30-Second Coding: The 50 essential principles that instruct technology, each explained in half a minute

Length: 160 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: Ivy Press
Publication Date: 2021-11-23
ISBN-10: 0711263647
ISBN-13: 9780711263642
Sales Rank: #262352 (See Top 100 Books)

The successful 30-Second series tackles coding, the science of programming the technology which operates in almost every aspect of modern life.

Computer code operates behind nearly everything we do – from small calculations in the home to complex executions that drive the global economy. It influences who we see, follow, and like online and describes the websites we visit, the connections between them, the sounds heard on Spotify and videos watched on YouTube.

There is very little we do which hasn’t, in some way, been codified, analysed, and computed electronically, yet few of us possess a basic understanding of that ultimate language barrier. That’s a shame, because coding is the key to so much. Simple programming concepts can explain plenty about the modern world and the changes to come in the age of AI.

With insightful text edited by computer scientist and technology podcaster Mark Steadman and contributions from other industry experts, learn the origins of computer code, from the first computers developed in during the Industrial Revolution, through the codebreaking machines used during World War II to the hyperfast computers of the present day.

Have all the key terms of this fascinating science explained in simple, bitesize chunks of information-rich text, as well as meeting the key figures who have helped make computer science what it is today.

From algorithms and scripts to block-chain, bits and bots, turn to 30-Second Coding to reveal the secrets behind this fascinating subject.

Cover
Title
Contents
Introduction
First Computers
    Glossary
    The Industrial Revolution
    The Difference Engine
    Human Computers
    Task-Specific Computers
    Mechanical Computers
    Codebreakers
    Instruction Sets & Stored Programs
    The Fetch-Execute Cycle
    The Transistor Revolution
    The Personal Computer Age
    Profile: Ada Lovelace
Instructing Computers
    Glossary
    Assembly Language
    Fortran: The First High-Level Language
    Procedural Languages
    Compiled Code
    Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
    Code Libraries
    Running Code in the Cloud
    Profile: Grace Hopper
Code Concepts
    Glossary
    Binary & Bits
    Data Types
    Data Structures: Arrays
    Variables
    If-Then-Else: Conditional Statements
    Loops & Iterations
    Functions
    Making Code Portable
    Buffering & Caches
    Eventual Consistency
    Profile: Linus Torvalds
    Profile: Steve Wozniak
What Coders Do
    Glossary
    User Interface & User Experience
    Database Operation: CRUD
    Web Development
    Scripting
    Engineering
    Agile Development & the Scrum
    Hacking
    Debugging
    Scaling & Pseudocode
    Profile: Tim Berners-Lee
Solving Problems with Code
    Glossary
    Algorithms
    The FizzBuzz Test
    Sorting & Big O Notation
    The Two Generals Problem
    Compression & the Huffman Tree
    Search Engine Optimization
    Face Detection
    Unicode
    End-to-End Encryption
    Pattern Matching Languages
    Profile: Larry Page
Modern Concerns & Concepts
    Glossary
    AI: Artificial Intelligence
    Black Box
    Computers Cannot Determine Truth
    What is Blockchain?
    Detecting Bots
    Integrated Development Environment
    Profile: Alan Turing
Appendices
Resources
Notes on Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
Copyright