How Computers Make Books: From Graphics Rendering, Search Algorithms, and Functional Programming to Indexing and Typesetting

Learn about computer science by exploring the fascinating journey it took to make this book!

In How Computers Make Books you'll discover:

How human descriptions are translated into computer programs How a computer can understand document formatting How a program decides where to print ink on a page Why computer science is so interesting to computer scientists, and why it might interest you ...and much more!

How Computers Make Books introduces what's wonderful about computer science by telling the story of how computers have transformed the ancient art of publishing books. Author and publishing software developer John Whitington takes readers on a journey through the computer processes needed to create this very book. Each chapter explores the elegance of modern digital printing, from how a computer knows where to place ink, to reproducing shades of gray, to laying out paragraphs on the page.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the technology
Computers have transformed every industry--even ones as traditional as creating books. If you've ever been mystified about what goes into programming a computer to do practical, familiar tasks, this book is for you. In it, you'll answer interesting questions about human-computer interaction. How do computers represent all the different languages and letters used by humans? How do we compress a book's worth of complex information so it can be transferred in seconds? And what exactly is a computer program? This book answers all those questions by telling the story of how it was created!

About the book
Open up How Computers Make Books and you'll learn how computers use math and computer science to lay out and produce a book. Explore text, fonts, and the means of putting ink onto the page. Dive into the history of typesetting and printing, and see how that history informs today's technology for both physical books and eBooks. You'll learn the importance of both mathematical calculation and artistic taste, and how only a combination of the two leads to beautiful books. By the time you're done reading, you'll have a better understanding of how computer science is used to solve problems, and the complex technology that went into every book you own.

About the reader
This book is for everyone--from the computer science curious-but-clueless, to tech professionals interested in the ingenious solutions created to solve the big problems of printing.

About the author
John Whitington is the founder of a company which builds software for electronic document processing. He has studied and taught Computer Science at Queens' College, Cambridge and has authored a number of computer science textbooks.

透過探索製作本書的迷人旅程，了解計算機科學的知識！在《How Computers Make Books》中，您將會發現：如何將人類的描述轉化為計算機程序、計算機如何理解文件格式、程序如何決定在頁面上打印墨水的位置、為什麼計算機科學對計算機科學家如此有趣，以及為什麼它可能會引起您的興趣...還有更多！《How Computers Make Books》通過講述計算機如何改變古老的出版書籍藝術的故事，介紹了計算機科學的奇妙之處。作者和出版軟件開發者John Whitington帶領讀者穿越創作這本書所需的計算機過程。每一章都探索了現代數字印刷的優雅之處，從計算機如何知道在哪裡放墨水，到如何再現灰色階調，再到在頁面上排版段落。購買印刷版書籍還包括Manning Publications提供的PDF、Kindle和ePub格式的免費電子書。關於技術：計算機已經改變了每個行業，甚至包括像製作書籍這樣傳統的行業。如果您對將計算機編程以執行實際、熟悉的任務感到困惑，那麼這本書就是為您而寫的。在這本書中，您將回答有關人機交互的有趣問題。計算機如何表示人類使用的各種不同語言和字母？我們如何壓縮一本複雜信息的書，以便在幾秒鐘內傳輸？還有什麼是計算機程序？本書通過講述它的創作故事來回答所有這些問題！關於本書：打開《How Computers Make Books》，您將了解計算機如何使用數學和計算機科學來排版和製作書籍。探索文本、字體以及將墨水放在頁面上的方式。深入研究排版和印刷的歷史，並了解這段歷史如何影響當今的實體書籍和電子書技術。您將學會數學計算和藝術品味的重要性，以及只有兩者的結合才能產生美麗的書籍。閱讀完畢後，您將更好地理解計算機科學如何用於解決問題，以及每本您擁有的書籍中所涉及的複雜技術。關於讀者：這本書適合所有人，從對計算機科學感到好奇但又不太了解的人，到對解決印刷中的重大問題所創造的巧妙解決方案感興趣的技術專業人士。關於作者：John Whitington是一家為電子文檔處理建立軟件的公司的創始人。他曾在劍橋大學皇后學院學習和教授計算機科學，並撰寫了多本計算機科學教材。

John Whitington, is the founder of a company which builds software for electronic document processing. He has studied and taught Computer Science at Queens College, Cambridge and has authored a number of computer science textbooks.

John Whitington 是一家專門開發電子文件處理軟體的公司的創辦人。他曾在劍橋大學皇后學院學習和教授計算機科學，並撰寫了多本計算機科學教科書。