Programming Abstractions in C: A Second Course in Computer Science [Paperback]

Eric S. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201545411 | ISBN-13: 978-0201545418 | Publication Date: August 18, 1997 | Edition: 1

This exciting new data structures book provides students with powerful procedural programming skills that will serve as a solid foundation for later object-oriented programming. Throughout the book, Eric Roberts takes a library-based approach to the concepts, which allows readers to see more advanced programs early on. This innovative use of libraries will motivate students as they begin tackling more advanced data structures topics. In the first section of the book, Roberts brings readers up-to-speed on libraries and also provides a nice review of C. Eric Roberts is famous for his wonderful writing style, his use of real-world examples, and his special "bug features."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Written by a master teacher and author of the highly acclaimed The Art and Science of C, this new book helps students master the fundamentals of data structures while encouraging them to develop strong software engineering skills. By emphasizing modern programming concepts such as interfaces, abstraction, and encapsulation, the text provides an ideal foundation for further study of programming. With his clear explanations and engaging writing style, Professor Roberts leads students through the CS2 curriculum in a way that captures and holds their interest throughout.

Highlights

• This book introduces several library packages to simplify the programming process, making it possible for students to concentrate on high-level conceptual issues without being distracted by the complexities of C.
• It contains an extensive discussion of recursion, including a large number of sample programs and exercises that range in difficulty from simple recursive functions to the minimax strategy for analyzing two-player games.
• It emphasizes the practical skills necessary to write solid, reusable code.

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About the Author

Eric S. Roberts is a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and the department's Associate Chair for Educational Affairs. He is also the Charles Simonyi Professor for Innovation in Teaching. After receiving his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in 1980, Dr. Roberts founded and chaired the computer science department at Wellesley College. He then worked for five years as a researcher for Digital Equipment Corporation's Systems Research Center in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Roberts is also the author of The Art and Science of C, published by Addison-Wesley in 1995.

0201545411AB04062001

Product Details

• Paperback: 819 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 1 edition (August 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201545411
• ISBN-13: 978-0201545418
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! The "SICP of C ?", October 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming Abstractions in C: A Second Course in Computer Science (Paperback)

Haven't worked through the whole book yet, but I will say that I have other C or imperative-paradigm data structures book.
The topics are very meaningful: thorough emphasis on recursion (usually misunderstood by C programmers), backtracking (in games - yes, fun!), graphs, trees, that is, the standard gammut of topics, but all written amidst a very interesting text that makes a person who loves programming to never let the book down, because of all the /usefull/ stuff that's in it. For instance, he uses an editor as the common thread to discuss buffers, then implents it using arrays, stack, and linked lists. You end up having a /practical/ introduction to those issues and the implications therein. This is not "practical" in the sense that it's "dumb". This is "real" as in "real GOOD, USEFUL, WELL WRITTEN, WELL DESIGNED" code. C hacking as it should be done.
The code is written in crystal clear style (which is amazing for a C book), the author is keen on abstraction and library reuse. The excercises are great, and not dumb and mechanic.
There isn't any book like this one for C out of the several that I've seen.
If you want to learn C, after you learn the basics, this is THE book. I guess the other reviewer is right when he says that this must be the "SICP for C." And if you know anything about programming, you know that this is a big compliment.
The author is an Applied Mathematics graduate from Harvard and a professor at Stanford.
An excellent, excellent text! Addictive reading!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC!, March 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming Abstractions in C: A Second Course in Computer Science (Paperback)

I have read through many books on data structures and algorithms (including the famous one from O'Reiley publishers), however I have no doubt that this is probably the best book on this subject. The author has put tremendous effort to generate amazing libraries for all the basic Data Structures. The exercise questions are very good as well. Also there is plenty of REAL programing examples, like implementation of editors, etc.. I just wish that Eric Roberts decides to write a similar book for java.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read and valuable, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming Abstractions in C: A Second Course in Computer Science (Paperback)

I found this book extremely valuable for developing basic programming skills. The concepts are neccesary for any programmer. This book goes beyond the first book by showing you how to use the language and starts to make you think like a programmer, getting you into problem solving. Roberts has an easy-to-follow writing style and presents many different algorithms for solving the same problem. He clearly shows the positives and negatives of each. A very well-written book.