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Related: What books or other resources would HNers recommend for someone with limited algorithm and data structure experience who wants to beef up via self-stud

by adbge 15y ago

Related: What books or other resources would HNers recommend for someone with limited algorithm and data structure experience who wants to beef up via self-study? I'm specifically interested in books/other resources that lend themselves to self-study. It's easy enough to look up what MIT is using for their Intro to Algorithms course, but it's harder to gauge if a book or other resource is suitable for usage outside of a classroom setting. Bonus points if it has a practical focus so that I can quickly add the gleaned knowledge to my real-world toolkit.

reginaldo 15y ago
The standard reference (in the "That's what MIT uses" sense) is Introduction to Algorithms[1], as you probably know. It is a wonderful book and I have a copy that is wearing of because I use it so much. As for "outside of a classroom setting", the best book I can recommend is "The Algorithm Design Manual" [2]. It is worth its weight in gold. Very user friendly, as I never though an algorithms book could be. It contains dense material, but at the same time reading it feels like reading a good fiction book. I first heard of it while reading Steve Yegge's post "get that job at google"[3], bought a copy and, wow, what an amazing book. [1] http://mitpress.mit.edu/algorithms/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/algorithms/ [2] http://www.algorist.com/ http://www.algorist.com/ [3] http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-google.html http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-goog...
- mcantor 15y ago
  For anyone trying to buy "The Algorithm Design Manual" (or at least add it to their Amazon wish-list with a dreamy sigh), It seems like the "correct" version is here: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/dp/1849967202/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/... I was a bit flummoxed at first because algorist.com doesn't tell you how to buy the thing, and the Kindle edition appears to be out of date (based on the first edition, obsoleted by the second edition from 2010).
  - reginaldo 15y ago
    Sorry about that. I should have linked to the Amazon page in the first place (who am I kidding?). You linked to the correct version.
tikhonj 15y ago
Another good option is Algorithms by S. Dasgupta, C.H. Papadimitriou, and U.V. Vazirani. A draft is available at http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms.html http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms.html. I find this book readable and interesting; it does tie the algorithms to practical applications at a high level. It is language-agnostic, so it should be a good fit for almost anybody.
bmohlenhoff 15y ago
http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Nutshell-OReilly-George-Heineman/dp/059651624X http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Nutshell-OReilly-George-Hei... The book was written as a companion to Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS and is comparatively lighter on theory, but still a handy desk reference. disclaimer: it was written by my undergraduate advisors
sateesh 15y ago
I have found "Foundations of Computer Science" by Aho and Ullman approachable. The book is available online at: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html

by adbge 15y ago

reginaldo 15y ago

The standard reference (in the "That's what MIT uses" sense) is Introduction to Algorithms[1], as you probably know. It is a wonderful book and I have a copy that is wearing of because I use it so much. As for "outside of a classroom setting", the best book I can recommend is "The Algorithm Design Manual" [2]. It is worth its weight in gold. Very user friendly, as I never though an algorithms book could be. It contains dense material, but at the same time reading it feels like reading a good fiction book. I first heard of it while reading Steve Yegge's post "get that job at google"[3], bought a copy and, wow, what an amazing book. [1] http://mitpress.mit.edu/algorithms/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/algorithms/ [2] http://www.algorist.com/ http://www.algorist.com/ [3] http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-google.html http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-goog...

mcantor 15y ago
For anyone trying to buy "The Algorithm Design Manual" (or at least add it to their Amazon wish-list with a dreamy sigh), It seems like the "correct" version is here: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/dp/1849967202/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/... I was a bit flummoxed at first because algorist.com doesn't tell you how to buy the thing, and the Kindle edition appears to be out of date (based on the first edition, obsoleted by the second edition from 2010).
- reginaldo 15y ago
  Sorry about that. I should have linked to the Amazon page in the first place (who am I kidding?). You linked to the correct version.

tikhonj 15y ago

Another good option is Algorithms by S. Dasgupta, C.H. Papadimitriou, and U.V. Vazirani. A draft is available at http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms.html http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms.html. I find this book readable and interesting; it does tie the algorithms to practical applications at a high level. It is language-agnostic, so it should be a good fit for almost anybody.

bmohlenhoff 15y ago

http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Nutshell-OReilly-George-Heineman/dp/059651624X http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Nutshell-OReilly-George-Hei... The book was written as a companion to Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS and is comparatively lighter on theory, but still a handy desk reference. disclaimer: it was written by my undergraduate advisors

sateesh 15y ago

I have found "Foundations of Computer Science" by Aho and Ullman approachable. The book is available online at: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html