Kent D. Lee – författare

Programming Languages: An Active Learning Approach introduces students to three programming paradigms: object-oriented/imperative languages using C++ and Ruby, functional languages using Standard ML, and logic programming using Prolog. This interactive textbook is intended to be used in and outside of class. Each chapter follows a pattern of presenting a topic followed by a practice exercise or exercises that encourage students to try what they have just read. This textbook is best-suited for students with a 2-3 course introduction to imperative programming.

Key Features: (1) Accessible structure guides the student through various programming languages. (2) Seamlessly integrated practice exercises. (3) Classroom-tested. (4) Online support materials.

Advance praise: “The Programming Languages book market is overflowing with books, but none like this. In many ways, it is precisely the book I have been searching for to use in my own programming languages course. One of the main challenges I perpetually face is how to teach students to program in functional and logical languages, but also how to teach them about compilers. This book melds the two approaches very well.” -- David Musicant, Carleton College

This easy-to-follow and classroom-tested textbook guides the reader through the fundamentals of programming with Python, an accessible language which can be learned incrementally. 

Features: incudes numerous examples and practice exercises throughout the text, with additional exercises, solutions and review questions at the end of each chapter; highlights the patterns which frequently appear when writing programs, reinforcing the application of these patterns for problem-solving through practice exercises; introduces the use of a debugger tool to inspect a program, enabling students to discover for themselves how programs work and enhance their understanding; presents the Tkinter framework for building graphical user interface applications and event-driven programs; provides instructional videos and additional information for students, as well as support materials for instructors, at an associated website.

This textbook explains the concepts and techniques required to write programs that can handle large amounts of data efficiently. Project-oriented and classroom-tested, the book presents a number of important algorithms—supported by motivating examples—that bring meaning to the problems faced by computer programmers. The idea of computational complexity is introduced, demonstrating what can and cannot be computed efficiently at scale, helping programmers make informed judgements about the algorithms they use. The easy-to-read text assumes some basic experience in computer programming and familiarity in an object-oriented language, but not necessarily with Python.

Topics and features:

Students of computer science will find this clear and concise textbook invaluable for undergraduate courses on data structures and algorithms, at both introductory and advanced levels. The book is also suitable as a refresher guide for computer programmers starting new jobs working with Python.

Dr. Kent D. Lee is a Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, USA. He is the author of the successful Springer books, Python Programming Fundamentals, and Foundations of Programming Languages.

Dr. Steve Hubbard is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Computer Science at Luther College.

This clearly written textbook introduces the reader to the three styles of programming, examining object-oriented/imperative, functional, and logic programming. The focus of the text moves from highly prescriptive languages to very descriptive languages, demonstrating the many and varied ways in which we can think about programming. Designed for interactive learning both inside and outside of the classroom, each programming paradigm is highlighted through the implementation of a non-trivial programming language, demonstrating when each language may be appropriate for a given problem. Features: includes review questions and solved practice exercises, with supplementary code and support files available from an associated website; provides the foundations for understanding how the syntax of a language is formally defined by a grammar; examines assembly language programming using CoCo; introduces C++, Standard ML, and Prolog; describes the development of a type inference system for thelanguage Small.