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The Final Word

This book is meant to motivate and inspire. While each chapter describes a different

problem, there is an underlying theme that you would have observed—​that “common

sense” can be augmented to do superior things. Being able to write a program gives

you the ability to transform a mind-​boggling problem to a series of steps that will

ultimately lead you to the solution. Writing a program is a one-​time effort which can

save you many hours of mundane and repetitive work.

I hope you will be inspired to look at a mundane task in your daily routine and

pause to ask yourself “Why am I doing this again? Is there a better way to do this?

Can I ask my computer to do it?”

If you are a person who loves solving riddles, this is a perfect book for you to be

entertained by the numerous puzzles discussed in this book. The problems discussed

are universal. The solutions are based on a coding platform that is already available

to you if you are a Microsoft Excel user. The code solutions provided work best on

Windows systems and have been tested in Windows 10. That being said, they should

work in earlier versions with minor edits.

I have described the algorithms to a point where you will enjoy solving the enigma

yourself. At the end of each chapter, there are a few problems to kindle your curiosity

and extend your augmented common sense (ACS). These exercises will unlock your

problem-​solving skills and help you discover the power of logic.

If you are a smart new age reader, you may be on this page already, trying to find

out why you should be reading this book. My advice to you is that you read each

chapter in sequence since the chapters are arranged in an increasing order of diffi­

culty. And also, the fun of learning programming is in doing it rather than reading

it. All the codes in this book are original—​written by me—​and available for you to

download and modify as needed. Try the code on your computer as you continue to

progress through your chapters. Most readers will want to read the chapters a few

times to test out the ideas discussed. Some readers will probably want to further

develop the ideas presented here, and some of those improvements may lead to great

innovations of the future!