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> I usually recommend people read "Algorithms" by Sedgewick instead. I mean, they’re not really comparable. One will teach you computer science and algorithms.
by slavapestov 4y ago
> I usually recommend people read "Algorithms" by Sedgewick instead.
I mean, they’re not really comparable. One will teach you computer science and algorithms. The other will tell you about Bernoulli numbers and the Gamma function, with a historical aside about the solution to the cubic equation, and then show you a neat trick for encoding some linked list manipulation in a handful of instructions on a fantasy CPU.
- adastra22 4y agoYou are correct. Let me rephrase: if, like OP, you are a working professional wondering if you should get a firmer foundation in your field by reading Knuth, my recommendation would be to read Sedgewick first. (Or one of many other comparable works; Sedgwick is just the one I used.) The useful, practical knowledge is roughly the same in both works. But Knuth comes at it from a very unique, principled, ab initio perspective that is perhaps more valuable if you want to go into academic research.