Dave Thomas

Bio: Dave Thomas is an academic researcher from Carleton University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Smalltalk & Software development. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 49 publications receiving 10879 citations.

The Art in Computer Programming

Abstract: Writers face the blank page, painters face the empty canvas, and programmers face the empty editor buffer. Perhaps it’s not literally empty—an IDE may want us to specify a few things first. Here we haven’t even started the project yet, and already we’re forced to answer many questions: what will this thing be named, what directory will it be in, what type of module is it, how should it be compiled, and so on.

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

Abstract: What others in the trenches say about The Pragmatic Programmer... The cool thing about this book is that its great for keeping the programming process fresh. The book helps you to continue to grow and clearly comes from people who have been there.  Kent Beck, author of Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change I found this book to be a great mix of solid advice and wonderful analogies!  Martin Fowler, author of Refactoring and UML Distilled I would buy a copy, read it twice, then tell all my colleagues to run out and grab a copy. This is a book I would never loan because I would worry about it being lost.  Kevin Ruland, Management Science, MSG-Logistics The wisdom and practical experience of the authors is obvious. The topics presented are relevant and useful.... By far its greatest strength for me has been the outstanding analogiestracer bullets, broken windows, and the fabulous helicopter-based explanation of the need for orthogonality, especially in a crisis situation. I have little doubt that this book will eventually become an excellent source of useful information for journeymen programmers and expert mentors alike.  John Lakos, author of Large-Scale C++ Software Design This is the sort of book I will buy a dozen copies of when it comes out so I can give it to my clients.  Eric Vought, Software Engineer Most modern books on software development fail to cover the basics of what makes a great software developer, instead spending their time on syntax or technology where in reality the greatest leverage possible for any software team is in having talented developers who really know their craft well. An excellent book.  Pete McBreen, Independent Consultant Since reading this book, I have implemented many of the practical suggestions and tips it contains. Across the board, they have saved my company time and money while helping me get my job done quicker! This should be a desktop reference for everyone who works with code for a living.  Jared Richardson, Senior Software Developer, iRenaissance, Inc. I would like to see this issued to every new employee at my company....  Chris Cleeland, Senior Software Engineer, Object Computing, Inc. If Im putting together a project, its the authors of this book that I want. . . . And failing that Id settle for people whove read their book.  Ward Cunningham Straight from the programming trenches, The Pragmatic Programmer cuts through the increasing specialization and technicalities of modern software development to examine the core process--taking a requirement and producing working, maintainable code that delights its users. It covers topics ranging from personal responsibility and career development to architectural techniques for keeping your code flexible and easy to adapt and reuse. Read this book, and you'll learn how to Fight software rot; Avoid the trap of duplicating knowledge; Write flexible, dynamic, and adaptable code; Avoid programming by coincidence; Bullet-proof your code with contracts, assertions, and exceptions; Capture real requirements; Test ruthlessly and effectively; Delight your users; Build teams of pragmatic programmers; and Make your developments more precise with automation. Written as a series of self-contained sections and filled with entertaining anecdotes, thoughtful examples, and interesting analogies, The Pragmatic Programmer illustrates the best practices and major pitfalls of many different aspects of software development. Whether you're a new coder, an experienced programmer, or a manager responsible for software projects, use these lessons daily, and you'll quickly see improvements in personal productivity, accuracy, and job satisfaction. You'll learn skills and develop habits and attitudes that form the foundation for long-term success in your career. You'll become a Pragmatic Programmer.

Agile Web Development with Rails

Abstract: Rails just keeps on changing. Both Rails 3 and 4, as well as Ruby 1.9 and 2.0, bring hundreds of improvements, including new APIs and substantial performance enhancements. The fourth edition of this award-winning classic has been reorganized and refocused so it's more useful than ever before for developers new to Ruby and Rails. Rails 4 introduces a number of user-facing changes, and the ebook has been updated to match all the latest changes and new best practices in Rails. This includes full support for Ruby 2.0, controller concerns, Russian Doll caching, strong parameters, Turbolinks, new test and bin directory layouts, and much more. Ruby on Rails helps you produce high-quality, beautiful-looking web applications quickly. You concentrate on creating the application, and Rails takes care of the details. Tens of thousands of developers have used this award-winning book to learn Rails. It's a broad, far-reaching tutorial and reference that's recommended by the Rails core team. If you're new to Rails, you'll get step-by-step guidance. If you're an experienced developer, this book will give you the comprehensive, insider information you need. Rails has evolved over the years, and this book has evolved along with it. We still start with a step-by-step walkthrough of building a real application, and in-depth chapters look at the built-in Rails features. This edition now gives new Ruby and Rails users more information on the Ruby language and takes more time to explain key concepts throughout. Best practices on how to apply Rails continue to change, and this edition keeps up. Examples use Concerns, Russian Doll caching, and Turbolinks, and the book focuses throughout on the right way to use Rails. Additionally, this edition now works on Ruby 2.0, a new release of Ruby with substantial functional and performance improvements. This edition is for Rails4.0 and beyond.

Data clustering: a review

Abstract: Clustering is the unsupervised classification of patterns (observations, data items, or feature vectors) into groups (clusters). The clustering problem has been addressed in many contexts and by researchers in many disciplines; this reflects its broad appeal and usefulness as one of the steps in exploratory data analysis. However, clustering is a difficult problem combinatorially, and differences in assumptions and contexts in different communities has made the transfer of useful generic concepts and methodologies slow to occur. This paper presents an overview of pattern clustering methods from a statistical pattern recognition perspective, with a goal of providing useful advice and references to fundamental concepts accessible to the broad community of clustering practitioners. We present a taxonomy of clustering techniques, and identify cross-cutting themes and recent advances. We also describe some important applications of clustering algorithms such as image segmentation, object recognition, and information retrieval.

Polynomial-Time Algorithms for Prime Factorization and Discrete Logarithms on a Quantum Computer

Abstract: A digital computer is generally believed to be an efficient universal computing device; that is, it is believed able to simulate any physical computing device with an increase in computation time by at most a polynomial factor. This may not be true when quantum mechanics is taken into consideration. This paper considers factoring integers and finding discrete logarithms, two problems which are generally thought to be hard on a classical computer and which have been used as the basis of several proposed cryptosystems. Efficient randomized algorithms are given for these two problems on a hypothetical quantum computer. These algorithms take a number of steps polynomial in the input size, e.g., the number of digits of the integer to be factored.

Analytic Combinatorics

Abstract: Analytic Combinatorics is a self-contained treatment of the mathematics underlying the analysis of discrete structures, which has emerged over the past several decades as an essential tool in the understanding of properties of computer programs and scientific models with applications in physics, biology and chemistry. Thorough treatment of a large number of classical applications is an essential aspect of the presentation. Written by the leaders in the field of analytic combinatorics, this text is certain to become the definitive reference on the topic. The text is complemented with exercises, examples, appendices and notes to aid understanding therefore, it can be used as the basis for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate course on the subject, or for self-study.