Spraul V.A. Think Like a Programmer: An Introduction to Creative Problem Solving

No Starch Press, 2012. — 233 p. — ISBN: 1593274246, 9781593274245Instead of learning by trial and error, you can learn problem solving in a systematic way. That’s what this book is all about. You can learn techniques to organize your thoughts, procedures to discover solutions, and strategies to apply to certain classes of problems. By studying these approaches, you can unlock your creativity. Make no mistake: Programming, and especially problem solving, is a creative activity. Creativity is mysterious, and no one can say exactly how the creative mind functions. Yet, if we can learn music composition, take advice on creative writing, or be shown how to paint, then we can learn to creatively solve programming problems, too.This book isn’t going to tell you precisely what to do; it’s going to help you develop your latent problem-solving abilities so that you will know what you should do. This book is about helping you become the programmer you are meant to be.The real challenge of programming isn't learning a language's syntax—it's learning to creatively solve problems so you can build something great. In this one-of-a-kind text, author V. Anton Spraul breaks down the ways that programmers solve problems and teaches you what other introductory books often ignore: how to Think Like a Programmer. Each chapter tackles a single programming concept, like classes, pointers, and recursion, and open-ended exercises throughout challenge you to apply your knowledge. You'll also learn how to:Split problems into discrete components to make them easier to solve
Make the most of code reuse with functions, classes, and libraries
Pick the perfect data structure for a particular job
Master more advanced programming tools like recursion and dynamic memory
Organize your thoughts and develop strategies to tackle particular types of problemsAlthough the book's examples are written in C++, the creative problem-solving concepts they illustrate go beyond any particular language; in fact, they often reach outside the realm of computer science. As the most skilful programmers know, writing great code is a creative art—and the first step in creating your masterpiece is learning to Think Like a Programmer.Introduction i
Strategies for Problem Solving
Pure Puzzles
Solving Problems with Arrays
Solving Problems with Pointers and Dynamic Memory
Solving Problems with Classes
Solving Problems with Recursion
Solving Problems with Code Reuse
Thinking Like a Programmer