How Computers Make Books: From Graphics Rendering, Search Algorithms, and Functional Programming to Indexing and Typesetting

Learn about computer science by exploring the fascinating journey of making this book!

How Computers Make Books. by author and publishing software developer John Whitington, takes readers on a journey through the computer processes needed to create this very book. Each chapter explores the elegance of modern digital printing, from how a computer knows where to place ink to reproducing shades of grey and laying out paragraphs on the page.

From graphics rendering, search algorithms, and functional programming to indexing and typesetting, you will discover:

• How human descriptions translate into computer programs
• How can a computer understand document formatting
• How a program decides where to print ink on a page
• Why computer science is so interesting to computer scientists, and why it might interest you
• ...and much more!

How Computers Make Books introduces what is wonderful about computer science by telling the story of how computers have transformed the ancient art of publishing books.

Computers have transformed every industry―even ones as traditional as creating books. If you have ever been mystified about what goes into programming a computer to do practical, familiar tasks, then this book is for you. In it, you will answer interesting questions about human-computer interaction. How do computers represent all the different languages and letters used by humans? How do we compress a book's worth of complex information to be transferred in seconds? And what exactly is a computer program? This book answers all those questions by telling the story of how it was created!