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This textbook provides an engaging and motivational introduction to traditional topics in discrete mathematics, in a manner specifically designed to appeal to computer science students. The text empowers students to think critically, to be effective problem solvers, to integrate theory and practice, and to recognize the importance of abstraction.
Clearly structured and interactive in nature, the book presents detailed walkthroughs of several algorithms, stimulating a conversation with the reader through informal commentary and provocative questions. Features: no university-level background in mathematics required; ideally structured for classroom-use and self-study, with modular chapters following ACM curriculum recommendations; describes mathematical processes in an algorithmic manner; contains examples and exercises throughout the text, and highlights the most important concepts in each section; selects examples that demonstrate a practical use for the concept in question.
List of contents
Algorithms, Numbers and Machines.- Sets, Sequences and Counting.- Boolean Expressions, Logic and Proof.- Searching and Sorting.- Graphs and Trees.- Relations: Especially on (Integer) Sequences.- Sequences and Series.- Generating Sequences and Subsets.- Discrete Probability and Average Case Complexity.- Turing Machines.
About the author
Dr. Tom Jenkyns is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Computer Science at Brock University, Canada.
Dr. Ben Stephenson is an Instructor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary, Canada.
Summary
This book offers an engaging introduction to traditional topics in discrete mathematics, in a manner designed to appeal to computer science students. Presents detailed walkthroughs of several algorithms, along with exercises and practical examples throughout.
Report
From the reviews:
"This book is dedicated to presenting the basic notions of discrete mathematics for undergraduate students in computer science. With a good balance between theory and practice - including the algorithmic point of view - this book will prove very helpful. ... Many examples and exercises make the book both enjoyable and useful." (Jean-Paul Allouche, zbMATH, Vol. 1278, 2014)
"Jenkyns (Brock Univ., Canada) and Stephenson (Univ. of Calgary, Canada) have written an introductory textbook on discrete mathematics for computer science majors. The volume's ten chapters cover the standard topics taught in such courses at the freshman or sophomore level ... . In comparison with other introductory discrete mathematics textbooks, this work has a very strong emphasis on algorithms, proofs of algorithmic correctness, and the analysis of worst-case and average-case complexity. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates." (B. Borchers, Choice, Vol. 50 (9), May, 2013)
"This book is specifically aimed at CS students. The authors include the same discrete math topics that other books have, but, in contrast to most existing books, they introduce each topic with a clear (and entertaining) CS motivation. ... Each section is well written, with a highlighted subsection on the most important ideas and plenty of exercises. I highly recommend this book to everyone." (V. Kreinovich, Computing Reviews, December, 2012)
