Mathematical Structures for Computer Science [Hardcover]

Judith L. Gersting (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 071676864X | ISBN-13: 978-0716768647 | Publication Date: July 7, 2006 | Edition: Sixth Edition

Computing Curricula 2001 (CC2001), a joint undertaking of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers/Computer Society (IEEE/CS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), identifies the essential material for an undergraduate degree in computer science.

This Sixth Edition of Mathematical Structures for Computer Science covers all the topics in the CC2001 suggested curriculum for a one-semester intensive discrete structures course, and virtually everything suggested for a two-semester version of a discrete structures course. Gersting's text binds together what otherwise appears to be a collection of disjointed topics by emphasizing the following themes:
• Importance of logical thinking
• Power of mathematical notation
• Usefulness of abstractions

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JUDITH L. GERSTING is at the University of Hawaii, Hilo, USA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; Sixth Edition edition (July 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071676864X
• ISBN-13: 978-0716768647
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lacks good examples and makes learning a chore, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mathematical Structures for Computer Science (Hardcover)

This book will leave you high and dry on many occassions. Gersting explains the obvious in each section with her practice problems and then throws problems that are impossible to do without an extra book at the end of each section. Unless you have a very good professor that notices and makes up for the grey areas in this book, you are in big trouble my friend. Discrete Math is a fun subject, this book makes it a total hassle.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect much from this book, February 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mathematical Structures for Computer Science (Mathematical Sciences) (Hardcover)

This book struggles to keep its size manageable, but the effort to do so results in explanations that are unintelligible, incomplete, and often inconsistent, if not outright incorrect. The book's approach is that once a topic has been introduced, there is never any need to provide any back-reference to the subject when it is used again, even if that occurs 4 or 5 chapters later. As a result, the reader spends most of the time looking for obscure paragraphs that appear in a previous chapter, but which are essential to the understanding of the current chapter. Explanations are incomplete. While algorithms are presented (in more-or-less Pascal-ish format) for some concepts, the pseudocode used is not adequate to allow for coding of the solution, and the text accompanying the algorithms does not define many of the variables or processes that are needed to run through the algorithm. In addition, tables and diagrams used in the discourse are separated inconveniently from the text itself, causing the reader to have to turn back or forward a page or two while trying not to lose the train of thought. If required to use this textbook in a class, be ready for significant amounts of frustration unless your instructor is capable of delivering high-quality teaching of the subject, because you probably cannot learn the subject from the book itself. If you are looking for a book for professional use, there are others much better. The time needed to look something up and get a complete and understandable reference is not worth the effort.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very valuable book!!, April 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mathematical Structures for Computer Science: A Modern Treatment of Discrete Mathematics (Hardcover)

With all due respect to some of the other reviewers, I found this book extremely helpful and extremely well written. Much of the polarity in the reviews may stem from the fact that different people have different learning models and corresponding expectations. As a career changer with several degrees in other engineering disciplines, I found many of the explanations very helpful and very appropriate relative to my current learning/retraining objectives. With the examples and practice problems, this book provides what I believe to be an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics relating to the mathematical basis for computer science. I find that I typically consult this book first before moving to other more rigorous (and often more obscure) treatments of the same topics.