The Art of Computer Conversation


Book Description

Provides Guidelines for Designing & Judging User-Friendly Programs. Applicable to Computers of All Sizes, Gives Programmers a Repertoire of Styles & Techniques for Computer Dialogue That Enables Creation of a Variety of Effective Systems




An Introduction to the Analysis of Algorithms


Book Description

Despite growing interest, basic information on methods and models for mathematically analyzing algorithms has rarely been directly accessible to practitioners, researchers, or students. An Introduction to the Analysis of Algorithms, Second Edition, organizes and presents that knowledge, fully introducing primary techniques and results in the field. Robert Sedgewick and the late Philippe Flajolet have drawn from both classical mathematics and computer science, integrating discrete mathematics, elementary real analysis, combinatorics, algorithms, and data structures. They emphasize the mathematics needed to support scientific studies that can serve as the basis for predicting algorithm performance and for comparing different algorithms on the basis of performance. Techniques covered in the first half of the book include recurrences, generating functions, asymptotics, and analytic combinatorics. Structures studied in the second half of the book include permutations, trees, strings, tries, and mappings. Numerous examples are included throughout to illustrate applications to the analysis of algorithms that are playing a critical role in the evolution of our modern computational infrastructure. Improvements and additions in this new edition include Upgraded figures and code An all-new chapter introducing analytic combinatorics Simplified derivations via analytic combinatorics throughout The book’s thorough, self-contained coverage will help readers appreciate the field’s challenges, prepare them for advanced results—covered in their monograph Analytic Combinatorics and in Donald Knuth’s The Art of Computer Programming books—and provide the background they need to keep abreast of new research. "[Sedgewick and Flajolet] are not only worldwide leaders of the field, they also are masters of exposition. I am sure that every serious computer scientist will find this book rewarding in many ways." —From the Foreword by Donald E. Knuth




A Philosophy of Software Design


Book Description

"This book addresses the topic of software design: how to decompose complex software systems into modules (such as classes and methods) that can be implemented relatively independently. The book first introduces the fundamental problem in software design, which is managing complexity. It then discusses philosophical issues about how to approach the software design process and it presents a collection of design principles to apply during software design. The book also introduces a set of red flags that identify design problems. You can apply the ideas in this book to minimize the complexity of large software systems, so that you can write software more quickly and cheaply."--Amazon.




Companion to the Papers of Donald Knuth


Book Description

Donald E. Knuth's seminal publications, such as Selected Papers on Fun and Games and Selected Paper on the Design of Algorithms, have earned him a loyal following among scholars and computer scientists, and his award-winning textbooks have becomes classics that are often given credit for shaping the field. In this volume, he explains and comments on the changes he has made to his work over the last twenty years in response to new technologies and the evolving understanding of key concepts in computer science. His commentary is supplemented by a full bibliography of his works and a number of interviews with Knuth himself, which shed light on his professional life and publications, as well as provide interesting biographical details. A giant in the field of computer science, Knuth has assembled materials that offer a full portrait of both the scientist and the man. The final volume of a series of his collected papers, Companion to the Papers of Donald Knuth is essential for the Knuth completist.




The Art of Focused Conversation for Schools, Third Edition


Book Description

Why don’t kids learn? Why can’t students do higher order thinking? Why do educators have endless staff meetings with few results? How can parents and teachers communicate better? The pressure upon educators to teach more, to a wider range and number of students, with decreasing resources and supports makes it urgent to find tools to answer such questions. The Art of Focused Conversation for Schools demonstrates how the Focused Conversation method, widely used in organizations and businesses, can effectively be used in a K-12 educational setting. Each section deals with interactions among students, staff, and parents, and elaborates with over 100 sample conversations designed to make learning more meaningful, prevent and solve problems, and make communications in meetings more effective. Appendices showcase integrated curriculum examples where conversations have been used in unique combinations and list sample questions for each level of the conversation method. With a bibliography and index included, and patterned after its highly successful predecessor, The Art of Focused Conversation: 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace, this book will be welcomed by parents, students, educators, and school administrators everywhere. The Institute of Cultural Affairs has over 40 years experience in more than 32 nations. A unique facilitation, research and training organization, ICA Canada has provided participatory skills to many thousands of people worldwide.




The Art of Hard Conversations


Book Description

Your next conversation could impact someone's life forever Hard conversations challenge everyone. Some people make every effort to avoid them altogether; others dive in enthusiastically, damaging relationships in the process. A solid middle ground is difficult to find--especially for those who want to make sure they're following a biblical model for these tough encounters. Lori Roeleveld firmly believes that the dialogues everyday Christians delay are often the very channels God wants to use to deepen relationships and transform lives. And she is eager to address the challenges they pose and to guide readers to meaningful conversations that rely on the wisdom of the Bible rather than the world. In The Art of Hard Conversations, Roeleveld provides motivation, inspiration, and practical, readily applied skills to make those tricky talks more effective. Through funny, vulnerable personal stories, sound biblical teaching, and sections of tips and assignments to practice, the principles here are guaranteed to increase the confidence and competence of Christians in discussing sensitive topics of every kind.




The Art of Dialogue


Book Description

Media and culture are deeply intertwined in contemporary society. Religions have problems relating to this media culture, which is shaped by media processes and conditioned by digital media and interactive forms of communication. Media set the agenda and they profoundly challenge religions, both with respect to their public communication, and their very existence and public relevance. People increasingly use media for shaping their religious identity and their search with respect to questions of ultimate meaning. Barely any theological studies exist that reflect on religious policies, and their subsequent praxis, in the field of communication. The author analyzes Christian policy views and identifies the main problems and opportunities in relating to media culture.




Computers and Conversation


Book Description

In the past few years a branch of sociology, conversation analysis, has begun to have a significant impact on the design of human*b1computer interaction (HCI). The investigation of human*b1human dialogue has emerged as a fruitful foundation for interactive system design.****This book includes eleven original chapters by leading researchers who are applying conversation analysis to HCI. The fundamentals of conversation analysis are outlined, a number of systems are described, and a critical view of their value for HCI is offered.****Computers and Conversation will be of interest to all concerned with HCI issues--from the advanced student to the professional computer scientist involved in the design and specification of interactive systems.







Conversational Informatics


Book Description

Conversational informatics investigates human behaviour with a view to designing conversational artifacts capable of interacting with humans in a conversational fashion. It spans a broad array of topics including linguistics, psychology and human-computer interaction. Until recently research in such areas has been carried out in isolation, with no attempt made to connect the various disciplines. Advancements in science and technology have changed this. Conversational Informatics provides an interdisciplinary introduction to conversational informatics and places emphasis upon the integration of scientific approaches to achieve engineering goals and to advance further understanding of conversation. It features a collection of surveys structured around four prominent research areas: conversational artifacts, conversational contents, conversation environment design and conversation measurement, analysis and modelling Conversational artifacts shows how synthetic characters or intelligent robots use eye gaze, gestures and other non-verbal communicators to interact. Conversational contents looks at developing techniques for acquiring, editing, distributing and utilising the contents that are produced and consumed in conversation. Conversation environment design explains techniques for creating intelligent virtual environments and for representing individuals within a virtual environment by monitoring and reproducing their non-verbal conversational behaviour. Conversation measurement, analysis and modelling demonstrate how conversational behaviour can be measured and analyzed. Conversational Informatics will be an invaluable resource for postgraduate students and researchers in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering as well as engineers and developers working in the field of automation, robotics and agents technology.