How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

Learning with Python

ii

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

Learning with Python

Allen Downey

Jeffrey Elkner

Chris Meyers

Green Tea Press

Wellesley, Massachusetts

Copyright c 2002 Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, and Chris Meyers.

Edited by Shannon Turlington and Lisa Cutler. Cover design by Rebecca Gimenez.

Printing history:

April 2002: First edition.

Green Tea Press

1 Grove St.

P.O. Box 812901

Wellesley, MA 02482

Permission is granted to copy, distribute, and/or modify this document under the

terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being ¡°Foreword,¡±

¡°Preface,¡± and ¡°Contributor List,¡± with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no BackCover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the appendix entitled ¡°GNU Free

Documentation License.¡±

The GNU Free Documentation License is available from or by writing to

the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 021111307, USA.

The original form of this book is LATEX source code. Compiling this LATEX source has

the effect of generating a device-independent representation of a textbook, which can

be converted to other formats and printed.

The LATEX source for this book is available from

Publisher¡¯s Cataloging-in-Publication (provided by Quality Books, Inc.)

Downey, Allen

How to think like a computer scientist : learning

with Python / Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris

Meyers. ¨C 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-9716775-0-6

LCCN 2002100618

1. Python (Computer program language) I. Elkner,

Jeffrey. II. Meyers, Chris. III. Title

QA76.73.P98D69 2002

005.13¡¯3

QBI02-200031

Foreword

By David Beazley

As an educator, researcher, and book author, I am delighted to see the completion of this book. Python is a fun and extremely easy-to-use programming

language that has steadily gained in popularity over the last few years. Developed over ten years ago by Guido van Rossum, Python¡¯s simple syntax and

overall feel is largely derived from ABC, a teaching language that was developed

in the 1980¡¯s. However, Python was also created to solve real problems and it

borrows a wide variety of features from programming languages such as C++,

Java, Modula-3, and Scheme. Because of this, one of Python¡¯s most remarkable features is its broad appeal to professional software developers, scientists,

researchers, artists, and educators.

Despite Python¡¯s appeal to many different communities, you may still wonder

¡°why Python?¡± or ¡°why teach programming with Python?¡± Answering these

questions is no simple task¡ªespecially when popular opinion is on the side of

more masochistic alternatives such as C++ and Java. However, I think the

most direct answer is that programming in Python is simply a lot of fun and

more productive.

When I teach computer science courses, I want to cover important concepts

in addition to making the material interesting and engaging to students. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for introductory programming courses to focus

far too much attention on mathematical abstraction and for students to become frustrated with annoying problems related to low-level details of syntax,

compilation, and the enforcement of seemingly arcane rules. Although such

abstraction and formalism is important to professional software engineers and

students who plan to continue their study of computer science, taking such an

approach in an introductory course mostly succeeds in making computer science boring. When I teach a course, I don¡¯t want to have a room of uninspired

students. I would much rather see them trying to solve interesting problems by

exploring different ideas, taking unconventional approaches, breaking the rules,

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