Microsoft KB Archive/23031

Puzzled Programmers, 15 Mind-Boggling Story Puzzles PSS ID Number: Q23031 Article last modified on 06-12-1987 PSS database name: PRESS

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PUZZLED PROGRAMMERS Michael Wiesenberg $14.95 272 pages ISBN: 1-55615-031-8 Pub. Date: June 30, 1987

Microsoft Press Presents Puzzled Programmers, 15 Mind-Boggling Story Puzzles

Number puzzles and games have always been popular among computer programmers. Michael Wiesenberg, creator of the widely read “Computer Calisthenics” column in A+, has received hundreds of responses to his column from programmers presenting alternate solutions or suggesting puzzles of their own. Now, Wiesenberg has created 15* original, clever, and challenging math puzzles in the new Microsoft Press book, PUZZLED PROGRAMMERS. Here’s a sample:

“Without using a computer or a calculator, can you find three three-digit numbers that use the digits 1 to 9 once each and that, when multiplied together, yield the lowest product? Find three more numbers that yield the greatest product. Can you write a program that finds a four-digit number all of whose integral powers end with the same four digits as the original number? If there are more solutions than one, find them.”

Each puzzle is introduced in story format by a group of characters at I-Q Industries, a fictional computer company in Silicon Valley. As the narrative progresses, so does the complexity of the puzzles. In a separate section, Wiesenberg offers helpful hints for each puzzle. Solutions are then presented in three languages: BASIC, C, and Pascal. The author also explains approaches to avoid. A handy appendix shows how to convert all BASIC programs in the book to Applesoft BASIC. PUZZLED PROGRAMMERS is sure to test the talents and improve the analytical thinking of programmers of all levels. Michael Wiesenberg has written on a variety of computer-related topics for Dr. Dobb’s Journal, MicroTimes, Compute!, inCider, and Desktop Publishing, as well as for The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Jose Mercury-News. He is co-author (with Frederic Davis and John Barry) of Desktop Publishing, published in 1986 by Dow Jones-Irwin. Michael Wiesenberg lives in Palo Alto, California. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ “MSFT”), based in Redmond, Washington, develops, markets, and supports a wide range of software for business and professional use, including operating systems, languages, and application programs as well as books and hardware for the microcomputer marketplace.


 * One of the puzzles originally appeared in an issue of A+. For the book, it is expanded, and solutions are presented in two additional languages.

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1987.