Book review: Introduction to Computer Science Using Python (by Charles Dierbach)

After much back and forth I received a nice new Python book in the mail. The book's full title is "Introduction to Computer Science Using Python: A Computational Problem-Solving Focus", and its author is a very experienced educator, Charles Dierbach.

This is not your average Python book -- it is a college text intended for first-semester CS courses that happens to use Python. As such, in assumes absolutely no previous programming experience, and it looks like any previous computer experience is optional. Not only that, but the book starts with a step-by-step introduction to the art of computational problem solving. This is an idea that goes well beyond hacking together a website!

The book is incredibly thorough: there are exercises throughout the text (not just at the end of each chapter), and it includes a plethora of examples, screenshots, tables, charts, diagrams, and photos. (Yes, my picture is in there -- so are Alan Turing, JFK, and K&R. :-)

The author is not afraid of taking a stance; for example, he omits the 'break' and 'continue' statement because they do not fit within the paradigm of structured programming. This actually fits with the general goal of the book, which is to give an overview of many areas of computer science without getting too deep into the minutiae of any topic. I love the final chapter, which is an overview of the history of computing, starting with Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace.

At the same time, the book gives plenty of useful practical information, such as instructions for using IDLE and an extensive explanation of turtle graphics, culminating in a horse race simulation. (The author's Baltimore roots seem to show through here. :-)

All in all, I think this book is a great text for anyone teaching CS1 or interested in familiarizing themselves with computer science through serious self-study.

Letter to a young programmer

Dear (insert name here),

I heard you enjoy a certain programming language named Python. Programming is a wonderful activity. I am a little jealous that you have access to computers at your age; when I grew up I didn't even know what a computer was! I was an electronics hobbyist though, and my big dream was to build my own electronic calculator from discrete components. I never did do that, but I did build several digital clocks, and it was amazing to build something that complex and see it work. I hope you dream big too -- programmers can make computers (and robots!) do amazing things, and this is a great time to become a programmer. Just imagine how much faster computers will be in five or ten years, and what you will be able to do with your skills then!

--Guido van Rossum (inventor of Python)