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Prof. Dr. J. Stanley Warford

Computing Fundamentals

The Theory and Practice of Software Design with BlackBox Component Builder

larger

631 pages, 185 mm x 235 mm, paperback, 24 chapters, 229 illustrations, 18 tables, 170 numbered exercises, 403 exercises and problems
Editor: Karlheinz Hug
Publisher: Verlag Vieweg, Wiesbaden, Germany, December 2002
Distributor in the USA: Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. ISBN: 3-528-05828-5.
Price: 34,90 € - 57,70 sfr - 34,95 US-$ - out of stock!

The book, slides and software can be downloaded from
www.cslab.pepperdine.edu/warford/ComputingFundamentals.

Glossary in English and German Language

Short Description

The book is designed for an introductory two-semester course to give majors in computer science a solid foundation for further study and for nonmajors who will need to use computers effectively in their chosen fields. It is the first English book on Component Pascal and BlackBox Component Builder.

The book introduces the reader to computer programming, i.e. algorithms and data structures. It covers many new programming concepts that have emerged in recent years including object-oriented programming and design patterns. The book emphasizes the practical aspects of software construction without neglecting their solid theoretical foundation. To explain the principles, concepts and methods, the component-oriented programming language Component Pascal is used, supported by the development environment BlackBox Component Builder.

The book has been class tested and refined for many years. It is designed to be easy to teach and to learn from. Target groups are teachers and students of Computer Science at the university and junior college level.

Topics

  • Theory: Languages and Grammars, Complexity Analysis, Guarded Command Language
  • Programming Basics: Flow of Control, Functions, Procedures, Recursion
  • Graphical User Interfaces: Dialog Boxes, Window Input/Output
  • Algorithms: Searching, Sorting, Random Numbers
  • Data Structures: Arrays, Linked Lists, Stacks, Queues, Binary Trees
  • Object Orientation: Class Composition, Inheritance, Polymorphism
  • Design Patterns: Factory, Iterator, MVC, State
  • Design Topics: Abstraction, Frameworks, UML Diagrams, Interfaces

Author

Prof. Dr. J. Stanley Warford has industrial experience as an aerospace engineer, has taught for more than twenty-five years at the university level, and has written several computer science books. He is currently Professor of Computer Science at Pepperdine University, where he received the Luckman Award for outstanding teaching.

Comments by Readers

... In this very readable and instructive textbook, Stan Warford has done the unusual—and risky—by taking the programming language Component Pascal that is far from mainstream, although it does have roots that are among the strongest in the field. ... Stan succeeds in providing a highly original introduction to programming. One that alternates between the high-level aspects of immediate user impact, such as dialogs and views, and the low-level concepts of core programming, such as loops and recursion. As a result, students are always able to anchor what they learn in application scenarios that make immediate sense. The ability to create functional programs quickly, while not deviating to adopt an arsenal of 'dirty tricks', will help keep students motivated. The clean underlying approach and overall structure will at the same time lead to a deep understanding of principles and rigor.

Clemens Szyperski, author of the book
Component Software: Beyond Object-Oriented Programming,
in his foreword

Stan Warford ... sticks to all the classical topics—like structured algorithms, searching and sorting, stacks, lists, and trees—which should be part of any serious course in computing. However, he does not do this job in an old-fashioned way but with a unique approach introducing all the modern things we did not have ten years ago (at least not in introductory books): GUIs, components, frameworks, UML, design by contract, design patterns. He gets all this together with solid theoretical basics like grammars, EBNF, verification, GCL, complexity. He explains every notion and every line of his example programs thorougly. The text—simple, clear sentences—is accompanied by numerous figures drawn carefully, so that every student will easily understand even complicated facts. These are only a few reasons why I like Stan's book. ...

Karlheinz Hug in his editor's note

Other Books by Stan Warford

Computer Systems
Computer Science Volume 1
Computer Science Volume 2
Computer Science, paperback December 91
Computer Science, paperback January 91

BlackBox Component Builder

is available from the producer of BlackBox,
Oberon microsystems Inc.:
oberon.ch/blackbox.html

Bookshops

Springer-Verlag, New York, USA: springer.com

Amazon USA: amazon.com

Amazon Germany: amazon.de

These firms support the publication
of Computing Fundamentals
with advertisements:

Oberon microsystems Inc.,
the producer of BlackBox:
oberon.ch

O³ Software GmbH & Co KG,
an application software developer
that uses BlackBox:
o3-software.de