The CS Detective

Book description

A fantasy whodunit for the digital age that introduces the concepts behind search algorithms and important data structures, through the medium of a mystery novel.

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Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Technical Reviewer
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. A Note to Readers
  9. Chapter 1: Search Problems
  10. Chapter 2: Exhaustive Search for an Informant
  11. Chapter 3: Arrays and Indexes on a Criminal’s Farm
  12. Chapter 4: Strings and Hidden Messages
  13. Chapter 5: Binary Search for a Smuggler’s Ship
  14. Chapter 6: Binary Search for Clues
  15. Chapter 7: Adapting Algorithms for a Daring Escape
  16. Chapter 8: Socks: An Interlude and an Introduction
  17. Chapter 9: Backtracking to Keep the Search Going
  18. Chapter 10: Picking Locks with Breadth-First Search
  19. Chapter 11: Depth-First Search in an Abandoned Prison
  20. Chapter 12: Cafeteria Stacks and Queues
  21. Chapter 13: Stacks and Queues for Search
  22. Chapter 14: Let’s Split Up: Parallelized Search
  23. Chapter 15: Iterative Deepening Can Save Your Life
  24. Chapter 16: Inverted Indexes: The Search Narrows
  25. Chapter 17: A Binary Search Tree Trap
  26. Chapter 18: Building Binary Search Ladders
  27. Chapter 19: Binary Search Trees for Suspects
  28. Chapter 20: Adding Suspects to the Search Tree
  29. Chapter 21: The Binary Search Tree Property
  30. Chapter 22: Tries for Paperwork
  31. Chapter 23: Best-First Search: A Detective’s Most Trusted Tool
  32. Chapter 24: Priority Queues for Investigations
  33. Chapter 25: Priority Queues for Lock Picking
  34. Chapter 26: Heuristics in Search
  35. Chapter 27: Heaps in Politics and Academia
  36. Chapter 28: Difficult Search Problems
  37. Chapter 29: Search Termination
  38. Epilogue
  39. Index
  40. Updates
  41. Meet Frank Runtime. Disgraced Ex-Detective. Hard-Boiled Private Eye. Search Expert.

Product information

  • Title: The CS Detective
  • Author(s): Jeremy Kubica
  • Release date: August 2016
  • Publisher(s): No Starch Press
  • ISBN: 9781593277499