Puzzles for Programmers and Pros

Aimed at both working programmers who are applying for a job where puzzles are an integral part of the interview, as well as techies who just love a good puzzle, this book offers a cache of exciting puzzles Features a new series of puzzles, never before published, called elimination puzzles that have a pedagogical aim of helping the reader solve an entire class of Sudoku-like puzzles Provides the tools to solve the puzzles by hand and computer The first part of each chapter presents a puzzle; the second part shows readers how to solve several classes of puzzles algorithmically; the third part asks the reader to solve a mystery involving codes, puzzles, and geography Comes with a unique bonus: if readers actually solve the mystery, they have a chance to win a prize, which will be promoted on wrox.com!

Dr. Dennis Shasha is a professor of Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Computer Science at NYU. Along with research and teaching in biological computing, pattern recognition, database tuning , cryptographic file systems, and the like, Dennis is well-known for his mathematical puzzle column for Dr. Dobbs whose readers are very sharp and his Puzzling Adventures Column for the Scientific American. His puzzle writing has given birth to fictional books about a mathematical detective named Dr. Ecco. Dr. Shasha has also co-authored numerous highly technical books. Dennis speaks often at conferences and is a tireless self-promoter in the world of “mensa-like” puzzles.