepts are presented in a clear and natural manner, from the basic ones to more advanced techniques. All the teachers that take a look in the book share the same opinions: the ideas behind Karel are powerfull and can help the studants to understand the foundations of programming. The primitives, the language and also the interface can easily be adapted to other languages and environments, making this book an exceptional one.

3.0 out of 5 stars It's Okay, October 3, 2002

By 

Paul Lippert (Eden Prairie, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming (Paperback)

Its concepts are amazing to any programmer but, widely known, I learned just as much from my Instructor in my post-secondary class then I did in this book. The Karel code also gets a little boring. However, to be a good programmer you need to know these concepts through and through, so I do find it useful as an introduction to programming. I don't recommend it to anyone who knows their own logical style well already; it will be useless to you.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Un excelente libro para principiantes, January 23, 2004

By 

Oscar Martnez Martnez "[e-mail]" (Saltillo, Coahuila Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming (Paperback)

Tengo 10 años enseñando programación y gracias a Karel ahora mis alumnos entienden la programación más facilmente. Lo que facilita el aprendizaje de lenguajes más avanzados.
Es muy importante contar con el software para poder llevar a la práctica los conceptos, este es libre de costo si se utiliza en la Universidad, funciona muy bien y sin problemas en cualquier máquina.
Adicionalmente sugiero el diseñar previamente los mundos en el programa para que los alumnos trabajen solo en la programación y no en el diseño y asi no perder el objetivo de Karel.