Writing for Computer Science - Softcover

Zobel, Justin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9813083220 ISBN 13: 9789813083226

Publisher: Springer, 1997

Synopsis

Scientific papers are an important tool for communicating ideas, of copying thoughts between minds. Public mistakes not only make a scientist look foolish, but they can hurt a career as well. As such, publications should be as free as possible from distortion; this generally means writing with clarity and simplicity, and constructing the thoughts into a clear presentation to omit ambiguity and frustration of reading. Writing for Computer Science is an introduction to the style and presentation of scientific reports with computing or mathematical content. Aimed at students and researchers, this book deals in a concise way with topics such as article design, writing style, illustrations, algorithms, as well as the scientific process itself. With a focus on writing for the mathematical sciences, it: . shows how to design an article; gives practical guidelines for writing style; explains punctuation in a no nonsense way; gives tips for the presentation of mathematics; presents best practice for graphs, figures, and tables; guides on the presentation of algorithms, hypotheses, and experiments; explains about editing and refereeing. Seminar presentation, a section on spelling conventions, and a detailed bibliography complete this handy guide to style and presentation.

About this title

About the Author

Zobel-Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia

Review

From the reviews of the second edition:

"Zobel emphasizes that clarity ... . my review would read as follows: buy this book. ... The contents of the book are valuable, both as a reference ... . has tailored his book quite specifically to computer science researchers. He presents valuable examples drawn from computer science papers ... . This book is best suited to individual use. However, it could also serve as a supplementary text for a course on research methods. ..." (Max Hailperin, Computing Reviews, February, 2005)

"I decided to recommend Zobel’s work to my advanced students and Ph.D. candidates. ... An extra goody are the twenty exercises. They constitute a good start into raising many of the issues treated in the book. Many chapters give check-lists or lists of good practice. ... His own way of writing demonstrates that there are helpful rules no writer should disobey. ... Good writing, even in computing science, remains a process of experience and dialectics. Zobel’s book proves the point." (Frieder Nake, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1106 (8), 2007)

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 9813083220
• ISBN 13: 9789813083226
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176