Book Description
* Provides a comprehensive introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation
* Each data structure is presented using ADTs and their respective implementations
* Helps provide an understanding of the wide spectrum of skills ranging from sound algorithm and data structure design to efficient implementation and coding of these designs in C++
Wiley Higher Education
Customer Reviews:
Meh..........2007-08-22
While I think that the other reviewers might be a little too harsh on this book, it definitely leaves a lot to be desired. It is not written very well at all (confusing language and sentence structure) and skims over important topics while going into too much detail on pointless ones. There is still a lot that can be learned from this book, but I would recommend checking out the alternatives.
Not a self-study tool.......2005-12-23
This book is very bad unless you have a good teacher to supplement. I used this book only to understand concepts that I wasn't clear on during the class lectures. In short, a horrible book if you want to self-teach but not too bad if you just want it as a supplement.
Worst Textbook I've Ever Used.......2005-12-05
This is honestly one of the worst if not the worst textbooks i have ever used. I am a computer science major at the University of Buffalo and was required to use this book for a course with the same name. This book is full of useless examples that demonstrate the easiest of concepts while there are huge holes in coverage of harder concepts in the book. The end of the chapter exercises are terrible and are not explained in the chapters preceding them. Stay away from this text.
I would give it 0 stars if I could.......2005-07-24
This is a very frustrating book. The writing is horrible, there are no sample exercises in the book so when you go to do an assignment from the exercises, there is no example of how to approach the problem. There is a "hint database" on their online website that gives you one line of how to approach a problem, but even that is hit or miss and can make things even more confusing. In short, I didn't learn any more about data structures than I didn't already know from my previous courses.
If you are looking for a book that explains things in a much better format, look for the Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++ by Weiss. It explains things so much better.
Don't waste your money on this, and if you have to buy it for a class, definitely buy used. I'm selling mine back to the school bookstore!!
The worst DSA book ever written!.......2005-03-02
This is one of the dozens of Data Structures and Algorithms books in the market and till now the worst I've ever seen. I have taken two DSA courses in my undergrad years, and now as a grad, I'm TAing that course.
The theoretical treatment of the book is superficial and too childish. Yet, there's too little practical value. They discuss the unnecessary linked list implementations of trees which is quite confusing for students. I am also amazed that they do not mention finding or removing an element in a BST. And, more importantly there's too little discussion of graphs.
I don't understand those professors trying to bog down students with useless details and complicated C++ codes. Rather, they should give the intuition and the theory behind the data structures and algorithms. Weiss' book is much better than this one. But, even that is obsessed with doing tricky things with C++.
Anyway, to sum up: This book is a garbage. Stay away unless it's required for the course you're taking in case you may need to do homeworks and such.
Customer Reviews:
I'm fed up with these books.......2006-03-22
I bought these two book for one reason: to get help implementing algorithms. Since there is lot of code in these books, I thought this would be a good pick. I was wrong. The author is consistently leaving out details vital to understanding the code. He also makes a big deal about abstract data types. This is gloriously of the case. If the readers are supposed to understand the code, transperency would be a more intelligent goal for the author. There are no comments in the code what so ever (yes, this is actually true, not even in the on-line code). The on-line code to this book is a total mess. You would be able to implement all the algorithms from scratch in less time than it would take you to try an piece together the code the author has left for you.
The pity is that there are very few other algorithm books that have real code. Demand a new edition from the author and don't by this one unless you can avoid it.
Best of the bunch.......2004-08-19
I had to teach this subject and this book seemed the best of the bunch though still not ideal. Why does the author have to use meaningless variable names (i,j,k), do comments make the code run more slowly. My main criticism is the examples and I would recommend the author use professional coding practices, comment the code, use meaningful variable names and structure it for readability. Else recommended for this subject
The best book for beginners.......2002-07-26
Sedgewick's 'Algorithms in C' is undeniably the best book for beginners studying about algorithms and data structures. The text is clear, lucid, and the programming examples are very well documented. The exercises and problems stimulate thoughts and help in developing a better understanding of the subject. All the key aspects of the subject are sufficiently addressed, and discussed in the best possible way. It's the code in the book that I love the most, it can be compiled on almost any compiler without almost any change being made to it. I would strongly recommend this book as a textbook to all beginners embarking on a study of data structures and algorithms.
Lucid thought process - excellent coverage & examples.......2002-07-25
I have quite a few books on algorithms and C programming, and this probably takes the cake. Sedgewick writes clearer than perhaps anyone on the subject. The book is filled to the gills with tiny 20 line (complete) programs that do amazing things - such as the program to compute all the prime numbers less than N (provided as input). These examples are typically given to illustrate some point (such as using dynamic array allocation for storing which numbers are prime) - but the short, concise algorithms given in the examples are learning aids as well (i.e. - I didn't know you could calculate a list of primes so easily, and I can probably take this knowledge and use it somewhere else). The reader is challenged to alter the examples (instead of using an array to store which numbers are prime, use a bitmap). Because the examples are small, compact, and easy to read, this provokes one to actually sit down and try and play with them. In contrast, I also have the Algorithms In C O'Reilley book by Kyle Loudon and after reading the Sedgewick title, I'm throwing that away. That book spends 1/3 of the chapter describing the algorithms, and then spends the rest of it in user-interface code examples. Of course, all the user interfaces for all the examples in the book are pretty much the same, so the whole book is filled with redundant useless code. More analysis, less filler, please. As Sedgewick was a student of Knuth, I consider his books as the practical guide to Knuth's tomes (which seem out of date - do we really need algorithm analysis on external storage these days??), which are filled with rigorous mathematical analysis. I highly recommend this book(s) -- actually there are two, with the second volume covering graphs. I wish my University had used these texts in programming / algorithm analysis courses. I really don't have any negative commentary -- other than the nitpick that his coding style is very compact and skeletal --> main(){ for(...) do_something;} However, since the examples are so small, it hardly matters.
Book Description
Robert Sedgewick has thoroughly rewritten and substantially expanded andupdated his popular work to provide current and comprehensive coverage ofimportant algorithms and data structures. Christopher Van Wyk and Sedgewickhave developed new C++ implementations that both express the methods in aconcise and direct manner, and also provide programmers with the practicalmeans to test them on real applications. Many new algorithms are presented, and the explanations of each algorithmare much more detailed than in previous editions. A new text design anddetailed, innovative figures, with accompanying commentary, greatly enhancethe presentation. The third edition retains the successful blend of theory andpractice that has made Sedgewick's work an invaluable resource for more than250,000 programmers! This particular book, Parts 1-4, represents the essential first half of Sedgewick'scomplete work. It provides extensive coverage of fundamental data structuresand algorithms for sorting, searching, and related applications. Although thesubstance of the book applies to programming in any language, theimplementations by Van Wyk and Sedgewick also exploit the natural matchbetween C++ classes and ADT implementations. Highlights
Expanded coverage of arrays, linked lists, strings, trees, and other basic
data structures Greater emphasis on abstract data types (ADTs), modular programming, object-oriented programming, and C++ classes than in previous editions
Over 100 algorithms for sorting, selection, priority queue ADT implementations, and symbol table ADT (searching) implementations
New implementations of binomial queues, multiway radix sorting, randomized BSTs, splay trees, skip lists, multiway tries, B trees, extendible hashing, and much more Increased quantitative information about the algorithms, giving you a
basis for comparing them Over 1000 new exercises to help you learn the properties of algorithms Whether you are learning the algorithms for the first time or wish to have up-to-date reference material that incorporates new programming styles with classic and new algorithms, you will find a wealth of useful information in this book.
Customer Reviews:
I wish I had this when I was in college.......2007-07-24
This book puts most of my college textbooks to shame. Not that they were bad, but really this is a step above. Sedgewick is a master at distilling difficult concepts into just a few lines of code, and then talking the reader through all of the implications of any design decision. For a professional who needs to reacquaint himself with the basic principles of algorithms, and needs some simple code to get started on coding a solution, this cannot be beat. While I am not in school anymore, I feel this can also be a great supplemental text for any serious Computer Science university student, although it's possible that the focus on C++ implementations may not be ideal for curricula where Java is the mainstay.
One of the factors that I did not see mentioned in other reviews is that Sedgewick's visual representations of the algorithms are phenomenal. In older algorithms textbooks, these have always been represented by small diagrams--if any--that show what happens when an algorithm is used to attack a small problem (say, a linked list with 10 nodes). This text shows a visual representation of those small cases, but then goes the extra mile to show visual representations of the same algorithm when scaled to a variety of massive inputs. These representations are a great tool for comparing the scalability of various algorithmic approaches against one another.
Crunch Time.......2002-03-31
When you are ready to take the bold step into algorithms, this book is a great second step. I say second step because I think it helps if you read "teach yourself algorithms in 21 days" before this book.
This book deals with a good number of algorithms and does not shy away from reasonable analysis. The book helped a lot when I was having problems with putting a good harsh function together.
The chapter on recursion is also very good too.
In order to write decent code you have to know about this difficult/painful subject and this book takes some of that pain away.
Good documentation of basic data structures.......2001-10-27
I purchased this book to refresh my memory on data structures with templates. It is well written in most spots and provides excellent examples. I would recommend this book to any intermediate c++ programmer who wishes to learn/relearn advanced data structures such as Linked Lists,Hash,QuickSort,etc....
C++ Algorithms.......2001-10-22
This book is full of great information on C++ algorithms. There are many excellent examples, and the author presents the gammit as far as topics. They really open up your mind to possibilities. The reading at times is rough going, though (very dry). Sample code or examples to download may be found at the publisher's website instead of the one printed in the book.
Excellent, Exhaustive (but not rigorous).......2001-10-21
If you're looking for an exhaustive, upto-date reference/textbook for
fundamental, searching and sorting algorithms, then this is one of
the very best available.
Sedgewick has split his popular book into two volumes, with Graph
algorithms being hifted to the second volume. Moreover, many advanced
topics like computational geometry, fft, number theoretic algorithms
etc, which were introduced in the previous edition, seem to be missing
now - so the breadth of coverage seems to have reduced, which is a pity.
However, the depth has increased instead - i doubt that even Knuth
covers more sorting algorithms ! In particular, there are several
recent algorithms and data structures which are treated in greater
detail here than by Knuth. Of course, Knuth analyses all the
algorithms he presents in rigorous and exhaustive detail, which
this book doesn't.
Moreover, the book has many new algorithms and presents the state of the
art in sorting and searching algorithms, giving it a distinct advantage
over the older books.
Sedgewick makes it very clear in the preface that the emphasis is on
the practical importance of the algorithms, so esoteric algorithms which
are important 'only in theory' may find no mention. Also the emphasis is
more on the design of algorithms than on their analysis.
The number of (exercise!!) problems has multiplied manifold in this edition
to become more than most competing textbooks. Problems are graded by
difficulty level to help you choose the ones relevant to your needs.
The exposition is clear and authoritative - Prof. Sedgewick is a leading
authority in the field of algorithms and a student of Donald Knuth.
He has a gift for making difficult concepts seem simple, and the great
illustrations in the book go a long way in explaining the behaviour of
the algorithms.
For the practising professional, this is an ideal reference, since it'll
help you select the best algorithm for your task without bogging you
down with heavy mathematics.
The reasearcher, on the other hand, may benefit by gaining unique insights
from a master of the area, while using other books for the detailed
analysis of algorithms, including prehaps Sedgewick's own book on the
analysis of algorithms(with Flajolet).
A caveat - the code may not be 'ready to run'. It's better not to rely
on this book to provide you with usable code - if that is what you want,
perhaps the books by Drozdek/Weiss/Heileman/Rowe might be better choices.
If you want C code rather than C++, then the C version of this book is
a good choice, since the code provided is of 'K & R' class and therefore
a delight to read.
Of course, if you're looking for a language independent coverage,
then 'Introduction to algorithms' by Cormen,Leiserson and Rivest is
possibly the best book which combines rigor with comprehensive coverage
of the most important algorithms. Look out for the newly released
second edition.
And if you want a more rigorous and equally exhaustive coverage of
sorting and searching, go for Knuth vol.3 - still the authoritative
reference, though it may require more hard work on the reader's part.
Otherwise, invest in this and you won't be disappointed.
Book Description
Michael Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia, authors of the successful, Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, 2/e, have written Algorithm Engineering, a text designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the design, implementation and analysis of computer algorithms and data structures from a modern perspective. This book offers theoretical analysis techniques as well as algorithmic design patterns and experimental methods for the engineering of algorithms.
Market: Computer Scientists; Programmers.
Customer Reviews:
Egh! Good science bad english.......2006-10-25
I'm a grad. student using this book, and understanding the written language amounts to same sensation as you would get during root canal. While examples are concise, pseudo-code is excellent, despite the few actual examples in Java, it covers vast range of topics rather well. But for crying out loud, hire an editor for the next edition that will break down paragraph long sentences and introduce some readability to the text! For that reason I tend to gravitate to my undergrad books for my current studies.
An excellent textbook.......2005-03-15
After researching a variety of alternatives, I settled upon using Algorithm Design by Goodrich and Tamassia to teach a junior-level algorithms course and the experience has been quite positive.
While instructor material grows a bit sparse in the last half or third of the book, it's still quite useful. The slides are great and many of the problems have solutions available. Moreover, the solutions tend to be correct (I've only found two mistakes, which may be covered in the up-to-date errata).
The layout of the sections and chapters is quite natural and easy to adapt to your own course, although the last third of the book is essentially an assortment of topics that didn't fit in anywhere else. I would advise bringing some of those topics in to the course early on as diversions from the main material, which admittedly can get a little dry.
For the most part, the book is well written with interesting and adequete end of chapter problems. There are relatively few Java-based examples, but we skipped over them anyhow -- the pseudo-code is quite acceptable. Goodrich and Tamassia give a broad survey of topics, but cover them in enough depth and with enough rigor for an undergraduate course where CLR(S) would be overkill. I recommend it.
A good introduction text to algorithms.......2002-12-18
I would not consider this book as the ultimate book for algorithms as the title suggests. :-) However, it is a very readable book, and filled with brief, but concise observations. Do not get me wrong. This book also has very detailed explanations of fundamental data structures and algorithms.
Also, the best part of the book is that it lists good references for further readings. I loved this book. I would suggest this book to others. Math hints at the back of the books are useful, and some excercises are quite brain challenging. I think it is a great practice for students, but it is not so fun when students get it for assignments. :-)
Good Fundamentals.......2002-07-01
There are many good books with this title or similar ones. This is probably one of the better ones for your bookshelf and for use in academia. The examples are written in Java (a current language) and they are easy to read. The presentation is clean and illustrative. The authors have a good track record for expertise and papers published, and you get the sense that it is more real-world than most similar books.
Average customer rating:
- Probably OK
- good, concise algorithm book ruined by comment
- Good book, but HORRIBLE CODING STYLE!!!
- Not worth your time or money
- pretty concise and covers enough ground
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Mastering Algorithms with C (Mastering)
Kyle Loudon
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ASIN: 1565924533 |
Amazon.com
Written with the intermediate to advanced C programmer in mind, Mastering Algorithms with C delivers a no-nonsense guide to the most common algorithms needed by real-world developers.
The highlight of the book has to be its concise and readable C functions for all the algorithms presented here, including basics like linked lists, stacks to trees, graphs, and sorting/searching algorithms. The C functions that implement these algorithms are clearly printed and remarkably easy to read. You can use this sample code directly or adapt it into your C/C++ code.
Although mathematical concepts like Big-O notation are discussed, the authors don't get bogged down in the computer science theory surrounding algorithms. Instead, they present the most tried-and-true algorithms available today in an efficient format. Besides introducing each algorithm, they describe how each is used in computing today, along with a short demo application. Some of these samples are quite low-level, such as a virtual memory manager implemented with linked lists. Most examples are more of general interest, such as a graphing example that counts network hops.
Each section ends with questions and answers about how the algorithms work, along with references to other algorithms (both in the book and from other sources). The authors concentrate on the most useful algorithms available today and don't try to cover every available variation. Busy readers will appreciate the intelligent selection--and efficient presentation--used here.
There are a number of books on C algorithms, but Master Algorithms with C is one of the most concise and immediately useful. It's a perfect choice for the working C/C++ programmer who's in a hurry to find just the right algorithm for writing real-world code. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Algorithm efficiency, pointer basics, arrays, recursion, Big-O Notation, linked lists, stacks, queues, sets, hash tables, trees and B-trees, searching, heaps and priority queues, graphs, sorting and searching algorithms, numerical methods, data compression, Huffman coding, LZ77, data encryption, DES, RSA, graph algorithms, minimum spanning trees, geometric algorithms, and convex hulls.
Book Description
There are many books on data structures and algorithms, and some books laying out useful libraries of C functions, but this book aims to give you a unique combination of theoretical background and working code. In offering robust solutions for everyday programming tasks, Mastering Algorithms with C avoids the abstract style of most classic data structures and algorithms texts but still provides all the information you need to understand the purpose and use of common programming techniques. Implementations, as well as interesting, real-world examples of each data structure and algorithm, are shown in the text. Full source code appears on the accompanying disk. Using both a programming style and a writing style that are exceptionally clean, Kyle Loudon shows you how to use such essential data structures as lists, stacks, queues, sets, trees, heaps, priority queues, and graphs. He shows you how to use algorithms for sorting, searching, numerical analysis, data compression, data encryption, common graph problems, and computational geometry. He also describes the relative efficiency of all implementations. The compression and encryption chapters not only give you working code for reasonably efficient solutions, they explain concepts in an approachable manner for people who never have had the time or expertise to study them in depth. Anyone with a basic understanding of the C language can use this book. In order to provide maintainable and extendible code, an extra level of abstraction (such as pointers to functions) is used in examples where appropriate. Understanding that these techniques may be unfamiliar to some programmers, Loudon explains them clearly in the introductory chapters. Contents include:
- Pointers
- Recursion
- Analysis of algorithms
- Data structures (lists, stacks, queues, sets, hash tables, trees, heaps, priority queues, graphs)
- Sorting and searching
- Numerical methods
- Data compression
- Data encryption
- Graph algorithms
- Geometric algorithms
Customer Reviews:
Probably OK.......2007-07-16
The book is probably OK, but there are better, much better ones on the subject. I highly recommend looking at "The Algorithm Design Manual", just search Amazon and you'll find it.
good, concise algorithm book ruined by comment.......2004-12-13
compare to most algorithm/data structure books out there, this book is not as complete as those, but it's much easier to read, and diagrams in this book is well drawn and much eaiser to follow. Why would I only give it 3 stars? One thing really ruined this book - obviously the publisher/editor/author try to increase the total page number by putting ridiculously big comment block in sample code(single line comments takes about 5 lines, all surrounded by '*' and spaces) This made the sample code difficult to read, imagine a 5 line function has to be printed in 2 or 3 pages.
Good book, but HORRIBLE CODING STYLE!!!.......2004-11-09
The book contents is good, the algorithms presented are more or less well explained and the implementeations themselves are not bad (but could be better).
Unfortunately this book has 2 mayor problems:
Sometimes you need an implementation of an algorithm for which you already know the inner-workings, just need quick code instead of reinvening the wheel yourself... the book will not allways give you that, it will sometimes build an algorithm based on previous ones! Darn!, I am supposed to go straight to the point I want and get the code without having to read a couple of previous sections.
Second and worst of all is the coding style this guy has. I don't know what the other reviwer that said that the code is great programs in but certainly not in C. The author of the book simply has the worst style ever... look at the comments, a one line comment surrounded by a box!!! give-me-a-break!... where did he learn this? He should read a book about style, perhaps read Code Complete by Steve McConnel or something before attempting to write code. Anyway this is just one of the many style flaws this book has.
If I could I would return it, after all, you can get mostly any implementation from the internet (I had to do that or would have wasted lots of time and... time is money).
If well written, the book would have been 1/2 its size and then it would have been good.
Why 3 stars? Well, in spite of the poor programming style and bad presentation of some algorithms, if you have time and patience, you get someting out of the book. Just don't use the coding style he uses... if you try that at work you would be fired or at least laughed at.
Not worth your time or money.......2003-04-17
To be fair and honest, I have not read this entire book and that is because I've read far better ones. If you are interested in this topic (and if you're a programmer or computer scientist, you should be), look to Robert Sedgewick's excellent "Algorithms in C" in two volumes, or "Mastering Algoritms" by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein. While the algorithms in Cormen, etc.'s book are not in C, they are in a pseudo language that easy to convert to C. I'm really, really glad I looked this book over before flushing my (limited) money away.
pretty concise and covers enough ground.......2002-07-27
Sure, we all have learnt algorithms back in school. We know the fundamentals, we can talk about them, no sweat. But when it comes the time to actually write out an algorithm in C, we all struggle like George W writing SAT. That's why an algorithm book with real useable sample codes is very useful. O'Reilly has a good reputation for pumping out reference books, but there are, inevitably, hits and misses in the series. This volume is a hit. It covers most frequently used everyday algorithms without going into some obscure and generally useless NP-class problems. Full example codes are given on a floopy for easy porting.
Customer Reviews:
Great Introductory Book.......2005-10-30
I actually feel that this book is a mixed bag. On one hand, the concepts are intuitively presented and are easy to understand. On the other hand, the book doesn't delve too much into technical details, which may or may not be a godsend to various students. Personally, I'd rather use the Drozdek Data Structures text, since it goes into much more detail into analysis and logic behind choosing various data structures and algorithms in order to implement an ADT.
Anyway, it's still a great textbook for an introductory course in data structures. Just be sure to get another textbook on the same material down the road if you want to get a more detailed understanding of the concepts presented.
Crisp as New........2005-09-17
The book shouldn't be called Used, its was Crisp as New, and exactly what you wanna expect at the start of a new class, having a colourful mak free book in your hands.
Great book.......2005-06-18
The coverage of C++ and data structures looks pretty good. There are lots of programming examples, and the book is written very well. I'm recommending it for our 2nd year course in data structures and C++. Our students know Java, but not C++, so it's been a challenge finding a data structures book that packages a semi-introductory version of C++ with a standard course in data structures. This book appears to be the best suited out of about 5-10 books that I've reviewed for this course.
Data Structures with C++ and STL not only for C programmers.......2004-09-28
I am teaching the second programming / first data structure course in the department of electrical and computer engineering. I have used the first edition of this book several times, and as of fall of 2004 I am into the third of semester of using this second edition as a mandatory text.
This book is very good for students who already know how to program in C, C++ or Java. The first C or C++ course does not have to cover introduction to OOP though. My students learn C part of C++ in the first programming course. This book covers object oriented programming part of C++, and introduces/reintroduces pointers, file IO with streams, and C++ strings (good for former Java programmers). Then it follows into data structures. It starts with its own definitions of dynamic array that grows, and a simple linked list as basic data containers. Then it focuses on organizing access to data with stack and queue, and then migrates to the standard template library (STL). Everything is kept on the undergraduate student level. All other STL books I know assume that you are already an expert in programming or at lest for students after two programming courses, and are too difficult for average non-CS students.
I originally rated the first edition with four-stars only because it introduced pointers very late, out of the proper sequence and added the fifth star for the unique blend of introduction to OOP C++ and data structures, and STL. However, this edition is free from this inconvenience and it also makes C++ and data structures course accessible to former Java programmers. It gets true five stars from me this time.
Book Description
In this second edition of his successful book, experienced teacher and author Mark Allen Weiss continues to refine and enhance his innovative approach to algorithms and data structures. Written for the advanced data structures course, this text highlights theoretical topics like abstract data types and the efficiency of algorithms, as well as performance and running time. This edition also includes a new chapter on advanced data structures and material on the Standard Template Library that conforms to the new standard. In addition, all code has been updated and tested on multiple platforms and conforms to the ANSI ISO Final Draft standard. Before covering algorithms and data structures, the author provides a brief introduction to C++ for programmers unfamiliar with the language. All of the source code will be available over the Internet. Dr. Weiss also distinguishes the book with his clear, friendly writing style, logical organization of topics, and extensive use of figures and examples that show the successive stages of an algorithm.
Customer Reviews:
Great book on data structures!.......2007-05-24
This is a great book on data structures. It covers both basic and more advanced data structures.
Good Read for Computer Scientists.......2007-03-10
I use this book for my Data Structures & Algorithms class as a sophomore Computer Science major.
This book is a tad bit on the advanced side, but the explanations and examples are great all the way through. There's a certain level of knowledge that is expected and it doesn't let up. I'm not too keen on how good the practice problems are, but the few that i've done require a high level of concentration. Before reading, make sure you're up on proofs (read: proofs EVERYWHERE).
I do think it'd be a good addition to any programmer's collection.
Concepts explained well........2006-01-04
I thought that this book did its job in explaining the data structures under consideration effectively, but I did not like the author's coding style, and this is nothing more than taste. The book's goal is the teaching of data structures and it did this. Overall, though, this book is a good reference.
This is a great book. Made for REAL programmers........2005-09-16
I had the luxury of having Dr. Weiss at Florida International University. He was a great professor and as a result I bought this book expecting a great book. The book turned out to be better than expected.
If you hate math and cannot program in C++, then this is not the book for you. However, if you desire to learn data structures effectively then you have found the book you have been looking for.
Poorly Written, No Answers to Exercises, Avoid purchase........2005-04-18
Another drab computer science book written by someone who likes to complicate the obvious and oversimplify the complicated.
It is obviously geared toward dry mathematical types, and if you're one of those it might possibly be partially stimulating. The mathematical notation is unfortunately quite poor, many letters (which seem to represent constants and sometimes variables?) are ambiguously defined. Not to mention how half assed the "proofs" are. My linear algebra and differential equations teacher would roll over in her proverbial grave.
The code examples are halfway decent, however using one letter variable names is something a beginner quickly learns to stop doing. Why does this guy do it?
The one thing that I like is his use of line up curley braces.
Requiring readers to visit some website to obtain portions of missing code defeats the purpose of writing a book.
Why don't I just read a bunch of webpages instead of buying this flavorless thing. Code "snipits" are another big mistake, they're only understood if their context is explained well, which this shabby author cannot do. He seems to assume we have some clairvoyant abilities. A hint of color might at least keep me awake, but I guess that would have required putting some thought into the book's layout.
The hash table chapter is a wonderful example of how this author is a detached weirdo who can't put himself in the place of his readers. Saying "in the above example" in reference to an example that was FOUR pages ago is thoroughly idiotic and unnecessarily confusing. Several "examples" appeared after the one he referred to. Naming the page number would only take a few more letters i.e. "in the above example(p.54)"
And saying "using the same hash function" after showing us 3 different hash functions has the same perplexing effect. How about "again using h(x) = x%10," it would use less ink and make more sense.
The true reason I hate this book though, is that its exercises have no answers, not even to the odd questions or just some selected questions. Nothing.
Thus, the exercises are completely useless.
In order to prepare for my exam I've had to check out other books because this one doesn't cut it. I even found a much older edition of this book and by its similarity it's clear he's just recycling it for financial gain. Again Exercises and no solutions. How do I know if I'm doing them correctly?! As with physical exercise, exerting yourself the wrong way can be quite detrimental!
This author needs to take a communication 101 class or read some of Deitel & Deitel's books. Avoid purchasing this book unless you have to!
Customer Reviews:
Missing parts.......2007-08-30
What happened to the sections on string processing, geometric algorithms, and advanced topics? The Introduction says parts 5-8 are contained in a separate volume, but the second volume contains only the part on Graphs (which the intro says is supposed to be Part 7) What gives?
Interesting.......2006-03-17
If you need a book to introduce yourself in data structures, thats not your book. This books are for consult, not to learn, cos there are leaks : insuficient code, insuficient large explanations and drawings about TDAs. Furthermore, its expensive.
Even trough that, Id recommended part 5 because its a good collection of the most used algorithms based in graphs.
If you want to _really_ understand red-black trees............2005-06-08
Any professional programmer would benefit from having these books at hand. Excellent discussions of the basic algorithms which every programmer needs to know.
But I would like to particularly highlight the discussions on binary and n-ary search trees. The most enlightening discussion in print, giving the reader a real synoptic view of search tree algorithms, how they evolved, and their culmination in red-black trees.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the algorithms as presented here seem to be just warmed=over versions of their C counterparts presented in the C edition of this work. There is a germ of truth to this, but I really don't consider it to be a valid criticism of the books. The point here is not to present C++ coding techniques, but to understand algorithms. If you want to know what a state-of-the art C++ implementation of Red-Black trees looks like, just read the source code which comes with the GNU compiler toolchain. But you're not going to have a prayer of understanding it until you first understand how Red-black trees work--that's where this book comes in. If you are trying to explain the Red-black tree algorithm, you don't want all of the C++ do-dads and optimizations, templates, etc, all cluttering up the presentation of the skeletal algorithm.
Book Description
C# programmers: no more translating data structures from C++ or Java to use in your programs! Mike McMillan provides a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms plus the first comprehensive reference for C# implementation of data structures and algorithms found in the .NET Framework library, as well as those developed by the programmer. The approach is very practical, using timing tests rather than Big O notation to analyze the efficiency of an approach. Coverage includes arrays and array lists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, and sorting and searching algorithms, as well as more advanced algorithms such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming. This is the perfect resource for C# professionals and students alike.
Customer Reviews:
Too many errors and omissions to be a great book.......2007-10-01
This book had the potential to be great but missed it's mark. The number of coding and textual errors is just too great for a book of this type. In addition, the coverage of the 'primitive' array and ArrayList items is, I feel incomplete...they're used a whole lot but how they're actually implemented isn't even touched upon (yes, they're language features...but it'd be nice to get some sort of insight here!).
I had such high hopes for this book; one which was missing from the C# armoury and essential to those of us who don't have a conventional Comp Sci background. This book just doesn't cut it...a second edition with better coverage and VASTLY better editing is needed.
Reading more, wish I could change my rating to 1 star (Amazon doesn't seem to allow this...). This is just an insulting book for the price...the number of errors and inaccuracies is remarkable...don't buy this!
Too Many Mistakes!!!.......2007-09-29
Intersting topic, wish it was a good book, but don't waste your money. No exaggeration, every page has at least one error. It seems as though the person writing the code and the person writing the text never talked to each other.
Sure, most of the errors are small, but I'd move on to another book. Data structures are best learned in c/c++ anyway. Get a c++ data structure book, then read about c# collections online and you're done.
Gravely Disappointed.......2007-08-03
I'm sorry to say that as somebody who has worked in this industry for about 8 years but came to it without a Computer Science degree, using this book to round out any final knowledge of things like data structures and algorithms was not very helpful. Sure it had chapters about things like sorting and searching (bubble sort, selection sort, BSTs etc.), but the presentation is pretty awful. Basically, it seems like this book might be good for Michael McMillan to be teaching a classroom with where he can have everybody follow along while he explains the notes in his book on the whiteboard, but don't try to use this book and try to learn on your own, he doesn't know how to teach very well.
Basically, he would quickly talk about a concept and then show a code sample. He did not walk through what was in the code or how he arrived at the code or what the point of the code was. He merely talked about the patterns of say a bubble sort, and then showed you a sample piece of code and left you to figure out how that might acheive those results. You are not going to be able to learn what the code's intent is by simply pushing a sample in front of some one and say "here look, i did this, so do only and exactly this next time."
It also seems to demonstrate his inability to get this book done. Note that the release date for this book got moved back time and time again, and it appears as though finally he just slapped the minimialistic amount of required content together to be able to say he completed the book.
Finally, anyone and everyone who has commented that his code samples are error prone are absolutely correct. I'm not entirely sure that this book was editted. There are constant mistakes throughout the dialog as well as the mistakes in code and I feel sorry for any beginners or C# newbies that are trying to make sense of what he left on paper.
In short, there are other books out there, but if you're set on learning algorithms for C#, there appear to be other books on the way.
I certainly hope that Michael McMillan is at least disappointed with his own efforts here. He really let himself and the developer community down with this offering.
Disappointing :-(.......2007-06-13
About half way through the book, and I am sadly disapointed and am beginning to wish I hadn't purchased this book. The examples printed in the book are grossly incorrect, variables used in the examples where something entirely different is referred to in the text, syntactically incorrect variables in a lot of the examples, and figures are even in consistent. I looked through the pages for an author email addy or someplace to go for eratta, but could find no such thing. I will keep reading through this but its costing me more work trying to figure out what the author really meant then the amount of information I am getting back in return... they really should have proof read this one a little better... my recommendation... do not buy it, or at least until they have fixed the errors.
Clearly written; great for non-Computer Science majors.......2007-06-13
This book contains a clear exposition of common data stuctures and some algorithms. I think it is particularly useful for developers like me who came to the profession indirectly without having first been computer science majors.
The book was ported from the original VB.NET version and suffers from only a few lapses in translation.
Average customer rating:
- DataStructure/Algorithms/VB.Net
- Excellent
- Programmer
- introductory algorithm course
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Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.NET
Michael McMillan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521547652 |
Book Description
Including a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms and a reference for implementation using VB.NET and the .NET Framework Class Library, this is the first Visual Basic.NET book to provide a comprehensive discussion of the major data structures and algorithms. Michael McMillan presents arrays and arraylists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, sorting and searching as well as more advanced algorithms, such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming in an object-oriented fashion. Finally, the professional or student VB.NET programmer has a dedicated reference instead of having to translate material on C++ or Java.
Download Description
This is the first Visual Basic.NET book to provide a comprehensive discussion of the major data structures and algorithms. Here, instead of having to translate material on C++ or Java, the professional or student VB.NET programmer will find a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms and a reference for implementation using VB.NET for data structures and algorithms from the .NET Framework Class Library as well as those which must be developed by the programmer. In an object-oriented fashion, the author presents arrays and arraylists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, sorting and searching as well as more advanced algorithms, such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming. His approach is very practical, for example using timing tests rather than Big O analysis to compare the performance of data structures and algorithms. This book can be used in both beginning and advanced computer programming courses that use the VB.NET language and, most importantly, by the professional VB programmer.
Customer Reviews:
DataStructure/Algorithms/VB.Net.......2007-10-01
For some of us learning programming has been less of a structured approach and more of a journey, picking up what we could as we went along. This book is a significant aid in that it takes us back to the basics of how to write problem solving code and at the same time giving us an extended toolbox to apply to how we perform it. It has been a real help to me by reinforcing things to me that I thought I understood, and teaching me new ways to do things that I had no idea on how to approach.
Al Edlund
Excellent.......2007-09-20
I have selected this book to be the textbook of an introductory course in data structures and algorithms for my second year programming students. There were three major reasons behind this choice:
1- The book doesn't go into the mathematics found in other books. Of course, mathematics are essential for those who want to create algorithms, but it's not the case for the majority of programmers, at least in the business computing field, who just want to implement them. On the contrary, I think that teaching the mathematics underlying the construction of algorithms makes the learning process unnecessarily hard.
2- On the data structures field, the book takes advantage of structures already implemented in the major development platforms. As the author says it: "students of data structures and algorithms can now see how to use a data structure before learning how to implement it" (Preface, p. vii). From an educational standpoint, this is a far better approach than starting to discuss a concept abstractly.
3- The examples are in VB .NET, which I consider a good starting programming language. For those who rather prefer another language, the author has recently published the same book for C#: "Data Structures and Algorithms Using C#".
In a word, I consider this book an excellent practical approach to learn common data structures and algorithms without going into the complexity of mathematics.
Programmer.......2006-12-14
Michael McMillan's "Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.Net" is an excellent resource for the serious programmer using Visual Basic.Net. With the advent of the .Net technology there have been some major changes to Visual Basic, one of them being the collection classes. Most vb reference books provide a weak introduction to the collections and how to use them; this is the focus of the book and really allows the reader to gain enough confidence to start using them effectively in their own programs.
I look forward to more books from this author.
introductory algorithm course.......2005-09-10
McMillan does for Visual Basic in .NET what other languages like Java, C and C++ have long had. Fundamental data structures like hash tables or hash sets, arrays, linked lists. He shows how to use these in the VB context. They greatly simplify your programming tasks. These constructs are so widely used in any practical programming language.
Without them, you find yourself having to tediously reinvent basic functionality. Adding little value. And with the risk that your implementations might be buggy.
McMillan shows how to use the structures in several algorithms. Having said that, this book will not be of any surprise to someone already familiar with algorithms. It does not go into these to the depth of Knuth's 'Art of Computer Programming', or Sedgewick's texts.
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