Explorations in computing: an introduction to computers science / Conery, John S.

1 Introduction
1.1 Computation
1.2 The Limits of Computation
1.3 Algorithms
1.4 A Laboratory for Computational Experiments
2 The Ruby Workbench
Introducing Ruby and the RubyLabs environment for computational experiments
2.1 Interactive Ruby
2.2 Numbers
2.3 Variables
2.4 Methods
2.5 RubyLabs
2.6 Summary
3 The Sieve of Eratosthenes
An algorithm for finding prime numbers
3.1 The Sieve Algorithm
3.2 The mod Operator
3.3 Containers
3.4 Iterators .
3.5 Boolean Values and the delete-if Method
3.6 Exploring the Algorithm
3.7 The sieve Method
3.8 A Better Sieve
3.9 Experiments with the Sieve
3.10 Summary
4 A Journey of a Thousand Miies
Iteration as a strategy for solving computational problem
4.1 Searching and Sorting
4.2 The Linear Search Algorithm
4.3 The Insertion Sort Algorithm
4.4 Scalability
4.5 ¨ Best Case, Worst case
4.6 Summary
5 Divide and Conquer
A new strategy: breaking lar^e problems into smaller subproblems
5.1 Binary Search
5.2 Binary Search Experiments
5.3 Merge Sort
5.4 Merge Sort Experiments
5.5 ¨ Recursive Methods
5.6 Summary
6 When Words Coiiide
Organizing data for more efficient problem solving
6.1 Word Lists
6.2 Hash Tables
6.3 The mod Function Again
6.4 Collisions
6.5 Hash Table Experiments
6.6 Summary
7 Bit by Bit
Binary codes and algorithms for text compression and error detection
7.1 Binary Codes
7.2 Codes for Characters
7.3 Parity Bits
7.4 Huffman Trees
7.5 Huffman Codes
7.6 Summary
8 The War of the Words
An introduction to computer architecture and assembly language programming
8.1 Hello, MARS
8.2 The Temperature on MARS
8.3 Corewar
8.4 Self-Referential Code
8.5 ¨ Clones
8.6 Summary
9 Now for Something Compieteiy Different
An algorithm for generating random numbers
9.1 Pseudorandom Numbers
9.2 Numbers on Demand .
9.3 Games with Random Numbers
9.4 Random Shuffles
9.5 Tests of Randomness
9.6 Summary
10 Ask Dr. Ruby
A program that understands English (or does it?)
10.1 Overview of ELIZA
10.2 Sentence Patterns .
10.3 Building Responses from Parts of Sentences
10.4 Substitutions
10.5 An Algorithm for Having a Conversation
10.6 ¨ Writing Scripts for ELIZA
10.7 ELIZA and the Hiring Test
10.8 Summary
11 The Music of the Spheres
Computer simulation and the N-body problem
11.1 Running Around in Circles
11.2 The Force of Gravity
11.3 Force Vectors
11.4 N-Body Simulation of the Solar System
11.5 Summary
12 The Traveling Salesman
A genetic algorithm for a computationally demanding problem
12.1 Maps and Tours
12.2 Exhaustive Search
12.3 Random Search
12.4 Point Mutations
12.5 The Genetic Algorithm
12.6 Crossovers
12.7 Summary