Introduction to Elementary Computational Modeling

Jose M. Garrido is Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science, Kennesaw State University, Georgia. He holds a Ph.D. from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, an M.S.C.S also from George Mason University, an M.Sc. from University of London, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela.Dr. Garrido's research interest is on: object-oriented modeling and simulation, multi-disciplinary computational modeling, formal specification of real-time systems, language design and processors, modeling systems performance, and software security. Dr. Garrido developed the Psim3, PsimJ, and PsimJ2 simulation packages for C++ and Java. He has recently developed the OOSimL, the Object Oriented Simulation Language (with partial support from NSF).Dr. Garrido has published several papers in modeling and simulation, and on programming methods. He has also published six textbooks on objectoriented simulation and operating systems.

... offers a solid first step into scientific and technical computing for those just getting started. ... Through simple examples that are both easy to conceptualize and straightforward to express mathematically (something that isn't trivial to achieve), Garrido methodically guides readers from problem statement and abstraction through algorithm design and basic programming. His approach offers those beginning in a scientific or technical discipline something unique; a simultaneous introduction to programming and computational thinking that is very relevant to the practical application of computing many readers will experience later in their academic training, or early in their professional career. -John West, SIGHPC Connect Newsletter, Vol. 1, June 2012 The fundamental elements of computational modeling are introduced in this nice book. ... targets undergraduate students in computer science and allied subjects such as statistics, mathematics, and engineering. The book should also be well received by teachers and other scientists associated with these disciplines. -Computing Reviews May 2012

• Understanding Problem Solving: Understanding Word Problems. Problem Solving and Computing. MATLAB, R, and Octave Programming. Computational Models: Introduction To Computational Models. Computational Models and Simulation. Algorithms and Design Structures. Selection. Repetition. Data Lists. Modules. Mathematical Models: Basic Concepts. Models with Quadratic Growth. Models with Polynomial Functions. Data Estimation and Empirical Modeling. Models with Geometric Growth. Vectors and Matrices. Text Data. Advanced Data Structures. The MATLAB and GNU Octave Software. Computer Systems. Key Terms. Bibliography