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Roland Carl Backhouse.
Algorithmic Problem Solving.
Wiley. 2011

Algorithms are at the heart of computer technology, and research in the last forty years on the construction of effective and efficient algorithms has led to fundamental improvements in our general purpose problem-solving skills. Solutions that were once considered acceptable are no longer so because they are inadequate for the massive scale of modern-day computing problems, and the demands on reliability of computer software have sharpened our notions of good and bad problem-solving techniques.

Using the key combination of concision with precision, this book imparts the new skills and insights in algorithmic problem solving using an example-driven approach. It demonstrates the importance of mathematical calculations, but the chosen examples are typically not mathematical; instead they are problems that are readily understood with only elementary mathematical knowledge.

Algorithmic Problem Solving uses a solution method that is new and more relevant to the true nature of problem solving in the modern IT-dominated world. Students will be better able to appreciate the importance of mathematical modelling and logical calculation and gain general purpose skills that are particularly beneficial to their future careers.