View source for Walls and Mirrors

{{short description|Computer science textbook}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title      = <!--(see above)-->
| name              = Walls and Mirrors
| image             = Wallsandmirrors.jpg
| image_size        = 
| border            = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = ''Walls And Mirrors'', Modula-2 Edition, 1988.
| author            = Paul Helman and Robert Veroff
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = 
| series            = 
| release_number    = 
| subject           = [[Computer science]]
| set_in            = 
| publisher         = 
| publisher2        = 
| pub_date          = 
| english_pub_date  = 
| published         = 1986
| media_type        = Print
| pages             = 
| awards            = 
| isbn              = 0-8053-8940-7
| isbn_note         = 1st edition
| dewey             = 001.642
| congress          = QA76.6
| notes             = 
| exclude_cover     = 
| website           = 
}}
'''''Walls And Mirrors''''' is a [[Computer science|computer science]] textbook, for undergraduates taking a second computer science course (typically on the subject of data structures and algorithms), originally written by Paul Helman and Robert Veroff. The book attempts to strike a balance between being too mathematically rigorous and formal, and being so informal, practical, and hands-on that computer science theory is not taught.

The "walls" of the title refer to the [[Abstract data type|abstract data type]] (ADT) which has a wall between its public interface and private implementation. Early languages like Pascal did not build this wall very high; later languages like Modula-2 did create a much stronger wall between the two; and object-oriented languages such as C++ and Java implement walls using the class concept.

The "mirrors" of the title refer to [[Recursion|recursion]]. The idea is of looking at a reflection in two mirrors placed in opposition to one another, so a repeated image is reflected smaller and smaller in them.

== Editions ==
The first edition, which used the language [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], was published in 1986.

An edition that used [[Modula-2]] was published in 1988. Modula-2 had much better support for the sort of ADT the book taught than Pascal.

Later editions from the mid-1990s and the 2000s used [[C++]] and [[Java (programming language)|Java]], reflecting a fundamental shift in how computer science was taught. The original authors' names have been removed from the most recent editions of the book.

===Publication History===
* ''Walls and Mirrors, Intermediate Problem Solving and Data Structures'' (Pascal edition) (1986), Paul Helman and Robert Veroff. {{ISBN|0-8053-8940-7}} (Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.)
* ''Walls and Mirrors, Intermediate Problem Solving and Data Structures'' (Modula-2 edition) (1988), Paul Helman and Robert Veroff. {{ISBN|0-8053-8945-8}} (Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.)
* ''Intermediate Problem Solving and Data Structures: Walls and Mirrors'', Second Pascal edition, (1991),  Paul Helman, Robert Veroff, and Frank M. Carrano. {{ISBN|0-8053-0321-9}} (Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.)
* ''Data Structures and Problem Solving with Turbo Pascal: Walls and Mirrors'', (1993), Frank M. Carrano, Paul Helman, and Robert Veroff.  {{ISBN|0-8053-1217-X}} (Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.)
* ''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', (1995), Frank M. Carrano, Paul Helman, and Robert Veroff. {{ISBN|0-8053-1226-9}} (Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co.)
* ''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Second edition, (1998), Frank M. Carrano, Paul Helman, and Robert Veroff. {{ISBN|0-201-87402-4}} (Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.)
* ''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with Java: Walls and Mirrors'', (2001), Frank M. Carrano and Janet J. Prichard. {{ISBN|0-201-70220-7}}. (Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Third edition, (2002), Frank M. Carrano and Janet J. Prichard. {{ISBN|0-201-74119-9}} (Pearson Education, Inc.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with Java: Walls and Mirrors'', Updated edition (2004), Frank M. Carrano and Janet J. Prichard. {{ISBN|0-321-19717-8}} (.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Fourth edition, (2005), Frank M. Carrano. {{ISBN|0-321-24725-6}} (Pearson Education, Inc.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with Java: Walls and Mirrors, Second edition'', (2006), Frank M. Carrano and Janet J. Prichard. {{ISBN|0-321-30428-4}}. (Pearson/Addison Wesley)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Fifth edition, (2007), Frank M. Carrano. {{ISBN|0-321-43332-7}}. (Pearson Education, Inc.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with Java: Walls and Mirrors, Third edition'', (2011), Janet J. Prichard and Frank M. Carrano. {{ISBN|0-13-212230-8}}. (Addison Wesley, an imprint of Pearson)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Sixth edition, (2013), Frank M. Carrano and Timothy M. Henry. {{ISBN|0-13-292372-6}}. (Pearson Education, Inc.)
*''Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++: Walls and Mirrors'', Seventh edition, (2017), Frank M. Carrano and Timothy M. Henry. {{ISBN|0-13-446397-8}}. (Pearson Education, Inc.)

[[Category:Computer science books]]

{{Sourceattribution|Walls and Mirrors|1}}