Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists (Foundations of Computing) | 
 enlarge | Author: Benjamin C. Pierce
Publisher: The MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 298957
Media: Paperback
Pages: 114
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.9 x 0.5
ISBN: 0262660717
Dewey Decimal Number: 511.3
EAN: 9780262660716
Publication Date: August 7, 1991
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Product Description
Category theory is a branch of pure mathematics that is becoming an increasingly important tool in theoretical computer science, especially in programming language semantics, domain theory, and concurrency, where it is already a standard language of discourse. Assuming a minimum of mathematical preparation, Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists provides a straightforward presentation of the basic constructions and terminology of category theory, including limits, functors, natural transformations, adjoints, and cartesian closed categories. Four case studies illustrate applications of category theory to programming language design, semantics, and the solution of recursive domain equations. A brief literature survey offers suggestions for further study in more advanced texts. Benjamin C. Pierce received his doctoral degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Contents: Tutorial. Applications. Further Reading.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 the best understaning of categories you can get May 6, 2002
Ondrej Rypacek (Prague, Europe)
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
This book is tiny in volume but large in contents. It does not only provide the definitions of the fundamental concepts but also clear explanations and motivations of why must everything be defined that way, which are not always found in other texts. Plenty of the right examples help you build the right intuitions. The case studies at the end put everything into context and prepare you for CS texts on semantics, type theory, etc.
If you want to UNDERSTAND this wonderful theory read this book!
Clear and concise December 13, 2001
Michael Rosenborg (Canyonville, OR USA)
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is an excellent introduction to category theory, not just for computer scientists, but for mathematicians as well. The author has a very clear writing style--it's evident that he writes to help people to understand the subject, and not to show off his knowledge. The examples illustrating various principles are easy to understand, especially the ones used to illustrate adjoints, arguably one of the more difficult concepts in category theory. This book also comes with a very valuable annotated bibliography, enabling one to intelligently choose from the many books and articles in this burgeoning field.Read this book before you tackle Mac Lane.
This book is a CCC. October 12, 2001
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
Which stands for "Compact, Complete, and Comprehensible".
It is fairly easy to read, has every basic aspects of Category Theory, and has a lot of good examples.
If you would like to know the first step of Category Theory and you are in CS realm, this book is the one you have to try.
Good Introduction February 20, 2007
grrdo (Toronto, Canada)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been reading several different category theory texts recently, and this one was very succinct and accessible. Particularly useful for understanding functional programming.
A Good Read August 24, 2008
Jason Dusek (San Francisco, CA USA)
This book is not exactly what I would call easy going. I've managed to get through half of it in 7 months. However, I can say, with absolute confidence, that if you do the problems you will learn.
Most everything I've seen on category theory is a confusing mixture of different notations with seemingly identical meanings (but in fact the meanings are totally different). This book is no exception. Often, I have resorted to IRC to sort things out when some notation is simply impenetrable to me. My mathematical training stopped at complex calculus, so this may not apply to you if you've had abstract algebra or something a little more 'meta'.
There seems to be one typographical error, but I am not sure. In the example on the adjunction between products and exponentiation, the right adjoint is listed as "(_)^A x A" but in the diagrams it ends up as "(_)^A". This may be a sensible ellision, but it is not explained anywhere in the text and of it's not easy to find these things on the internet.
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