This book offers a gentle motivation and introduction to computational thinking, in particular to algorithms and how they can be coded to solve significant, topical problems from domains such as finance, cryptography, Web search, and data compression. The book is suitable for undergraduate students in computer science, engineering, and applied mathematics, university students in other fields, high-school students with an interest in STEM subjects, and professionals who want an insight into algorithmic solutions and the related mindset. While the authors assume only basic mathematical knowledge, they uphold the scientific rigor that is indispensable for transforming general ideas into executable algorithms. A supporting website contains examples and Python code for implementing the algorithms in the book.

To truly understand how the Internet and Web are organized and function requires knowledge of mathematics and computation theory. Mathematical and Algorithmic Foundations of the Internet introduces the concepts and methods upon which computer networks rely and explores their applications to the Internet and Web. The book offers a unique approach to mathematical and algorithmic concepts, demonstrating their universality by presenting ideas and examples from various fields, including literature, history, and art. Progressing from fundamental concepts to more specific topics and applications, the text covers computational complexity and randomness, networks and graphs, parallel and distributed computing, and search engines. While the mathematical treatment is rigorous, it is presented at a level that can be grasped by readers with an elementary mathematical background. The authors also present a lighter side to this complex subject by illustrating how many of the mathematical concepts have counterparts in everyday life. The book provides in-depth coverage of the mathematical prerequisites and assembles a complete presentation of how computer networks function. It is a useful resource for anyone interested in the inner functioning, design, and organization of the Internet.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference, FUN 2014, held in July 2014 in Lipari Island, Sicily, Italy.

The 29 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They feature a large variety of topics in the field of the use, design and analysis of algorithms and data structures, focusing on results that provide amusing, witty but nonetheless original and scientifically profound contributions to the area. In particular, algorithmic questions rooted in biology, cryptography, game theory, graphs, the internet, robotics and mobility, combinatorics, geometry, stringology, as well as space-conscious, randomized, parallel, distributed algorithms and their visualization are addressed.