Essential Computer Science

Table of Contents
About the Authors
About the Contributors
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of a Computer System
	von Neumann Architecture
	CPU: Fetch, Decode, Execute, and Store
		Fetch
			Instruction Set Architecture
			Registers
		Decode, Execute, and Store
		Controlling the Flow
		The Stack
		Instruction Pipeline
		Flynn’s Taxonomy
	Main Memory and Secondary Storage
	Input and Output (I/O)
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 2: Programming
	Programming Language Fundamentals
		Hello, World!
		Compile, Link, and Load
		High-Level Languages
	Programming Paradigms
		Imperative Programming
		Declarative Programming
		Object-Oriented Programming
		Interpreted Programming
		Parallel Programming
		Machine Learning
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 3: Algorithm and Data Structure
	What Is an Algorithm
	Good and Not So Good Algorithm
		Time/Space Complexity
		Asymptotic Notation
	Fundamental Data Structures and Algorithms
		Store (Data Structure)
			Stack
			Queue
			Tree
			Graph
			Linked List
			Array
			Dictionary
			Making Use of the Data: Searching, Sorting
	Problem Solving Techniques
		Recursion
		Divide and Conquer
		Brute Force
		Greedy Algorithms
	Class of Problems
		NP-Complete and NP-Hard Problems
	Databases
		Persistence and Volume
		Fundamental Requirements: ACID
		Brief History of Database System Evolution
		Most Prominent Current Database Systems
		Relational Data and SQL
			Structured Data/Unstructured Data
		NoSQL
			Examples of NoSQL Databases
			Graph DB: Neo4j
			Column Family DB: Bigtable and Cassandra
			Document DB: CouchDB and MongoDB
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 4: Operating System
	What Is an Operating System
		OS Categories
	Why We Need an OS
		Purpose of an OS
		Complex and Multiprocessor Systems
		Multitasking and Multifunction Software
		Multiuser Systems
		Why Is It Important to Know About the OS?
	Responsibilities of an OS
	Scheduling
		Program and Process Basics
		Process States
		Process Control Block (PCB)
		Context Switching
		Scheduling
		Scheduling Criteria
		Thread Concepts
	Memory Management
		Address Binding
		Logical vs. Physical Address
		Inter-process Communication
			Shared Memory Method
			Message Passing Method
			Further Reading
	I/O Management
		I/O Subsystem
			Block Devices
			Character Devices
			Special Instruction I/O
			Memory-Mapped I/O
			Direct Memory Access (DMA)
		Polled vs. Interrupt I/Os
		I/O and Performance
		Synchronization Concepts
			Critical Sections
			Mutex
			Semaphore
			Deadlocks
	File Systems
		File Concepts
		Directory Namespace
			Access Control
			Concurrency and Cleanup Control
	Access and Protection
		Rings: User Mode and Kernel Mode
		Virtualization
		Protection
	User Interface and Shell
	Some OS Specifics
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 5: Computer Networks and Distributed Systems
	History and Evolution of Networks and the Internet
	Protocols: Stateful and Stateless
	Internet Protocol (IP): TCP and UDP
		Host, IP Address, MAC Address, Port, Socket
		DNS and DHCP
		Proxy, Firewall, Routing
	Distributed Systems: Prominent Architectures
		Client Server
		Peer to Peer
		N-Tiered
	Distributed System Examples
		FTP
		The World Wide Web
	Case Study: Web Application
		System Architecture
		HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
		Front End
		Back End
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 6: Computer Security
	Access Control
		Confidentiality
		Integrity
		Availability
		Symmetric Key Cryptography
		Asymmetric Key Cryptography
		Digital Signatures
		Digital Certificates
		Certificate Chains
		Salts and Nonces
		Random Numbers
		Security in Client Computing Systems
		Malware, the Bad Apples of Software
			Security of Data at Rest
			Security of Data in Use
			Application vs. Kernel vs. Drivers
			User Authentication and Authorization
		Trusted Execution Environments and Virtual Machines
			Secure Boot
			Secure I/O
			Digital Rights Management
	Communication Security: Security of Data in Motion
		Transport Layer Security
		Virtual Private Network
		IP Security
	Writing Secure Programs: Where Do We Start?
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 7: Cloud Computing
	Cloud Computing Models
		IaaS
		PaaS
		Serverless
		SaaS
		Comparison of Cloud Computing Models
	Benefits of Cloud Computing
		Cost
		Scalability
		Velocity
		Reliability and Availability
		Productivity
		Performance
		Ease of Use and Maintenance
	Cloud Deployment Configurations
		Private Cloud
		Public Cloud
		Hybrid Cloud
		Ideal Cloud Deployment Configuration
			Multi-cloud Model
	Cloud Configuration Interface/Mechanism
	Cloud Service Providers
		Considerations in Choosing a CSP
		Motivation for Switching CSPs
			Usage and Pricing Change
			CSP Ecosystem Change
			Regulatory, Privacy, and Business Dynamics Change
	Considerations for Developing Portable and Interoperable Cloud Solutions
		Interoperability vs. Portability
			Interoperability Challenges
			Portability Challenges
		Containers, Docker, and Kubernetes
			Benefits of Containers and Container Orchestration
				Security
				Scalability
	The Way Forward
		Recommendations
	Summary
	References and Further Reading
Chapter 8: Machine Learning
	Brief History of Machine Learning
	Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning
	Fundamental Tenets of Machine Learning
		Models
		Training
		Prediction (Inference)
	Categories of Machine learning
		Supervised Learning
		Unsupervised Learning
		Semi-supervised Learning
		Reinforcement Learning
	Machine Learning in Practice
		Leading Machine Learning Frameworks
	Machine Learning and Cloud Computing
	The Way Forward
	Summary
	References
Appendix A: Software Development Lifecycle
	Planning
	Analysis
	Architecture and Design
	Implementation
	Test
	Deploy
	Maintenance
Appendix B: Software Engineering Practices
	Planning and Management Practices: Agile
		Scrum
		Kanban
		Analysis and Design
		Scaling Agile Practices
	Documentation
		Requirements, Design, and Architecture
		Comments and Code
		User
	Testing
		Phases and Categories of Testing and Goals
			Algorithm Testing, Unit Testing, Integration Testing, and the Like
		Test-Driven Development
	Developing for Debug
		Asserts and Exceptions
		Logging and Tracing
	Source Control Management
		Purpose and Mechanism
		Tools
			Perforce Helix
			Git
	Build Optimizations and Tools
		Purpose and Mechanism
		Tools
			Make
			Gradle
			Cmake and Ninja
	Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery
		Purpose and Mechanism
		Tools
			Jenkins
			CircleCI
			GitLab CI/CD
Appendix C: ACPI System States
	Global and System States
	Device States
	Processor States
Appendix D: System Boot Flow
Index