Imagine, for a moment, a guy. This guy, about 40 years old, has worked all of his life in a job that doesn't require much knowledge of computers, certainly not of how to write software. Now, imagine that our guy decides to change career paths and learn computer programming. He goes and buys a book about a programming language, perhaps one that promotes itself as elementary. The book presents our hapless guy with recipes that he can follow, it's true, but mostly it confuses him with talk of APIs, linked lists, hashes, and a mess of other stuff that he doesn't understand, really. "I can make it all work by following directions," our guy implores into the Void. "But I don't understand what I'm doing." This guy needs How Computer Programming Works.

In this book, Daniel Appleman sets out to explain computer programming at a conceptual level, and succeeds admirably. Appleman ignores the peculiar characteristics of specific programming languages (leaving them for specialized books), and instead uses fantastic color illustrations and lucid text to explain what goes unsaid among professional programmers. He also uses pseudocode--a sort of standardized, generic programming language--and examples in BASIC to back up his points. Although Appleman approaches programming mainly from a procedural angle (the book would be better with more coverage of object-oriented programming techniques, which fundamentally are different, in many cases), the contents of this book will suit any beginning student of programming and computer science--our guy included. --David Wall

Topics covered: Aspects of computer programming that you must understand in order to write code, but that generally are not explained conceptually in language-specific programming books Variables Loops Pointers Arrays Code blocks Stacks Trees Other fundamental building blocks Critical algorithms, like the bubble sort Getting from specification to finished product Network programming


Book Description

Just as children must learn the alphabet before they can read, future programmers must understand certain concepts before they can write their first program. This unique book uses full-color illustrations to help you truly understand the underlying computer science on which all programming is based.

Veteran programmer Dan Appleman provides a comprehensive, easy-to-understand explanation of computer programming, starting from a basic description of what a computer language is to coverage of how Internet programming works. The book shows you how to turn ideas into code and how to use algorithms to accomplish common tasks, and describes the basic function of compilers and interpreters.

Curious readers of any age will find an accessible yet comprehensive explanation of a field that has revolutionized the way we live and work.


Download Description
A useful book for future programmers or anyone interested in explaining important computer programming concepts. Full color illustrations help to visually explain important topics! New expanded section on computer programming for the Internet. Just as a child must learn the alphabet before they can read, future programmers must understand certain concepts before they can write their first program. This unique book uses full color illustrations to help the reader to truly understand the underlying computer science on which all programming is based.


Book Info
Provides readers of all ages with a visual tour of the programming world. Full-color illustrations help any reader understand the underlying principles on which all programming is based. Includes coverage of Internet and Disrupted programming. Softcover. DLC: Computer programming.


About the Author
Daniel Appleman is the president of Desaware Inc., a developer of add-on products and components for Microsoft Visual Studio, including SpyWorks, StateCoder, and the NT Service Toolkit for .NET languages and VB6. He is a cofounder of Apress, a publishing company specializing in high-quality professional level books for computer programmers and IT professionals. He is the author of numerous books, including <i>Moving to VB .NET: Strategies, Concepts and Code</i>, <i>How Computer Programming Works</i>, and <i>Dan Appleman’s Visual Basic Programmer’s Guide to the Win32 API</i>, and he is the author of a series of ebooks on .NET-related topics.

ANNOTATION

"...this book requires no prior knowledge of programming & is independent of the specific type of hardware. Illustrations & clear written description help teach the basic concepts of computer programming in a compelling way."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Computer programming is and will continue to be one of the most important skills to master in the 21st century. Yet many people are intimidated by the jargon of programming and many beginning programmers find themselves overwhelmed by the complexity of the languages they are trying to learn. Just as children learn the alphabet before they can read, future programmers must understand certain concepts before they can write their first program. Once those concepts are understood, programming becomes both easy and fun. This unique book uses full color illustrations to help the reader to truly understand the underlying principles on which all computer programming is based.

ACCREDITATION