Programming for the Puzzled

Programming for the Puzzled PDF Author: Srini Devadas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262343193
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Learning programming with one of “the coolest applications around”: algorithmic puzzles ranging from scheduling selfie time to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. This book builds a bridge between the recreational world of algorithmic puzzles (puzzles that can be solved by algorithms) and the pragmatic world of computer programming, teaching readers to program while solving puzzles. Few introductory students want to program for programming's sake. Puzzles are real-world applications that are attention grabbing, intriguing, and easy to describe. Each lesson starts with the description of a puzzle. After a failed attempt or two at solving the puzzle, the reader arrives at an Aha! moment—a search strategy, data structure, or mathematical fact—and the solution presents itself. The solution to the puzzle becomes the specification of the code to be written. Readers will thus know what the code is supposed to do before seeing the code itself. This represents a pedagogical philosophy that decouples understanding the functionality of the code from understanding programming language syntax and semantics. Python syntax and semantics required to understand the code are explained as needed for each puzzle. Readers need only the rudimentary grasp of programming concepts that can be obtained from introductory or AP computer science classes in high school. The book includes more than twenty puzzles and more than seventy programming exercises that vary in difficulty. Many of the puzzles are well known and have appeared in publications and on websites in many variations. They range from scheduling selfie time with celebrities to solving Sudoku problems in seconds to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. The code for selected puzzle solutions is downloadable from the book's website; the code for all puzzle solutions is available to instructors.

Programming for the Puzzled

Programming for the Puzzled PDF Author: Srini Devadas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262343193
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
Learning programming with one of “the coolest applications around”: algorithmic puzzles ranging from scheduling selfie time to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. This book builds a bridge between the recreational world of algorithmic puzzles (puzzles that can be solved by algorithms) and the pragmatic world of computer programming, teaching readers to program while solving puzzles. Few introductory students want to program for programming's sake. Puzzles are real-world applications that are attention grabbing, intriguing, and easy to describe. Each lesson starts with the description of a puzzle. After a failed attempt or two at solving the puzzle, the reader arrives at an Aha! moment—a search strategy, data structure, or mathematical fact—and the solution presents itself. The solution to the puzzle becomes the specification of the code to be written. Readers will thus know what the code is supposed to do before seeing the code itself. This represents a pedagogical philosophy that decouples understanding the functionality of the code from understanding programming language syntax and semantics. Python syntax and semantics required to understand the code are explained as needed for each puzzle. Readers need only the rudimentary grasp of programming concepts that can be obtained from introductory or AP computer science classes in high school. The book includes more than twenty puzzles and more than seventy programming exercises that vary in difficulty. Many of the puzzles are well known and have appeared in publications and on websites in many variations. They range from scheduling selfie time with celebrities to solving Sudoku problems in seconds to verifying the six degrees of separation hypothesis. The code for selected puzzle solutions is downloadable from the book's website; the code for all puzzle solutions is available to instructors.

Beast Academy Puzzles 2

Beast Academy Puzzles 2 PDF Author: Chris Page
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781934124499
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Beast Academy Puzzles 2 contains over 400 puzzles in 12 different styles. Every puzzle style is part of the broader Beast Academy level 2 math curriculum. Whether used on their own or as part of the complete Beast Academy curriculum, these puzzles will delight and entertain puzzle solvers of all ages.The puzzles in this book are accessible to anyone with a solid understanding of numbers and good mental addition and subtraction skills as taught in the Beast Academy level 2 series. The difficulty ranges from straightforward puzzles meant to give a feel for how each puzzle works to diabolical stumpers written by world puzzle champion Palmer Mebane.

Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problem Solving

Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problem Solving PDF Author: Marilyn A. Reba
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1482297930
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 605

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Book Description
A Classroom-Tested, Alternative Approach to Teaching Math for Liberal Arts Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problem Solving: An Introduction to Mathematical Thinking uses puzzles and paradoxes to introduce basic principles of mathematical thought. The text is designed for students in liberal arts mathematics courses. Decision-making situations that progress

Sit and Solve Logic Puzzles

Sit and Solve Logic Puzzles PDF Author: Mark Zegarelli
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN: 9781402701603
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
An incredibly successful, entertaining series!

Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles

Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles PDF Author: Puzzle Baron
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1615640320
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Get your brain working with 200 grid-based logic puzzles from the Puzzle Baron! Filled with complex and fun brain teasers that range in difficulty, this book will put your mind into overdrive with hours of brain-challenging fun. Using the given backstory and list of clues, readers use pure logic to deduce the correct answer for each fiendishly tricky puzzle in Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles. Bring out your competitive side and check your stats against the average completion time, the record completion time, and the percentage of people who finish the puzzle. Check your work against the answer key and see how logical you really are! Perfect for adults or children, Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles is the ultimate challenge for those who love piecing clues and facts together. The brain is a wonderful thing to tease!

Beast Academy Puzzles 3

Beast Academy Puzzles 3 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781934124581
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Math Education

Algorithmic Puzzles

Algorithmic Puzzles PDF Author: Anany Levitin
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199740445
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Algorithmic puzzles are puzzles involving well-defined procedures for solving problems. This book will provide an enjoyable and accessible introduction to algorithmic puzzles that will develop the reader's algorithmic thinking. The first part of this book is a tutorial on algorithm design strategies and analysis techniques. Algorithm design strategies — exhaustive search, backtracking, divide-and-conquer and a few others — are general approaches to designing step-by-step instructions for solving problems. Analysis techniques are methods for investigating such procedures to answer questions about the ultimate result of the procedure or how many steps are executed before the procedure stops. The discussion is an elementary level, with puzzle examples, and requires neither programming nor mathematics beyond a secondary school level. Thus, the tutorial provides a gentle and entertaining introduction to main ideas in high-level algorithmic problem solving. The second and main part of the book contains 150 puzzles, from centuries-old classics to newcomers often asked during job interviews at computing, engineering, and financial companies. The puzzles are divided into three groups by their difficulty levels. The first fifty puzzles in the Easier Puzzles section require only middle school mathematics. The sixty puzzle of average difficulty and forty harder puzzles require just high school mathematics plus a few topics such as binary numbers and simple recurrences, which are reviewed in the tutorial. All the puzzles are provided with hints, detailed solutions, and brief comments. The comments deal with the puzzle origins and design or analysis techniques used in the solution. The book should be of interest to puzzle lovers, students and teachers of algorithm courses, and persons expecting to be given puzzles during job interviews.

Sudoku Variants

Sudoku Variants PDF Author: Conceptis Puzzles
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN: 9781402741111
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
Everyone knows sudoku is enjoyable--but these addictive puzzles come in endless variations too! They range from simple to very difficult, and can take almost no time to finish...or require many hours. This entertaining collection showcases a wide range of possibilities, offering solvers who have become accustomed to the standard rules and grids an exciting new challenge. Select from Mega Sudokus that provide a real workout; Diagonals or Odd and Even versions with extra constraints; Sum Sudokus that merge with kakuro; and Multisudoku with overlapping puzzles. There's something for every level--12 x 12 puzzles, ones with irregularly shaped areas, even Mini Sudoku--and lots of fun for everyone.

Brain Games Sherlock Holmes Puzzles

Brain Games Sherlock Holmes Puzzles PDF Author: Publications International
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781640300934
Category : Anagrams
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Solve it like Sherlock: Generations of readers have made Sherlock Holmes the world's most famous fictional detective. Now, you have a chance to test your mettle and see how you measure up as a sleuth. These puzzles will test your memory, observational skills, and deductive skills -- and your knowledge of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories! You'll decipher cryptograms, anagrams, and secret codes, test your memory of crime scenes, untangle mystery-themed logic puzzles, and more. So put on your thinking cap and get ready to investigate! -- Cover, page [4]

The GCHQ Puzzle Book

The GCHQ Puzzle Book PDF Author: GCHQ
Publisher: Michael Joseph
ISBN: 9780718185541
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
** WINNER OF 'STOCKING FILLER OF THE YEAR AWARD' GUARDIAN ** Pit your wits against the people who cracked Enigma in the official puzzle book from Britain's secretive intelligence organisation, GCHQ. 'A fiendish work, as frustrating, divisive and annoying as it is deeply fulfilling: the true spirit of Christmas' Guardian 'Surely the trickiest puzzle book in years. Crack these fiendish problems and Trivial Pursuit should be a doddle' Daily Telegraph If 3=T, 4=S, 5=P, 6=H, 7=H ...what is 8? What is the next letter in the sequence: M, V, E, M, J, S, U, ? Which of the following words is the odd one out: CHAT, COMMENT, ELF, MANGER, PAIN, POUR? GCHQ is a top-secret intelligence and security agency which recruits some of the very brightest minds. Over the years, their codebreakers have helped keep our country safe, from the Bletchley Park breakthroughs of WWII to the modern-day threat of cyberattack. So it comes as no surprise that, even in their time off, the staff at GCHQ love a good puzzle. Whether they're recruiting new staff or challenging each other to the toughest Christmas quizzes and treasure hunts imaginable, puzzles are at the heart of what GCHQ does. Now they're opening up their archives of decades' worth of codes, puzzles and challenges for everyone to try. In this book you will find: - Tips on how to get into the mindset of a codebreaker - Puzzles ranging in difficulty from easy to brain-bending - A competition section where we search for Britain's smartest puzzler Good luck! 'Ideal for the crossword enthusiast' Daily Telegraph