Computer Science, or Informatics as it is often called in Europe, is viewed by many as being both a science and a technology. Clearly, its technological aspects are very much upon us on a day to day basis. Yet all other exact  sciences such as physics, biology or chemistry are also very present in ourdaily lives through the technologies...

What is programming? Programming, according to Dictionary.com, is ‘‘a set of coded instructions that enables a machine, especially a computer, to perform a desired sequence of operations.’’ In other words, programming allows...

Being the de-facto standard for data representation and exchange over the Web, XML (Extensible Markup Language) allows the easy development of applications that exchange data over the Web. This creates a set of data management requirements involving XML. XML and related standards have been extensively applied in many business, service, and...

To say that the graphical imagery in video games is very important to the games industry is a bit of an understatement. The graphics in games are so important that they often can make or break a game's success. It is true that all other aspects of a game are important, but the visuals are at times the main selling point along with game...

With a population in the millions and a monthly growth rate of 20 percent, Second Life® is a virtual 3-D world bursting with opportunities in areas like real estate, legal practice, and marketing, corporate connections, and people just like you. This all-in-one...

Late in 2004 I received a telephone call from Hélène Potter, director of new product development for Macmillan Reference USA—an imprint of Gale. I did not realize immediately that it was the telephone call that would shape a large share of my intellectual activity for the next three years. In fact, I recall hearing about a...

Due to the increasing importance of digital communications, the area of research in coding theory and cryptography is broad and fast developing. In this book there are presented some of the latest research developments in the area. The book grew as a combination of two research conferences organized in the area: the Vlora Conference in Coding...

Adaptive Hypermedia has emerged as an important area of both academic and deployed research. It encompasses a broad range of research that will enable personalized, adaptive hypermedia systems to play an even more effective role in people’s lives. The Web has enabled the widespread use of many personalized systems, such as recommenders,...

After 40 years of practice and theory in compiler construction and 30 years of experience and teaching in software engineering we still observe that safetycritical high-level language programs are certified only together with the corresponding machine code. The reason is that certification institutions do not trust any compiler. And they are...