How many textbooks are there? How much does the average textbook cost? What percentage of the average textbook is irrelevant to you because it's either too complex, too unfocused, or just plain irrelevant to the subject at hand?
With this book, you are getting a brief survey of over 100 terms and topics inherent to the study of computer science, through blog-like topical focuses and a rich glossary.
As one previewer (a NASA engineer with decades of experience in the field) puts it, "It's drinking from a fire hose, but it beats filtering through lots of chaff."
Cross-indices between the glossary and the text provide you with the resources you need to immerse your mind in the field. When you are done, you will have a foundation to begin deeper study of hardware, software, programming, and theory.
As the author, I have to say I'm proud of my work. I never would have believed I could condense a semester of computer science education into about 100 pages, but there you have it.
Because this book was written specifically for the Kindle format, I employed borderline-excessive hyperlinks, allowing the reader to bounce from the text to the glossary and back in a span of seconds.
This is the course they should make every aspiring Computer Science major take before they begin programming. Encapsulated in this short piece are over 100 essential terms and concepts in the areas of logic, programming, hardware, networks, engineering, and software.
I don't think my book is necessarily worthy of the five-star rating (because I'm extremely picky), but this is the sort of work I wish I'd had years ago.