Writing for Computer Science and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $5.67 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Writing for Computer Science on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Writing for Computer Science [Paperback]

Justin Zobel
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

List Price: $32.95
Price: $21.86 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $11.09 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Tuesday, May 28? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $20.77  
Hardcover --  
Paperback $21.86  
Rent Your Textbooks
Save up to 70% when you rent your textbooks on Amazon. Keep your textbook rentals for a semester and rental return shipping is free.

Book Description

April 27, 2004 1852338024 978-1852338022 2nd
A complete update to a classic, respected resource Invaluable reference, supplying a comprehensive overview on how to undertake and present research

Frequently Bought Together

Writing for Computer Science + Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++
Price for both: $70.35

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the second edition: "Zobel emphasizes that clarity … . my review would read as follows: buy this book. … The contents of the book are valuable, both as a reference … . has tailored his book quite specifically to computer science researchers. He presents valuable examples drawn from computer science papers … . This book is best suited to individual use. However, it could also serve as a supplementary text for a course on research methods. …" (Max Hailperin, Computing Reviews, February, 2005) "I decided to recommend Zobel’s work to my advanced students and Ph.D. candidates. … An extra goody are the twenty exercises. They constitute a good start into raising many of the issues treated in the book. Many chapters give check-lists or lists of good practice. … His own way of writing demonstrates that there are helpful rules no writer should disobey. … Good writing, even in computing science, remains a process of experience and dialectics. Zobel’s book proves the point." (Frieder Nake, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1106 (8), 2007)

Product Details

  • Paperback: 280 pages
  • Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (April 27, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1852338024
  • ISBN-13: 978-1852338022
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 10 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(9)
4.7 out of 5 stars
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
It is extremely well written - lucid and concise. Michael Nahas  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
I would strongly recommend it to beginners as well as to experienced writers. Ignacio Laguna  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
I would particularly recommend it for non-native speaker like myself. Pasquier Thomas  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and clear May 15, 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you think you want this book, you do want it. It's a great guide to writing any report/paper/book in the field of computer science. It has great suggestions for describing mathematics and algorithms, how to gather data from experiments and how to present it. It contains good advice about the general act of writing, and discusses some of the conventions followed in Comp. Sci. It is extremely well written - lucid and concise. It covers a great deal of material in only 175 pages. It is short enough that I often reread the relavent chapter before I sit down to write a section of a paper. For novices, it's a great introduction. For experts, you'll probably learn something and it is a good catalog of things to keep in mind while writing. (NOTE: I checked this book out of my school's library before I bought it; you might be able to do the same.)
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Many examples and clear guides June 25, 2003
Format:Paperback
This book is a perfect guide for producing reports/theses papers related to Computer Science. I was in the midst of writing a thesis and was struggling with the conventions and styles to use, but after a quick perusal of this book I had all my doubts cleared. Examples are numerous and clear and easily aid you in the writing process. Also, I like this book because it explains the motivation for certain styles and conventions rather than just stating them.

This book was recommended to me by a professor, and I noticed it sitting in several of my professor's offices, as well as offices of several graduate students I worked with.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An authoritative book with pertinent examples September 16, 2008
Format:Paperback
My roots are in computer science where I started my professional life. Therefore I was attracted by the title. I borrowed the book from the library and read it from cover to cover, frustrated not to be able to use my yellow highlighter on the pages of quite a few chapters.
The pertinence of the examples chosen proves that Justin Zobel has reviewed his fair share of papers. If you referee papers, chapter twelve on "Refereeing" is for you. If you are in computer science or if you use computers in your research, then chapter 5 ("Mathematics"), 7 ("Algorithms"), and 11 (Experimentation") are written specifically for you.

Scientists outside of computer science are not left out. Chapters two to four are about style and grammar. His examples will often bring a smile to your face as you recognize your own mistakes. Justin Zobel's book has the merit of systematically illustrating the principles of writing he recommends to the readers. I cannot say I always agree with his examples. For example page 32, he writes "Beginning a paper by stating that a topic is popular or that a problem is important is flat and uninspiring" (I could not agree more); he then illustrates such a flat start with the great example "Use of digital libraries is increasingly common". But then the "may well be preferable" example that follows has the same problem: "Digital libraries provide fast access to large numbers of documents". It uses two imprecise adjectives and does not enhance the knowledge of even the most junior researcher in computer science.
Chapter 6 on graphs, figures, and tables gives many examples. Justin believes in making figures "less dependent on the paper's text" (page 112) by making their caption more informative. I do too.
Chapter 9 gives general instructions for writing the various parts of a scientific paper, from its title to its conclusion.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Forums

Have something you'd like to share about this product?
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions


So You'd Like to...

Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category