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If you're curious about how things work, this fun and intriguing guide will help you find real answers to everyday problems. By using fundamental math and doing simple programming with the Ruby and R languages, you'll learn how to model a problem and work toward a solution.
All you need is a basic understanding of programming. After a quick introduction to Ruby and R, you'll explore a wide range of questions by learning how to assemble, process, simulate, and analyze the available data. You'll learn to see everyday things in a different perspective through simple programs and common sense logic. Once you finish this book, you can begin your own journey of exploration and discovery.
Here are some of the questions you'll explore: Determine how many restroom stalls can accommodate an office with 70 employees Mine your email to understand your particular emailing habits Use simple audio and video recording devices to calculate your heart rate Create an artificial society - and analyze its behavioral patterns to learn how specific factors affect our real society
List of contents
Preface
Chapter 1: The Hat and the Whip
Chapter 2: Into the Matrix
Chapter 3: Offices and Restrooms
Chapter 4: How to Be an Armchair Economist
Chapter 5: Discover Yourself Through Email
Chapter 6: In a Heartbeat
Chapter 7: Schooling Fish and Flocking Birds
Chapter 8: Money, Sex, and Evolution
Colophon
About the author
Sau Sheong Chang has been in software development, mostly web applications and recently cloud- and data-related systems, for almost 17 years and is still a keen and enthusiastic programmer. He has been active in programming with Ruby for the past 6 years and recently started with R for the past year. He is active in the local developer communities, especially in the Singapore Ruby Brigade. In April 2011 he co-organized the first and largest Ruby conferences in Southeast Asia, the RedDotRubyConf.
Summary
Programming is not just for geeks. If you're curious about how things work, and want to get programmatic solutions to everyday problems, this intriguing book will help you find what you're looking for. By using some fundamental math and simple Ruby and R constructs, you'll learn how to model the problem and work toward a solution.
