Foundations of Computer Science

FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: FROM DATA MANIPULATION TO THEORY OF COMPUTATION successfully addresses the need to provide students with an overview of the many disciplines within computer science. Although many incoming freshman students are familiar with computers, they are often unaware of the broad field of computer science beyond the task of programming. Behrouz Forouzan has developed a five-part approach to introduce students to different aspects of the discipline without overwhelming them with technical detail. These topics include computer and data, computer hardware, computer software, data organization, and advanced topics. Throughout the book, Forouzan emphasizes the concept rather than the mathematical model. Difficult topics are supplemented with visual aids as needed to help students grasp difficult concepts. As a result, students are able to have a broad perspective of the field, which makes them better prepared for future courses.

Benefits:

• Discusses the basic concepts of the Von Neuman model in ch. 1 as the model of all computing systems. The author elaborates on this material in more detail in ch. 5 when discussing computer organization.
• The text Web site inlcudes transparencies and solutions.
• Data representation is covered in extensive detail early in the book. This includes the representation of text, images, audio, video, and numbers. The operation of bits is covered in ch. 4.
• Topics relating to networking and operating systems are covered as stand alone chapters to reflect current trends in computing.
• Numerous tools are provided to help students grasp the importance of developing a sound algorithm when solving a problem. Tools include flowcharts, pseudocode, and structured charts.
• A chapter devoted to the discussion of programming languages and their characteristics. This section provides an overview of some basic constructs of the C language.
• The topic of software engineering, covered in ch. 10, includes the phases of the software lifecycle and different methodologies for developing software.
• Six appendices provide a quick reference on topics discussed in the book. Material includes flowcharts, pseudocode, and structure charts.
• The extensive use of figures assists students in understanding the different levels of abstraction in data organization found in Part IV.
• Chapter 14 on databases introduces students to the relational database model and SQL.