Amazon.com Review
A Message From Author V. Anton Spraul
“Over the past 15 years, I’ve taught programming to countless students from every sort of background. A few of them were naturals, but most struggled, even the ones who would eventually turn into excellent programmers. However, they weren’t struggling with the syntax of the programming language, but rather with applying it to solve the assigned problems.
Knowing how to read a program is very different from knowing how to write one. While typical books or training courses are often effective at explaining the individual elements of programming, they tend to offer little advice on combining these elements to solve particular problems. That’s where Think Like a Programmer comes in.”
Review
“The author is obviously very knowledgeable and experienced with teaching hard concepts to new learners and this shows in his no-nonsense, down-to-earth but enjoyable writing style.”
—Adrian Woodhead, Slashdot
“Spraul has taught intro computer science classes for over fifteen years and it shows. He does a great job showing the theory using concrete examples, and rightfully puts a great deal of emphasis on programming exercises to strengthen the concepts.”
—Ariane Coffin, Wired.com’s GeekMom
“The combination of conceptual overview and common problem-solving techniques that are applicable to many applications make this a particularly feasible way to supplement or review programming skills while learning a systematic approach to problem solving.”
—Choice Magazine
“This is one of the most helpful books I’ve read, due to the fact that it guides you towards designing a system for yourself, as opposed to encouraging a mindset where there can be only one correct method.”
—Lucas Westermann, Full Circle Magazine
“The book is well-written, with tons of excellent advice and solid, well-thought-out examples. If you’re willing to devote some time to studying the material, you’ll soon find yourself equipped with an impressive array of problem-solving strategies and, maybe, a new outlook on programming.”
—Phil Bull, author of the official Ubuntu documentation
“I guarantee if you work through the entire book you will stretch your brain.”
—David Bolton, About.com C/C++/C#
“I would definitely recommend this book as a companion to whatever text is used to introduce [new students] to programming and/or program logic.”
—Joe Saur, The ACM’s Software Engineering Notes Magazine
“[V. Anton Spraul’s] advice is simple, straightforward, and practical. It’s an easy—and valuable—read.”
—James Powell, Enterprise Systems
“I highly recommend Think Like a Programmer to anyone who wants to hone their creative problem-solving skills or to anyone who has learned to program, but doesn’t feel that they fully understand the concepts.”
—Robert Perkins, Game Vortex
“This is definitely a book that I would use in teaching programming to others.”
—Stephen Chapman, Ask Felgall
About the Author
V. Anton Spraul has taught introductory programming and computer science for more than 15 years. He is the author of Computer Science Made Simple (Broadway) and How Software Works (No Starch Press). He offers advice for beginning programmers in his series “Learning to Program: A Guide” on his website (http://www.vantonspraul.com).
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