Book Image

Applied Computational Thinking with Python

By : Sofía De Jesús, Dayrene Martinez
Book Image

Applied Computational Thinking with Python

By: Sofía De Jesús, Dayrene Martinez

Overview of this book

Computational thinking helps you to develop logical processing and algorithmic thinking while solving real-world problems across a wide range of domains. It's an essential skill that you should possess to keep ahead of the curve in this modern era of information technology. Developers can apply their knowledge of computational thinking to solve problems in multiple areas, including economics, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. This book begins by helping you get to grips with decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization and abstraction, and algorithm design, along with teaching you how to apply these elements practically while designing solutions for challenging problems. You’ll then learn about various techniques involved in problem analysis, logical reasoning, algorithm design, clusters and classification, data analysis, and modeling, and understand how computational thinking elements can be used together with these aspects to design solutions. Toward the end, you will discover how to identify pitfalls in the solution design process and how to choose the right functionalities to create the best possible algorithmic solutions. By the end of this algorithm book, you will have gained the confidence to successfully apply computational thinking techniques to software development.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction to Computational Thinking
9
Section 2:Applying Python and Computational Thinking
14
Section 3:Data Processing, Analysis, and Applications Using Computational Thinking and Python
20
Other Books You May Enjoy

Chapter 2: Elements of Computational Thinking

The previous chapter provided some general information about the fundamentals of computer science. In this chapter, we will focus more closely on understanding computational thinking and the elements that make up computational thinking: decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization or abstraction, and algorithm design.

The importance of the computational thinking process cannot be understated. Through the process, we analyze problems to design the best possible solutions based on a set of conditions. Although many algorithms can be written to answer the same questions, using the computational thinking process helps us to determine the optimal path to take to design a clear algorithm that can be generalized.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • Understanding computational thinking
  • Decomposing problems
  • Recognizing patterns
  • Generalizing patterns
  • Designing algorithms
  • Additional...