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How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

JavaTM Version

Welcome to the homepage of How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Java Version, by Allen B. Downey.

How to Think... is a free textbook available under the GNU Free Documentation License. Readers are free to copy and distribute the text; they are also free to modify it, which allows them to adapt the book to different needs, and to help develop new material.

Fourth Edition

Available now!: The fourth edition (Version 4.0) is available now in PDF and gzipped Postscript. The LaTeX source code (with figures and a Makefile) is here in a gzipped tar file.

You can read the preface of the book in HTML. I would like to make the rest of the book available in HTML, but I am not satisfied with the programs I have found to translate LaTeX to HTML. Can you help? I would like to have an automated way to generate decent-looking HTML from the LaTeX source documents. Send email to edition4{at}thinkapjava{dot}com.

The fourth edition is tailored to help students prepare for the Computer Science AP Exam, which is switching to Java for the 2003-04 academic year. I have made some changes and added new material to improve the coverage of the AP syllabus (without bloating the book too much!). I have also incorporated many of the exercises I have used in my classes into the book.

If you are currently teaching an AP class or you are preparing for the switch to Java, I would like to get your feedback about the book. Please send ideas, corrections and contributions to to edition4{at}thinkapjava{dot}com. Thanks!

Third Edition

The third edition is available in a variety of electronic formats. The following are links to a site generously provided by the Open Book Project.

  • The LaTeX source code for the third Edition is available as a gzipped tar file.

  • Precompiled copies of the Third edition are available in PDF and Postscript . Users are free to download and print these files.

  • The HTML version of the Third Edition is also available if you prefer to read it online. Or you can download all the HTML pages in a gzipped tar file.

Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U. S. and other countries.