Probability with R, 2nd Edition

Preface to the First Edition

This book is offered as a first introduction to probability, and its application to computer disciplines. It has grown from a one‐semester course delivered over the past several years to students reading for a degree in computing at Dublin City University. Students of computing seem to be able happily to think about Database, Computer Architecture, Language Design, Software Engineering, Operating Systems, and then to freeze up when it comes to “Probability,” and to wonder what it might have to do with computing. Convincing undergraduates of the relevance of probability to computing is one of the objectives of this book.

One reason for writing this has been my inability to find a good text in which probability is applied to problems in computing at the appropriate level. Most existing texts on probability seem to be overly rigorous, too mathematical for the typical computing student. While some computer students may be adept at mathematics, there are many who resist the subject. In this book, we have largely replaced the mathematical approach to probability by one of simulation and experimentation, taking advantage of the powerful graphical and simulation facilities of the statistical system R, which is freely available, and downloadable, from the web. The text is designed for students who have taken a first course in mathematics, involving just a little calculus, as is usual in most degree courses in computing. Mathematical derivations in the main ...