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The CS Detective | No Starch Press
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Jeremy Kubica</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-released-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">August 2016, 256 pp.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-isbn13 field-type-text field-label-inline clearfix clearfix"><div class="field-label">ISBN-13: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">9781593277499 </div></div></div><div class="add-to-cart"><form action="/csdetective" method="post" id="uc-product-add-to-cart-form-359" accept-charset="UTF-8"><div><div id="uc_product_add_to_cart_form-359-attributes" class="attributes"><div class="attribute attribute-1 odd"><div class="form-item form-item-attributes-1 form-type-radios form-group"><div id="edit-attributes-1" class="form-radios"><div class="form-item form-item-attributes-1 form-type-radio radio"> <label class="control-label" for="edit-attributes-1-3"><input type="radio" id="edit-attributes-1-3" name="attributes[1]" value="3" 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field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="menu-wrapper"><ul class="menu nav"><li><a href="#content">Contents</a></li><li><a href="#reviews">Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="/download/CSDetective_Chapters_01-15.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-success downloadbutton" style="font-weight: 400;">Download Chapter 1-15 of <i>The CS Detective</i> for free!</a></p> <p><strong>Look Inside!</strong></p> <div class="lookinside" style:=""> <a href="/images/CSDetective_39.jpg" class="colorbox-inline"><img src="/images/CSDetective_39_thumb.jpg" alt="The CS Detective" width="125" style="max-width:262px;border:1px solid;margin:0 10px 0 0;" /></a><a href="/images/CSDetective_49.jpg" class="colorbox-inline"><img src="/images/CSDetective_49_thumb.jpg" alt="The CS Detective" width="125" style="max-width:262px;border:1px solid;margin:0 10px 0 0;" /></a><a href="/images/CSDetective_72.jpg" class="colorbox-inline"><img src="/images/CSDetective_72_thumb.jpg" alt="The CS Detective" width="125" style="max-width:262px;border:1px solid;margin:0 10px 0 0;" /></a><a href="/images/CSDetective_93.jpg" class="colorbox-inline"><img src="/images/CSDetective_93_thumb.jpg" alt="The CS Detective" width="125" style="max-width:262px;border:1px solid;margin:0 10px 0 0;" /></a> </div> <p>Meet Frank Runtime. Disgraced ex-detective. Hard-boiled private eye. Search expert.</p> <p> When a robbery hits police headquarters, it’s up to Frank Runtime and his extensive search skills to catch the culprits. In this detective story, you’ll learn how to use algorithmic tools to solve the case. Runtime scours smugglers’ boats with binary search, tails spies with a search tree, escapes a prison with depth-first search, and picks locks with priority queues. Joined by know-it-all rookie Officer Notation and inept tag-along Socks, he follows a series of leads in a best-first search that unravels a deep conspiracy. Each chapter introduces a thrilling twist matched with a new algorithmic concept, ending with a technical recap.</p> <p> Perfect for computer science students and amateur sleuths alike, <i>The CS Detective</i> adds an entertaining twist to learning algorithms.</p> <p> Follow Frank’s mission and learn:</p> <ul> <li>The algorithms behind best-first and depth-first search, iterative deepening, parallelizing, binary search, and more</li> <li>Basic computational concepts like strings, arrays, stacks, and queues</li> <li>How to adapt search algorithms to unusual data structures</li> <li>The most efficient algorithms to use in a given situation, and when to apply common-sense heuristic methods</li> </ul></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-text-long field-label-abovec"><div class="field-label">Author Bio </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><b>Jeremy Kubica</b> is a principal engineer at Google working on machine learning and algorithms. He has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in computer science from Cornell University. Kubica is the author of the popular Computational Fairy Tales blog.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-toc field-type-text-long field-label-abovec" id="content"><div class="field-label">Table of contents </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><b>Acknowledgments</b><br /> <b>A Note to Readers</b><br /> <b>Chapter 1:</b> Search Problems<br /> <b>Chapter 2:</b> Exhaustive Search for an Informant<br /> <b>Chapter 3:</b> Arrays and Indexes on a Criminal’s Farm<br /> <b>Chapter 4:</b> Strings and Hidden Messages<br /> <b>Chapter 5:</b> Binary Search for a Smuggler’s Ship<br /> <b>Chapter 6:</b> Binary Search for Clues<br /> <b>Chapter 7:</b> Adapting Algorithms for a Daring Escape<br /> <b>Chapter 8:</b> Socks: An Interlude and an Introduction<br /> <b>Chapter 9:</b> Backtracking to Keep the Search Going<br /> <b>Chapter 10:</b> Picking Locks with Breadth-First Search<br /> <b>Chapter 11:</b> Depth-First Search in an Abandoned Prison<br /> <b>Chapter 12:</b> Cafeteria Stacks and Queues<br /> <b>Chapter 13:</b> Stacks and Queues for Search<br /> <b>Chapter 14:</b> Let’s Split Up: Parallelized Search<br /> <b>Chapter 15:</b> Iterative Deepening Can Save Your Life<br /> <b>Chapter 16:</b> Inverted Indexes: The Search Narrows<br /> <b>Chapter 17:</b> A Binary Search Tree Trap<br /> <b>Chapter 18:</b> Building Binary Search Ladders<br /> <b>Chapter 19:</b> Binary Search Trees for Suspects<br /> <b>Chapter 20:</b> Adding Suspects to the Search Tree<br /> <b>Chapter 21:</b> The Binary Search Tree Property<br /> <b>Chapter 22:</b> Tries for Paperwork<br /> <b>Chapter 23:</b> Best-First Search: A Detective’s Most Trusted Tool<br /> <b>Chapter 24:</b> Priority Queues for Investigations<br /> <b>Chapter 25:</b> Priority Queues for Lock Picking<br /> <b>Chapter 26:</b> Heuristics in Search<br /> <b>Chapter 27:</b> Heaps in Politics and Academia<br /> <b>Chapter 28:</b> Difficult Search Problems<br /> <b>Chapter 29:</b> Search Termination<br /> <b>Epilogue</b></p> <p>View the detailed <a href="/download/CSDetective_TOC_sample.pdf" target="new">Table of Contents</a> (PDF)<br /> View the <a href="/download/CSDetective_Index_sample.pdf" target="new">Index</a> (PDF)</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-reviews field-type-text-long field-label-abovec" id="reviews"><div class="field-label">Reviews </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>“This book is both entertaining and educational, and a great stocking stuffer, especially for anyone involved with data analysis.”<br /> —<b><a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/laptops+readers+data+blocking+adapters+here+2016+gift+guide/12492004/story.html">The Vancouver Sun</a></b></p> <p>“A great introduction for older kids or adults to the concepts contained therein. The story is filled with humor and adventure.”<br /> —<b><a href="https://geekdad.com/2017/01/cs-detective/">Geek Dad</a></b></p> <p>“Exceptionally well written, organized and presented...truly adds an entertaining and novel twist to making the learning algorithms fun, practical, and effective.”<br /> —<b>Midwest Book Review</b></p> <p><i>The CS Detective</i> was featured in <b><a href="https://www.kidscodecs.com/launch-cs-detective/">Kids, Code, and Computer Science</a></b>.</p> <p>“I love being able to wrap learning into this story and that it doesn’t seem like learning at all. This book is perfect for computer science students or amateur sleuths who enjoy a good mystery.”<br /> —<b><a href="http://www.theoldschoolhouse.com/product-reviews/?rid=6028">The Old Schoolhouse</a></b></p> <p>“I give this book 10 out of 10 horseshoes.”<br /> —<b><a href="https://coderanch.com/wiki/671042/books/books/CS-Detective-Jeremy-Kubia">CodeRanch</a></b></p> <p>“Good wizards and evil wizards cast spells, which helps capture the interest of students in the upper middle and lower high school grades...The story is worth the time to learn about different binary searches.”<br /> —<b>National Council of Teachers of Mathematics</b></p> <p>“I think the book would be good for high school–college level students interested in search algorithms or computer science in general. I enjoyed the book and the refresher on CS topics.”<br /> —<b><a href="https://www.404techsupport.com/2016/11/book-review-csdetective/">404 Tech Support</a></b></p> </div></div></div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="block-shariff-shariff-block" class="block block-shariff clearfix"> <div class="shariff" data-services="["facebook","print","twitter"]" data-theme="colored" data-orientation="horizontal" data-twitter-via="nostarch" data-lang="en"></div> </section> </div> </section> <aside class="col-sm-3" role="complementary"> <div class="region region-sidebar-second"> <section id="block-system-navigation" class="block block-system block-menu clearfix"> <h2 class="block-title">Navigation</h2> <ul class="menu nav"><li class="first last leaf"><a href="/user" title="">My account</a></li> </ul> </section> <section id="block-block-52" class="block block-block clearfix"> <p><a href="/mailchimp/subscribe">Want sweet deals? <br />Sign up for our newsletter.</a></p> </section> <section 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