Computer Science Logo Style (v. 1)

This series is for people--adults and teenagers--who are interested in computer programming because it's fun. The three volumes use the Logo programming language as the vehicle for an exploration of computer science from the perspective of symbolic computation and artificial intelligence. Logo is a dialect of Lisp, a language used in the most advanced research projects in computer science, especially in artificial intelligence. Throughout the series, functional programming techniques (including higher order functions and recursion) are emphasized, but traditional sequential programming is also used when appropriate. In the second edition, the first two volumes have been rearranged so that illustrative case studies appear with the techniques they demonstrate. Volume 1 includes a new chapter about higher order functions, and the recursion chapters have been reorganized for greater clarity. Volume 2 includes a new tutorial chapter about macros, an exclusive capability of Berkeley Logo, and two new projects. Throughout the series, the larger program examples have been rewritten for greater readability by more extensive use of data abstraction. Volume 1 Symbolic Computing, is addressed to a reader who has used computers and wants to learn the ideas behind them. Symbolic computing is the manipulation of words and sentences, in contrast both to the graphics most people associate with Logo and to the numerical computation with which more traditional languages such as Pascal and C++ are most comfortable. This volume is well known for its clear and thorough presentation of recursion, a key idea in computer science that other texts treat as arcane and difficult. The Logo programs in these books and the author's free Berkeley Logo interpreter are available via the Internet or on diskette.

ISBN 0262581485   Part volume Symbolic Computing ISBN13 9780262581486 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher MIT Press Ltd   Weight (grammes) 726 Imprint MIT Press   Published in Cambridge, Mass. Format Paperback   Previous ISBN 9780262580724 Publication date 30 Apr 1997   Height (mm) 226 Non-book description 3 v. :   Width (mm) 203 Library of Congress QA76.6.H38   Spine width (mm) 22 DEWEY 005.1   Academic level Secondary education, A / AS level, General, Undergraduate DEWEY edition DC21   Interest age From 18 Pages 340

Part 1 Exploration: getting acquainted with Logo; in tow senses; another greetings; fooling around; a slightly longer conversation; a sneaky greeting; a quiz program; saving your work; about chapter; no exercises. Part 2 Procedures: procedures and instructions; technical terms; evaluation; error messages; commands and operations; words and lists; how to describe a procedure; manipulating words and lists; print and show; order of evaluation; special forms of evaluation; writing your own procedures; editing your procedures; syntax and semantics; parentheses and plumbing diagrams; nonsense plumbing diagrams. Part 3 Variables: user procedures with inputs; what kind of container? an abbreviation; more procedures; an aside on variable naming; don't call it X; writing new operations; scope of variables; the little person metaphor; changing the value of a variable; global and local variables; indirect assignment; functional programming. Part 4 Predicates: true or false; defining your own predicates; conditional evaluation; choosing between alternatives; conditional evaluation another way; about those brackets; logical connectives; Ifelse and operation; expression lists and plumbing diagrams; stopping a procedure; improving the Quiz program; reporting success to a superproducer. Part 5 Functions of functions: the problem - initials; one solution - numeric iteration; critique of numeric iteration; what's a function? functions of functions - map; higher order selection - filter; many to one - reduce; choosing the right tool; anonymous functions; higher order miscellany; repeated invocation - cascade; a miniproject - mastermind. Part 6 Example - Tic-Tac-Toe: the project; strategy; program structure and modularity; data representation; arrays; triples; variables in the workplace; the user interface; implementing the strategy rules; further explorations; program listing. Part 7 Introduction to recursion: starting small; building up; generalizing the pattern; why went wrong? the stop rule; local variables; more examples; other stop rules. Part 8 Practical recursion - the leap of faith: recursive patterns; the leap of faith; the tower of Hanoi; more complicated patterns; a mini-project - scrambled sentences; procedure patterns; tricky stop rules. (Part contents).

"In the world of theatre 'Harvey' is a large, white rabbit who happens to be invisible. Elementary computer science's 'Harvey' is more like a tiger - clever, colorful, powerful, and, thanks to this revised edition of a classic set of texts, very visible indeed." --William Higginson, Coordinator; Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Group, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada

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