We all have witnessed the rapid development of computer science and its applications in many domains, particularly in Web-based computing (Web 2.0), cloud computing, and mobile computing. However, as a science discipline, the fundamentals of computer science, including programming language principles and the classic programming languages, are stable and do not change with the technological innovations. C, C++, Scheme, and Prolog belong to the classic programming languages that were developed many decades ago and are still the most significant programming languages today, both in theory and in practice, which has allowed the second edition of this text that covers these languages to survive and remain relevant for six years. However, the technologies that surround these languages have been changed and improved, and we feel that it is time to update the text. The main changes are on the programming environments that provide hands-on learning experiences of these languages.

In the third edition, chapter 5 is completely rewritten. The previous editions used Arity Prolog. The development environment of Arity Prolog is no longer available. When we teach, we have been using the GNU Prolog programming environment to execute the Arity Prolog programs. Although most examples in the book worked in the GNU Prolog environment, there are certain incompatibility issues. In this edition, we have moved from Arity Prolog to GNU Prolog. We had the choice of using GNU Prolog or SWI-Prolog. As running programs in a Unix environment is a part of the course objectives, we decided for GNU Prolog. However, we have tested all the examples in the book in SWI-Prolog. There are no incompatibility issues; and thus, instructors can choose to use the SWI-Prolog environment when teaching from this book.

In chapter 5, we also discuss the applications of Prolog in the semantic Web (Web 3.0) and its relationship with the currently used Web semantic languages RDF (Resource Description Framework) and OWL (Web Ontology Language). Semantic Web is considered the next generation of Web that allows the Web to be browsed and explored by both humans and computer programs. In the third edition revised print, this chapter is further expanded with the latest computing technologies in cloud computing and big data processing.

Since the publication of the second edition in 2006, the programming environment for chapter 4, on Scheme, has been changed from DrScheme to DrRocket. The change does not affect the examples in the text. They all work in the new DrRocket environment, except certain notational issues. We have updated chapter 4 to match the changes made in DrRocket.

As parallel computing and multithreading are becoming more and more important in software development, this edition adds a new section, section 3.6 parallel computing and multithreading in C++, in chapter 3. A MapReduce example is used as a case study for explaining multithreading in C++. The parallel computing concept is also emphasized in chapter 4, where the eager evaluation and higher functions Map and Reduce are linked to parallel computing.

The programming environments for C/C++ in chapters 2 and 3 are also updated from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2010.

Various updates, improvements, and corrections have been made throughout the book in the third edition, in the main text, in appendices, and in homework and programming exercises, thanks to feedback from the instructors who adopted the text and students who used the text in the past six years.

In the second edition, the major change made was the inclusion of programming in Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Since the publication of the first edition in 2003, SOA programming has emerged as a new programming paradigm, which has demonstrated its strength to become a dominating programming paradigm. All major computing companies, including HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and Sun Microsystems, have moved into this new paradigm and are using the new paradigm to produce software and even hardware systems. The need for skill in SOA programming increases as the deployment of SOA applications increases. This new SOA paradigm is not only important in the practice of programming, but it also contributes to the concepts and principles of programming theory. In fact, SOA programming applies a higher level of abstraction, which requires fewer technical details for building large software applications. We, the authors of this book, are leading researchers and educators in SOA programming. The inclusion of the new chapter on C# and SOA programming makes the text unique, which allows teaching of the most contemporary programming concepts and practice. The new chapter also gives professors a new component to choose from, which adds flexibility for them to select different contents for different courses. As SOA has developed significantly in the past six years, this chapter is also updated for the third edition; for example, an introduction to cloud computing is included in this edition.

This edition of the text consists of six chapters. A half-semester course (25 to 30 lecture hours) can teach from two to three chapters, and a full semester course can teach four to five chapters of choice from the text. Chapter 3 (C++) is closely related to chapter 2. If chapter 3 is selected as a component of a course, chapter 2, or a part of chapter 2, should be selected as well. Other chapters are relatively independent of each other and can be selected freely to compose a course.

For a half-semester course, sensible course compositions could include: (chapters 1, 2, 3); (chapters 2, 3); (chapters 1, 2, 6); (chapters 2, 3, 6); (chapters 1, 4, 5); and (chapters 4, 5). For a full semester course, sensible course compositions could include: (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6); (chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6); and (chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

The authors wish to thank particularly our colleagues Calvin Cheng and Ruben Acuna, who taught the parallel sections of CSE 240 and have contributed to the teaching materials added into the third edition.

Please contact the authors for instructional support at “text.cse240@asu.edu” or “yinong@asu.edu”. Available materials include lecture slides in PowerPoint format, sample tests, assignments, and the solutions to the tests and assignments.

Yinong Chen and Wei-Tek Tsai

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