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Fundamentals of computing I
Tucker A., Bradley W., Cupper R., Garnick D., McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1992. Type: Book (9780070654495)
Date Reviewed: Feb 1 1993

This first volume in a four-volume series of textbooks intended for use in undergraduate computer science courses covers the material required for the one-semester introductory course and generally follows the recommendations in “Computing Curricula 1991” [1]. It contains nine chapters, which cover computing as a human enterprise, sets and functions, logic, algorithms, the social context of computing, and computing as a discipline. Problems are provided in each chapter. A laboratory manual and some software, including a simulated computer, are available to accompany the text, but they were not included with the review copy.

Overall, the book is well written and easy to read, and the authors have tested it in the classroom. The material is accurate and the book contains only a few minor typographical errors. A few small changes would greatly improve the usefulness of the book, however. An introductory textbook that introduces many new terms should have a glossary, which this book does not. A detailed index can largely compensate for the lack of a glossary, but the index in this book is not very detailed, and one cannot find the definitions of some terms by using the index. Another problem I encountered was that occasionally something would be used with no explanation or definition (for example, a Pascal assignment statement). Based on material in the text, it appears that these topics are probably covered in the laboratory manual, but this practice made it difficult to evaluate the completeness of the text.

This book may appeal to instructors who want to follow a course outline that is closer to the conventional introductory computer science course than to a computer studies course. The authors favor a breadth-first approach and have provided material on legal and ethical issues and on computing as a discipline. This extra material may appeal to instructors who prefer a slightly broader approach in the introductory course.

Reviewer:  Kent A. Campbell Review #: CR116367
1) Tucker, A. B. (Ed.) Computing Curricula 1991. Commun. ACM 34, 6 (June 1991), 68–84.
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