Although it is targeted at computer science students learning to program, this textbook is interdisciplinary in the sense that it also anticipates students of other disciplines (especially science) using it in courses “that integrate programming with another field.”

It has many strengths: it is easily accessible (especially in the first half or three quarters), it introduces many ideas that are important in modern approaches to programming (including numerous bits of advice about style), and the examples are drawn from a wide variety of areas. It contains 19 sections in four chapters. Each chapter ends with a case study, and these are sufficiently interesting to keep students engaged. Each section ends with a Q&A component, a set of exercises, and a set of “creative exercises” (more challenging problems). There is a great deal of material from which instructors can choose.

For students new to programming, it is appropriate to go relatively slowly in the beginning and to accelerate the introduction of ideas as such a course unfolds, and this book certainly does that. I have not used the book in a class, but it strikes me that the pace is perhaps a bit slower than is necessary at the beginning and increases considerably by the end of the book. It is a long book (771 pages with the back matter), so there is quite a bit to read as new ideas are introduced at some stages.

That said, I would find it a good tool in teaching. It is easy to see that the book could be used for both of the audiences identified for it.

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