Computer Science Illuminated

I only ordered this book because I needed it for class and I am in college so it was imperative that I have it in order to understand what the professor was speaking about. I also bought this book because I fascinated in Computer Science and I would like to pursue a career in this field. Everything from packaging to shipping speed exceeded expectations. Thank You Seller!!!!! I hope we can do business in the future!!!

Received book in excellent condition. The price was fair. It was cheaper than my college bookstore, but more expensive than purchasing it used at unknown websites. I prefered paying the extra amount for the piece of mind.

I am currently using this text for the fifth time in my survey course for non-majors. It does exactly what I want it to do: it gives the students a feel for each of the topics with just enough depth to be rigorous for non-majors without being overwhelming. It's not perfect for my tastes; I do less than a full chapter, for example, when talking about languages (only covering the introductions to Chapters 7 and 8), whereas I do a full week on an expanded coverage of databases (Chapter 12). But I have a hard time imagining a text with a better fit, and I have used this since its first edition.

After using Computer Science Illuminated for my introductory computer science course, I found the book to be mostly helpful yet confusing at times. The begining of each chapter clearly states the lessons and objectives to be learned. The language is easy to understand for the most part, yet some of the paragraphs do have lengthy and confusing explanations. Often, a chapter will refer to information covered in a previous chapter, so it is adviseable to read the chapters in order. The book does make an attempt to explain the intricate and confusing details of computer science using simple metaphors (ie. elephants and goldfish to explain orders of magnitude), yet there were instances where such metaphors could be just as confusing. The book does include some helpful and colorful diagrams to aid in the student's understanding of the material. Overall, I found that the book was not the clearest explanation of computer science, but being that the subject is one that is mostly complicated and difficult to grasp, the book was helpful in providing a brief overview for an introductory student.

Computer Science Illuminated FROM THE PUBLISHER: Computer Science Illuminated is designed to present a breadth first coverage of the field of Computer Science. Readers are exposed to all areas of computer science, starting at the information layer then working outward through the hardware layer, programming layer, operating systems layer, application layer, communication layer, and finally ending with a discussion of the limitations of computing. This excellently crafted book draws upon the teaching experience of two of today's most respected Computer Science Educators: Nell Dale and John Lewis. Students who will continue studying computer science acquire a solid foundation from Computer Science Illuminated , and students for whom this is their only computer science course leave with a meaningful understanding of how computing systems work.