Skip to content
Register Sign in Wishlist

Introduction to Probability for Computing

$69.99 (C)

textbook
  • Date Published: September 2023
  • availability: In stock
  • format: Hardback
  • isbn: 9781009309073

$ 69.99 (C)
Hardback

Add to cart Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
eBook


Request examination copy

Instructors may request a copy of this title for examination

Description
Product filter button
Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
  • Learn about probability as it is used in computer science with this rigorous, yet highly accessible, undergraduate textbook. Fundamental probability concepts are explained in depth, prerequisite mathematics is summarized, and a wide range of computer science applications is described. Throughout, the material is presented in a “question and answer” style designed to encourage student engagement and understanding. Replete with almost 400 exercises, real-world computer science examples, and covering a wide range of topics from simulation with computer science workloads, to statistical inference, to randomized algorithms, to Markov models and queues, this interactive text is an invaluable learning tool whether your course covers probability with statistics, with stochastic processes, with randomized algorithms, or with simulation. The teaching package includes solutions, lecture slides, and lecture notes for students.

    • Designed to teach students about probability as it is used in computer science curricula today
    • Includes many examples and applications specific to computer science, including hash table design, capacity provisioning in data centers, web page ranking, disk modeling, virus propagation, deducing signals in noisy environments, error correction, caching, and primality testing
    • Fully rigorous, yet accessible for students, with an interactive question-and-answer style focusing on intuition-building
    • Includes full-color illustrations, numerous examples, and nearly 400 exercises
    Read more

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘Based on 20 years of teaching Computer Science and Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Harchol-Balter provides a unique presentation of probability and statistics that is both highly engaging and also strongly motivated by realworld computing applications that students will encounter in industry. This book is approachable and fun for undergraduate students, while also covering advanced concepts relevant to graduate students.’ Eytan Modiano, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    ‘This book provides a fantastic introduction to probability for computer scientists and computing professionals, addressing concepts and techniques crucial to the design and analysis of randomized algorithms, to performing well-designed simulations, to statistical inference and machine learning, and more. Also contains many great exercises and examples. Highly recommend!’ Avrim Blum, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago

    ‘Mor Harchol-Balter’s new book does a beautiful job of introducing students to probability! The book is full of great computer science-relevant examples, wonderful intuition, simple and clear explanations, and mathematical rigor. I love the question-answer style she uses, and could see using this book for students ranging from undergraduate students with zero prior exposure to probability all the way to graduate students (or researchers of any kind) who need to brush up and significantly deepen (and/or broaden) their knowledge of probability.’ Anna Karlin, University of Washington

    ‘Probability is at the heart of modeling, design, and analysis of computer systems and networks. This book by a pioneer in the area is a beautiful introduction to the topic for undergraduate students. The material in the book introduces theoretical topics rigorously, but also motivates each topicwith practical applications. This textbook is an excellent resource for budding computer scientists who are interested in probability.’ R. Srikant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    ‘I know probability theory, and have taught it to undergrads and grads at MIT, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. Yet this book has taught me some wonderfully interesting important material that I did not know. Mor is a great thinker, lecturer, and writer. I would love to have learned from this book as a student - and to have taught from it as an instructor!’ Manuel Blum, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University

    See more reviews

    Customer reviews

    Not yet reviewed

    Be the first to review

    Review was not posted due to profanity

    ×

    , create a review

    (If you're not , sign out)

    Please enter the right captcha value
    Please enter a star rating.
    Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

    How do you rate this item?

    ×

    Product details

    • Date Published: September 2023
    • format: Hardback
    • isbn: 9781009309073
    • length: 555 pages
    • dimensions: 250 x 175 x 30 mm
    • weight: 1.23kg
    • availability: In stock
  • Table of Contents

    Preface
    Part I. Fundamentals and Probability on Events:
    1. Before we start ... some mathematical basics
    2. Probability on events
    Part II. Discrete Random Variables:
    3. Probability and discrete random variables
    4. Expectations
    5. Variance, higher moments, and random sums
    6. z-Transforms
    Part III. Continuous Random Variables:
    7. Continuous random variables: single distribution
    8. Continuous random variables: joint distributions
    9. Normal distribution
    10. Heavy tails: the distributions of computing
    11. Laplace transforms
    Part IV. Computer Systems Modeling and Simulation:
    12. The Poisson process
    13. Generating random variables for simulation
    14. Event-driven simulation
    Part V. Statistical Inference
    15. Estimators for mean and variance
    16. Classical statistical inference
    17. Bayesian statistical inference
    Part VI. Tail Bounds and Applications:
    18. Tail bounds
    19. Applications of tail bounds: confidence intervals and balls-and-bins
    20. Hashing algorithms
    Part VII. Randomized Algorithms:
    21. Las Vegas randomized algorithms
    22. Monte Carlo randomized algorithms
    23. Primality testing
    Part VIII. Discrete-time Markov Chains
    24. Discrete-time Markov chains: finite-state
    25. Ergodicity for finite-state discrete-time Markov chains
    26. Discrete-time Markov chains: infinite-state
    27. A little bit of queueing theory
    References
    Index.

  • Author

    Mor Harchol-Balter, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
    Mor Harchol-Balter is the Bruce J. Nelson Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a Fellow of both ACM and IEEE. She has received numerous teaching awards, including the Herbert A. Simon Award for teaching excellence at CMU. She is also the author of the popular textbook Performance Analysis and Design of Computer Systems (Cambridge, 2013).

Related Books

also by this author

Sorry, this resource is locked

Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]

Register Sign in
Please note that this file is password protected. You will be asked to input your password on the next screen.

» Proceed

You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.

Continue ×

Continue ×

Continue ×
warning icon

Turn stock notifications on?

You must be signed in to your Cambridge account to turn product stock notifications on or off.

Sign in Create a Cambridge account arrow icon
×

Find content that relates to you

Join us online

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more Close

Are you sure you want to delete your account?

This cannot be undone.

Cancel

Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.

If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.

×
Please fill in the required fields in your feedback submission.
×