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48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inexpensive, excellently written, and quite interesting!, November 14, 2002
This review is from: Combinatorial Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity (Dover Books on Computer Science) (Paperback)
I had this book on my shelf for two years before taking a serious look at it, and only wish I had read it much earlier in life. Christos Papadimitriou has written quite a gem! On one hand this book serves as a good introduction to combinatorial optimization algorithms, in that it provides a flawless introduction to the simplex algorithm, linear and integer programming, and search techniques such as Branch-and-Bound and dynamic programming. On another, it serves as a good reference for many graph-theoretic algorithms. But most importantly Papadimitriou and Steiglitz seem to be on a quest to understand why some problems, such as Minimum Path or Matching, have efficient solutions, while others, such as Traveling Salesman, do not. And in doing so they end up providing the reader with a big picture behind algorithms and complexity, and the connection between optimization problems and complexity. After reading this and Papadimitriou's "Introduction to Computational Complexity" (which I also highly recommend), I now consider him one of the best at conveying complex ideas in a way that rarely confuses the reader. I also had the priviledge of attending one of his talks on complexity, and he seems just as effusive and transparent as a lecturer as he does a writer. Ah, for once I bought a Dover book that did not disappoint.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic, May 7, 1999
This review is from: Combinatorial Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity (Dover Books on Computer Science) (Paperback)
This is just a note to mention that athough Amazon has dated this book as published in 1998, it is actually around 15 years old. By the way, it's a good book, but I didn't find it an easy read, especially the first half. One needs to already have a foundation in linear programming and optimization to digest it. A previous reviewer who said that every programmer should read it was being unduly exuberant, presumably because it happened to hit his particular spot. Most programmers don't need combinatorial optimization and for those who do there are some good alternative books.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece on Combinatorial Optimisation, November 30, 1999
This review is from: Combinatorial Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity (Dover Books on Computer Science) (Paperback)
Christos Papadimitriou, my hero is a hope for all of us who wish to master the fascinating field of Combinatorial Optimisation. Especially recommended are the chapters on matching, NP Completeness and Approximation Algorithms. As another reader has remarked, this book is quite old though (published first in 1982). For a more to date book on Combinatorial Optimisation, one might want to look at Cook, Cunningham, Pulleyblank and Schrijver's book on Combinatorial Optimisation (published in 1998).
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