Foundations of Computer Science

by Alfred V. Aho

Book Overview

This text combines the theoretical foundations of computing with essential discrete mathematics. It follows the same organization as its predecessor, Foundations of Computer Science (also published by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0716782332
• ISBN13: 9780716782339
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company
• Length: 765 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 8.3" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book, even for experienced readers

Overall, I think this book is an excellent book that anyone serious about computer science should own. I think that this book is good both for those new to computer science and those who have been involved in computer science for several years.For those new to computer science, I would not use this as a first book (this is made clear in the introduction, as well). The expectation is that the reader will already understand the basics of programming, so prior experience or an introductory course in computer science would be appropriate. Many of the examples make use of pointers, which can occasionally be confusing to students unfamiliar with programming, so it would definitely be a good idea for the reader to be familiar with a language like C or Pascal before starting this book. Once that foundation is in place, this is an excellent book to learn the basics of the field of computer science.For more experienced readers, this book serves as an amazing review and does a good job of collecting lots of information in one place. Explanations are solid, so the book can serve as a good reference for multiple topics. Note that the level of detail is not appropriate if you are just interested in one thing -- if you are interested only in details of algorithms, a book like the MIT Press Algorithms book would be more appropriate.

An always useful reference

I've used this book for the namesake course at university, 2 years ago. It proved to be perfectly adequate at that time. It was very readable and complete. And this would be enough for me to give it a five stars rate.But there's more. After these two years I've collected many other books in various areas of CS, but when I need a quick reference on any specific topic or I don't remember the formal definition of a concept, I always find this book in my hands. It is one of the references I use most often.It has been my first book by the couple Aho-Ullman. Now I've understood that whenever these two "emeritus guys" writes something, it always worths time and money to read them.

Quite complete and clear

Aho is one of the most respected authors in Computer science and he makes it clear why in this book. With the aid of step-by-step algorithms, schematics, good examples and exercises he accomplishes one of the most complete and clear books in CS for beginner students. The text is sometimes too extensive but it is never confusing or inadequate.

A great book for learning real computer science.

This book is not a "how to program" book. Rather it discusses the science and computing in detail. The basics are introduced and throughout the book the chapters build on each other for a complex yet easy to understand experience. The book is a wonderful tool for those who want to be real scientists and not just "techies."