Thomas W. Christopher Consulting in High Performance Computing.
Training in Concurrency, Networking, and Parallelism, especially in Python and Java.
TC's Web T-shirt shop
A collection of T-shirt, other apparel, and other designs for creative people: epigrams,  anti Intelligent Design, Hubble photos, da Vinci paintings, humor, Unitarian Universalist, Secular Humanist...

Professional

Most cherished endorsement

TO TOM CHRISTOPHER

who taught me the importance of investigating "crazy" ideas.

- Philip J. Hatcher

From the dedication in the book: Philip J. Hatcher and Michael J. Quinn, Data-Parallel Programming On MIMD Computers, The MIT Press, 1991.

Books

This book teaches the Python programming language with a emphasis on how to use it to write larger programs. It describes and demonstrates over 20 object-oriented design patterns. It provides code for abstract container data types: doubly-ended queue, set, and priority queues. It has the best explanation of threading in Python of any current book. It explains the re module and the use of regular expressions in pattern matching. This book really kicks ass: There is enough in there to learn Python, files and processes in Linux, principles of networking, how to put together a home or small business network, how to set up Apache, how to write CGI programs, and how to use MySQL. It includes a working web-commerce application and a wiki system we're calling "slither" (hence the web site name).
Icon Programming Language Handbook

This book shows you how to use threads in Java. It provides a significant package of thread synchronization and scheduling classes for your use. It includes examples of a number of parallel algorithms showing different parallel programming styles. Reviewers are calling the book excellent, the "best of breed."

This book is provided free on the web for download. It describes the Icon programming language, which is available from http://www.cs.arizona.edu/icon

The authors

From left at publication party at Merl's Smokehouse in Evanston IL:
 John Shafaee, Thomas Christopher, George Thiruvathukal

 

About Thomas Christopher

After 20 years as a professor of computer science, Thomas Christopher resigned to write books full time for two years. (He likes to watch academics turn pale when they hear that.) He is an author of three books published by Prentice Hall. His second negative royalty statement encouraged him to pursue his long term interest in high performance computing by becoming a consultant. His clients have included Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Thomas was a co-principal of Tools of Computing LLC, a Chicagoland training company, that presented a series of Java short courses. He is brushing them off and updating them to offer again.

For fun, Thomas is a part time writer, speaker, storyteller, poet, Unitarian Universalist lay preacher, and a contra dancer, teacher, and choreographer.

Contact

1140 Portland Place #205
Boulder CO 80304

303-709-5659

tc AT tools-of-computing.com

Links

ThomasChristopher.INFO
Overall story.
Computer Science Page
Algorithm animations, software, writings.
Web T-shirt shop
A collection of T-shirt, other apparel, and other designs for creative people. 
ToolsOfWit.com
Thomas Christopher's Wit, Humor, and Creativity pages.
http://www.tools-of-computing.com
The Tools of Computing home page.