Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Problem Solving with Python: Using Computational Thinking in Everyday Life

Problem Solving with Python: Using Computational Thinking in Everyday Life

Smith, Michael D.
Albright, Victoria

Paperback

General ComputersProgramming

PREORDER - Expected ship date January 20, 2026

ISBN10: 0262552841
ISBN13: 9780262552844
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: Jan 20 2026
Pages: 432
Language: English
An innovative new way to teach computational thinking and problem solving that makes programming accessible to anyone.

Problem solving with computation has become a basic literacy required of modern life, but the traditional way we teach students to code doesn't work for everyone. This innovative textbook provides a highly engaging alternative approach. Problem Solving with Python is a hands-on introduction to computational thinking, useful computer science concepts, and the art of computer programming, where skills and ideas are introduced in service of solving an interesting problem.

Each chapter begins with an ambiguous problem description drawn from everyday life that resolves with a piece of working code. Gradually progressing in difficulty, the book's three-act structure charts a clear developmental path from novice to skilled programmer. Michael Smith first presents the basics of programming through repeated application of a worklist algorithm, allowing the reader to become comfortable in problem decomposition and fundamentals before attempting more complicated algorithms and approaches. He then shows how to solve real-world problems using the power of abstraction, algorithms, and the right data structures. Finally, the exercises in the book's last act fully transition the reader from programmer to problem solver. Based on the author's popular class at Harvard, this accessible textbook builds conceptual understanding through practical skills development to enable anyone to master the what and how of computational thinking.

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General Computers

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