Problem Solving with Python - Using Computational Thinking in Everyday Life

An innovative new way to teach computational thinking and problem solving that makes programming accessible to anyone. Problem solving with computation has become a basic literacy required of modern life, but the traditional way we teach students to code doesn’t work for everyone. This innovative textbook provides a highly engaging alternative approach. Each chapter begins with an ambiguous problem description drawn from everyday life that resolves with a piece of working code. Gradually progressing in difficulty, the book’s three-act structure charts a clear developmental path from novice to skilled programmer. Michael Smith first presents the basics of programming through repeated application of a worklist algorithm, allowing the reader to become comfortable in problem decomposition and fundamentals before attempting more complicated algorithms and approaches. He then shows how to solve real-world problems using the power of abstraction, algorithms, and the right data structures. Finally, the exercises in the book’s last act fully transition the reader from programmer to problem solver. Based on the author''s popular class at Harvard, this accessible textbook builds conceptual understanding through practical skills development to enable anyone to master the what and how of computational thinking. ...

Product details

• Authors: Victoria Albright, Michael D Smith, Michael D. Smith
• Assisted by: Victoria Albright (Illustration)
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 20.01.2026
• EAN: 9780262552844
• ISBN: 978-0-262-55284-4
• No. of pages: 440
• Subjects: COMPUTERS / Computer Science, COMPUTERS / Programming / Algorithms, computer science, algorithms and data structures, Algorithms & data structures, Programming & scripting languages: general, Programming and scripting languages: general, COMPUTERS / Languages / Python