To understand recursion, you first have to understand recursion.

If reading the statement above gives you a mild headache, you're not alone. Recursion is not only one of the most important concepts in the computer science curriculum; it's also one of the most challenging to understand.

Now in Thinking Recursively with Java, author and award-winning teacher Eric Roberts, demystifies this often-frustrating topic by equipping you with effective problem-solving strategies that enable you to "think recursively." Based on Roberts's now classic text, Thinking Recursively (Wiley 1986), this 20th anniversary edition now uses Java, making recursion even more relevant to today's students.

Features

Learn how to apply recursive techniques, so you can succeed in advanced CS courses that depend on the use of recursive strategies. The book's ample selection of examples and exercises (more than the typical general text) enables you to work through as many problems as you need to master recursive techniques. Examples now use Java, making the book compatible with modern approaches to introductory computer science. Expanded chapters on recursive backtracking and graphical applications support interesting examples enabled by current technology. The code in the book is fully compatible with the libraries produced by the ACM Java Task Force, as well as with other standard approaches to teaching Java.

About the Author

Eric Roberts is Professor of Computer Science and John and Cynthia Gunn University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He is widely recognized as an expert teacher and has won numerous teaching awards at Stanford. He was the principal author of the ACM/IEEE-CS report on Computing Curricula 2001 and received the ACM-SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education in 2003.

To provide students with a more effective treatment of this difficult topic, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. published Thinking Recursively by Eric Roberts. Since its publication in 1986, Thinking Recursively has become a classic in a field in which books quickly become obsolete. By focusing on effective problem-solving strategies that enable students to "think recursively," this text has helped many students over the conceptual hurdle that recursion so often represents. Moreover, by including many more examples and exercises than typical, Thinking Recursivelymakes it possible for students to master recursive techniques. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its initial publication, John Wiley and Sons is publishing Thinking Recursively with Java, making the book even more relevant to today's students.

Course Hierarchy:

May fit a variety of Java programming courses as a supplement at the introductory or intermediate levels or serve as a core text in intermediate or advanced level programming courses.