Computer Science Distilled: Learn the Art of Solving Computational Problems

This book is an interesting offering. It attempts to condense a large subset of a standard computer science curriculum in a mere 168 pages—a rather formidable task. The result? It depends on the reader and what he or she expects to get out of it. The book offers a glimpse of important topics usually taught in discrete mathematics, data structures, algorithms, computer architecture, databases, operating systems, and programming languages courses. It offers no practice to the reader and only a few examples, which are carefully chosen for their pedagogical value. Who could benefit though from this fragmented and concisely summarized knowledge? The author targets the casual coder who is missing fundamental knowledge in computer science. The claim that this book can open the door to programming mastery is a bit farfetched, as the material it exposes barely scratches the surface. Nevertheless, it certainly offers good value to the novice coder who aims to explore the computer science field further. This book provides an overview of very important and carefully selected topics, and does so in an approachable and often entertaining way.

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers.

—D. Papamichail, The College of New Jersey, Choice, Vol. 55 (3), October, 2017)