9 ms·

Open Data Structures

220 points by xvirk 12y ago

araes 12y ago
If expanded enough, you could easily arrive at the Wikipedia of data structures. A place where, without the cludge of libraries, you could dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure that seems like the best match for what you want, and then implement. Even better if at the top of code I could just put: Language c++ Use OpenData (BarnesHutt BubbleSort SVD) If only these people would tie in with the Computer Language Benchmarks Game so that you would have a feedback mechanism to improve All algorithms (not just the CBG subset) and a natural way to meta rate algorithm implementations vs one another as well as task groups (like "sorting") or languages as a whole.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  We have this already: http://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/ http://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/
- thristian 12y ago
  > A place where, without the cludge of libraries, you could dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure that seems like the best match for what you want, and then implement. Or, in my experience, a place where you can dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure with promising properties, be faced with an opaque wall of math, then copy/paste the data structure's name into Google and spend a day or two trying to find someone or something who will actually explain how to implement it in terms of bits and bytes, rather than polynomials over a Galois field.
  - orbifold 12y ago
    Which why a programming language should ideally support arithmetic in a polynomial ring over an arbitrary field...
- igouy 12y ago
  >>If only these people would tie in with the Computer Language Benchmarks Game<< The Problem Based Benchmark Suite might be a better match: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pbbs/ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pbbs/
  - araes 12y ago
    Maybe, but the PBBS folks don't seem to understand the value of the "hook." They look like they've got a lot of useful bits, but there's not an easy avenue for you to dive in and explore what that means. I've never even played the "game" part of the CLBG, but there's still a whole nother layer of data porn, voyeuristic comparison wanking that draws you in. Heck, even the divisiveness of showing two numbers is enough to drive interest, cause nobody likes seeing their number worse, and everybody secretly loves knowing their choice was right.
olalonde 12y ago
"Pseudocode edition [...] Python sources". This made me laugh more than it should have. As a side note, I uploaded the Python examples to Github for easier navigation: https://github.com/olalonde/ods-python https://github.com/olalonde/ods-python
- bhrgunatha 12y ago
  Sources are already on github - along with the actual book itself: > The book's LaTeX sources, Java/C++/Python sources, and build scripts are available through github[1]. [1] https://github.com/patmorin/ods https://github.com/patmorin/ods
fantan 12y ago
Links didn't look like links so I was really confused with what I was looking at. Content looks interesting though!
- a1369209993 12y ago
  > a { text-decoration: none; } You bastards. (Should be fixable with: a[href] { text-decoration: underline !important; } in userContent.css.)
  - qewrffewqwfqew 12y ago
    What, you don't enjoy scanning your mouse over the whole page to see where it turns into a finger? Come to think of it, that behaviour is distracting .. it's only a matter of time before visual designers catch on that a uniform mouse icon "ehnances usability".
samuell 12y ago
Wow, I have no use of paper books, but would easily donate a few $ as a thanks for the free e-book. No donate button?
- AtmaScout 12y ago
  Same here. I guess by buying it I can support them and write notes on the pages.
Animats 12y ago
It's like Volume I of Knuth, modernized and without as much theory.
super_mario 12y ago
How come the PDFs don't have bookmars? It looks like \usepackage{hyperref} is in LaTeX source, but \hypersetup doesn't have bookmarks=true?
bJGVygG7MQVF8c 12y ago
The bookmark links don't seem to be working for me either. An interesting project, though.
Gankro 12y ago
Oh hey! This is primarily authored by one of my supervisors. It's my go-to source for reviewing basic analyses and implementation details. Totally worth the read!
brudgers 12y ago
Clifford Schaffer's Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis books are online and in their third edition. Hard copies are available from Dover. There's also a full blown open Algorithms and Data Structures curriculum in development. http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/ http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/
muyueh 12y ago
Open "Data Structure" instead of "Open Data" Structure.
- skj 12y ago
  In fact, that's the default grouping. Otherwise, it'd be open-data structures.

220 points by xvirk 12y ago

araes 12y ago

If expanded enough, you could easily arrive at the Wikipedia of data structures. A place where, without the cludge of libraries, you could dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure that seems like the best match for what you want, and then implement. Even better if at the top of code I could just put: Language c++ Use OpenData (BarnesHutt BubbleSort SVD) If only these people would tie in with the Computer Language Benchmarks Game so that you would have a feedback mechanism to improve All algorithms (not just the CBG subset) and a natural way to meta rate algorithm implementations vs one another as well as task groups (like "sorting") or languages as a whole.

jacquesm 12y ago
We have this already: http://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/ http://xlinux.nist.gov/dads/
thristian 12y ago
> A place where, without the cludge of libraries, you could dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure that seems like the best match for what you want, and then implement. Or, in my experience, a place where you can dive into a topic on data structures, apply search refinement until you find a structure with promising properties, be faced with an opaque wall of math, then copy/paste the data structure's name into Google and spend a day or two trying to find someone or something who will actually explain how to implement it in terms of bits and bytes, rather than polynomials over a Galois field.
- orbifold 12y ago
  Which why a programming language should ideally support arithmetic in a polynomial ring over an arbitrary field...
igouy 12y ago
>>If only these people would tie in with the Computer Language Benchmarks Game<< The Problem Based Benchmark Suite might be a better match: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pbbs/ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pbbs/
- araes 12y ago
  Maybe, but the PBBS folks don't seem to understand the value of the "hook." They look like they've got a lot of useful bits, but there's not an easy avenue for you to dive in and explore what that means. I've never even played the "game" part of the CLBG, but there's still a whole nother layer of data porn, voyeuristic comparison wanking that draws you in. Heck, even the divisiveness of showing two numbers is enough to drive interest, cause nobody likes seeing their number worse, and everybody secretly loves knowing their choice was right.

olalonde 12y ago

"Pseudocode edition [...] Python sources". This made me laugh more than it should have. As a side note, I uploaded the Python examples to Github for easier navigation: https://github.com/olalonde/ods-python https://github.com/olalonde/ods-python

bhrgunatha 12y ago
Sources are already on github - along with the actual book itself: > The book's LaTeX sources, Java/C++/Python sources, and build scripts are available through github[1]. [1] https://github.com/patmorin/ods https://github.com/patmorin/ods

fantan 12y ago

Links didn't look like links so I was really confused with what I was looking at. Content looks interesting though!

a1369209993 12y ago
> a { text-decoration: none; } You bastards. (Should be fixable with: a[href] { text-decoration: underline !important; } in userContent.css.)
- qewrffewqwfqew 12y ago
  What, you don't enjoy scanning your mouse over the whole page to see where it turns into a finger? Come to think of it, that behaviour is distracting .. it's only a matter of time before visual designers catch on that a uniform mouse icon "ehnances usability".

samuell 12y ago

Wow, I have no use of paper books, but would easily donate a few $ as a thanks for the free e-book. No donate button?

AtmaScout 12y ago
Same here. I guess by buying it I can support them and write notes on the pages.

Animats 12y ago

It's like Volume I of Knuth, modernized and without as much theory.

super_mario 12y ago

How come the PDFs don't have bookmars? It looks like \usepackage{hyperref} is in LaTeX source, but \hypersetup doesn't have bookmarks=true?

bJGVygG7MQVF8c 12y ago

The bookmark links don't seem to be working for me either. An interesting project, though.

Gankro 12y ago

Oh hey! This is primarily authored by one of my supervisors. It's my go-to source for reviewing basic analyses and implementation details. Totally worth the read!

brudgers 12y ago

Clifford Schaffer's Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis books are online and in their third edition. Hard copies are available from Dover. There's also a full blown open Algorithms and Data Structures curriculum in development. http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/ http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/

muyueh 12y ago

Open "Data Structure" instead of "Open Data" Structure.

skj 12y ago
In fact, that's the default grouping. Otherwise, it'd be open-data structures.