How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Programming and Computing, Second Edition

Good programming starts before the first line of code. How to Design Programs teaches readers to analyze a problem, make its goals precise, work through examples, shape a solution, and test the result. Its distinctive focus is the thinking that makes programs understandable—not simply the syntax of a particular language.

Using teaching languages and the DrRacket programming environment, the authors build those habits step by step. The second edition extends the approach to interactive and batch programs, graphical interfaces, testing, images, event-driven programming, and distributed programming.

Learn a process, not just a programming language

The book’s design recipes offer a repeatable way to move from a problem statement toward a working program. By making each stage of the process visible, they help readers connect the problem they are trying to solve with the code they write and the tests they use to check it.

From simple data to larger structures

The material develops from arithmetic, functions, and fixed-size data into lists, self-referential data, and programs that work with larger or more complex information. Later sections explore abstraction, intertwined data, and interpreting expressions. This progression gives readers a way to build new ideas on foundations they have already practiced.

Practice through examples and projects

Examples, exercises, and projects accompany the core ideas. The contents include work with lists, word games, graphical editors, finite-state machines, XML, and databases. These varied applications give readers opportunities to use program-design principles in different problem settings.

Who may find it useful

This text is suited to people beginning to study programming, as well as students and educators who want an introductory course organized around systematic problem solving. Its emphasis on transferable design principles makes it especially useful for readers who want to understand how to approach a programming task—not merely how to make code run.

For a thoughtful introduction to programming, How to Design Programs puts the method of designing a solution at the heart of the lesson.