Customer Reviews

Data Structures: An Advanced Approach Using C

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the book that made things click for me. It has a nice introduction to pointers and memory management using malloc(), then goes on to show how to implement stacks, queues, singly-linked lists, doubly-linked lists, circular lists, trees, and graphs. The example applications include a tiny line-oriented text editor (like UNIX's ed or DOS's edlin) and a lisp interpreter.

The only downside to the book is that it uses old K&R C, so the syntax for function declarations is not compatible with strict ANSI C compilers.

After finishing this course for our 2nd semester in CS, covering data structures, I was taken back by how much this book has in it. I totally did not expect to see so much inside a book this small when I first glanced at it the day I received it.

Their concept of Lists are phenomenal and this topic is only expanded on greatly as the chapters go on. Their technique of reusing old code while keeping implementation independence and only slightly changing it for future implementations is the backbone of the book.

Programs developed range from complex, rational and polynomial code, graphical display list, graphical region filling, standard and complex parenthesis checker using stacks, infix to postix algorithm, operating system simluator, applying header nodes, circular list concepts developing a Lisp subset interpreter, line editor, expression evaluator, trees of all sorts and their counterpart graphs and their applications to a four-in-a-row game, Dijkstra's algorithm, and from sets to sorting, and many many more, there's even more they suggest for you to write in their exercises.

Do not buy this book unless you're serious about taking on it's seriously 'advanced' approach, or unless it's required by your course. It assumes a level of maturity as the book goes on by leaving out components to their programs for your interpretation and development on your own. Exercises are just that, exercises - there are no answers given. You are to interpret what they have and run with it.

I also minus a point due to K&R C. It was the only nuisance in the book. Otherwise, enjoyable read and the learning process from this book has been a worthwhile experience.

I am taking Computing 2, and this book is full of clear and concise example code.
All the tips this book has is implemented in the examples and it shows how easy and advantageous it is to use polymorphic data types, macros, function organization, etc.

I used this book at University and it
helps me alot to understand better the
data structures.

It says it's a hardcover but I got a softcover -- a really flimsy softcover. It looks like something someone made in their basement with a photocopier. I am sure the technical merits of this text stand on their own, but the quality of this reproduction are not worth the price. I have contacted amazon and asked them to correct the product page (if necessary) -- certainly I'd be cautious about ordering this product.