Intro to Python for Computer Science and Data Science

Description

For many decades, some powerful trends have been in place. Computer hardware has rapidly been getting faster, cheaper and smaller. Internet bandwidth (that is, its information carrying capacity) has rapidly been getting larger and cheaper. And quality computer software has become ever more abundant and essentially free or nearly free through the “open source” movement. Soon, the “Internet of Things” will connect tens of billions of devices of every imaginable type. These will generate enormous volumes of data at rapidly increasing speeds and quantities. Not so many years ago, if people had told us that we’d write a college-level introductory programming textbook with words like “Big Data” and “Cloud” in the title and a graphic of a multicolored elephant (emblematic of “big”) on the cover, our reaction might have been, “Huh?” And, if they’d told us we’d include AI (for artificial intelligence) in the title, we might have said, “Really? Isn’t that pretty advanced stuff for novice programmers?” If people had said, we’d include “Data Science” in the title, we might have responded, “Isn’t data already included in the domain of ‘Computer Science’? Why would we need a separate academic discipline for it?” Well, in programming today, the latest innovations are “all about the data”—data science, data analytics, big data, relational databases (SQL), and NoSQL and NewSQL databases. So, here we are! Welcome to Intro to Python for Computer Science and Data Science: Learning to Program with AI, Big Data and the Cloud. In this book, you’ll learn hands-on with today’s most compelling, leading-edge computing technologies—and, as you’ll see, with an easily tunable mix of computer science and data science appropriate for introductory courses in those and related disciplines. And, you’ll program in Python—one of the world’s most popular languages and the fastest growing among them. In this Preface, we present the “soul of the book.” Professional programmers often quickly discover that they like Python. They appreciate its expressive power, readability, conciseness and interactivity. They like the world of open-source software development that’s generating an ever-growing base of reusable software for an enormous range of application areas. Whether you’re an instructor, a novice student or an experienced professional programmer, this book has much to offer you. Python is an excellent first programming language for novices and is equally appropriate for developing industrial-strength applications. For the novice, the early chapters establish a solid programming foundation. We hope you’ll find Intro to Python for Computer Science and Data Science educational, entertaining and challenging. It has been a joy to work on this project.