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Computer Science: The Good Parts

Jeff Cohen
September 17, 2015

Computer Science: The Good Parts

For those of us without a computer science background, here are just a few things that can elevate your thinking and programming skills. Presented at WindyCityRails 2015.

Jeff Cohen

September 17, 2015
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  1. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason.
  2. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph
  3. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph
  4. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph a
  5. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph a
  6. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph a a[0] a[1] a[2] a[3]
  7. Data Structures and Algorithms A data structure is a way

    to organize data. Different data structures exist for a reason. List Array Hash Tree Graph :name => “Jeff” :id => 2 …. :email => “j@..” params[:id]
  8. Data Structures and Algorithms Select the data structure that resembles

    the real-life problem that you’re trying to solve.
  9. Data Structures and Algorithms An algorithm computes a result by

    operating upon a data structure. Charles Babbage Ada Lovelace
  10. An algorithm computes a result by operating upon a data

    structure. Data Structures and Algorithms The complexity of an algorithm depends upon the data structure it is forced to work with.
  11. Big “O” Notation def search(name_to_find, from = 0, to =

    nil) to ||= @people.count - 1 mid = (from + to) / 2 if name_to_find < @people[mid].name search(@people, value, from, mid-1) elsif name_to_find > @people[mid].name search(@people, value, mid+1, to) else @people[mid] end end
  12. Big “O” Notation def calculate_total(customer) total = 0 customer.orders.each do

    |order| order.line_items.each do |item| total += item.price end end total end
  13. Computational Thinking Computer science is not computer programming. It’s the

    pursuit of understanding how humans think and solve problems.
  14. Applied Science! ★ Watch out for loops ★ Watch out

    for nested loops ★ Learn every kind of Ruby data structure ★ Solve a tiny problem from first principles, without a database nor any gems: just the Ruby standard library. ★ Try to classify the “complexity” of your code. ★ Read the code inside every gem in your Gemfile. ★ Learn how to use the Benchmark class ★ Join the tradition of accomplishing something meaningful