Computer Science: An Overview

This book truly lives up to its title, providing an introduction to the entire computer science discipline. This broad coverage, combined with clear explanations, has made it the leading textbook for the beadth-first/CS0 course. The text is unique in that it avoids presenting topics from the perspective of any particular programming language. Moreover, the text communicates the dynamics of computer science by presenting topics in a historical perspective in which past developments, the current state of the art, and directions of research are discussed. The result is a balanced, realistic picture of computer science, including such topics as programming languages, operating systems, algorithms, software engineering, networking, database design, artificial intelligence, and machine architecture. This seventh edition has been thoroughly updated to discuss important trends in such areas as networking and the Internet, software engineering, and artificial intelligence. Topics added include open-source development, associative memory, XML, and C#. Thought-provoking discussions of ethical and legal issues revolving around computing are integrated into each chapter rather than being presented as separate, isolated topics.