Soon after the publication of my C++ textbook, A First Course in Computational Science and Object-Oriented Programming with C++, in 2005, I conceived of including a yet more compact introduction to C++ in a survey of the entire field of scientific programming. Drawing on 20 years of experience of teaching programming at all levels in both physics and electrical engineering departments, I resolved to both summarize my previous treatment of C++ and incorporate a discussion of the Octave and Java programming languages, focusing on their conceptual foundations. Finally, I would insert many additional scientific programming examples, emphasizing short programs that illustrate key algorithms. By employing only free software, this would create a uniquely comprehensive treatment of the full set of steps from compiler installation to sophisticated scientific programming.

Objective

This textbook overviews modern scientific programming, including numerical analysis, object-oriented programming, scientific graphics, software engineering, numerical analysis and physical system modeling. Consequently, knowledge of the material will provide sufficient background to enable the reader to analyze and solve nearly all normally encountered scientific programming tasks.