Data Structures, Algorithms, and Software Principles in C [Paperback]

Thomas A. Standish (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201591189 | ISBN-13: 978-0201591187 | Publication Date: October 10, 1994 | Edition: 1

Using C, this book develops the concepts and theory of data structures and algorithm analysis in a gradual, step-by-step manner, proceeding from concrete examples to abstract principles. Standish covers a wide range of both traditional and contemporary software engineering topics. The text also includes an introduction to object-oriented programming using C++. By introducing recurring themes such as levels of abstraction, recursion, efficiency, representation and trade-offs, the author unifies the material throughout. Mathematical foundations can be incorporated at a variety of depths, allowing the appropriate amount of math for each user.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Using C, this book develops the concepts and theory of data structures and algorithm analysis step-by-step. It gradually proceeds from concrete examples to abstract principles. The presentation stresses motivation, intuition, and utility before giving technical details. Recurring themes, such as recursion, levels of abstraction, efficiency, representation, and trade-offs, unify the material completely. Important traditional and contemporary software engineering principles are also covered, including modularity, abstract data types and information hiding, as well as new developments, such as risk-based software life cycle models and object-oriented programming.

0201591189B04062001

About the Author

Thomas A. Standish is the chairman of computer science at the University of California, Irvine. In 1990-91, he became the fourth winner of University of California Irvine's Distinguished Faculty Lectureship for Teaching, the campus' highest distinction for teaching excellence. He has also been a co-winner of his department's best-teacher award, chosen by the popular vote of University of California Irvine undergraduate computer science students.

0201591189AB04062001

Product Details

• Paperback: 748 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 1 edition (October 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201591189
• ISBN-13: 978-0201591187
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is a difficult book, September 23, 2001

By 

Matthew Malone (Lexinton, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Data Structures, Algorithms, and Software Principles in C (Paperback)

I have used this book in my data structures class. It has some good points. It covers each and every data structure in depth and discusses multiple implementations of each of them. It also makes liberal use of diagrams showing what the data structure is supposed to be doing in memory at that time. The problem with it is that it deals with everything very theoretically, often times letting the user puzzle out the implementations themselves. It is overly wordy, the explanations could be cut in half and made much more to the point without loosing anything. I don't know about anyone else but I like to be taught how to do something and then play with it for understanding. I don't like to have the entire theory of what is supposed to happen explained to me in the abstract and then being left to get it or not. Although there are people who learn best this way. If you are one of them then by all means pick up this book. My over all feeling is that it makes you work overly hard to acquire the knowledge that it presents.

Contents

Chapter 1 - Preparing for the Journey

Chapter 2 - Linked Data Representations

Chapter 3 - Introduction to Recursion

Chapter 4 - Modularity and Data Abstraction

Chapter 5 - Introduction to Software Engineering Concepts

Chapter 6 - Introduction to Analysis of Algorithms

Chapter 7 - Linear Data Structures - Stacks and Queues

Chapter 8 - Lists, Strings, and Dynamic Memory Allocation

Chapter 9 - Trees

Chapter 10 - Graphs

Chapter 11 - Hashing and the Table ADT

Chapter 12 - External Collections of Data

Chapter 13 - Sorting

Chapter 14 - Advanced Recursion

Chapter 15 - Object-Oriented Programming

Chapter 16 - Advanced Software Engineering

Appendix - Math Reference and Tutorial

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introductory text book., May 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Data Structures, Algorithms, and Software Principles in C (Paperback)

I used this textbook for my Data Structures class in college, and found it to be great. I'm definately keeping it!

Standish makes extensive use of diagrams to aid in explaining topics that can be confusing at first. Many topics are touched on briefly with references pointing the curious reader to more in-depth treatments. This book does something that is very important for programmers: it teaches good programming practice! I know many programmers who can program but do not grasp the important design principles that Standish stresses (like abstracting the implementation of a data type from its interface, and documenting well for decreased maintenance cost). Standish teaches the advantages and disadvantages of the top-down and bottom-up programming methods.

I think this book is excellent for data structures, and a good *introduction* to analysis of algorithms. After just taking an analysis of algorithms class, this book's superficiality in that area becomes apparent. If you are looking for in-depth coverage of algorithms this is not the book for you. Darrell Bishop

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source of categorized information in C (C++)., January 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Data Structures, Algorithms, and Software Principles in C (Paperback)

This book proved to be a valuable tool to propel me to the next level of understanding of computer science. I gave it four stars because the author skips out on a lot of explanative detail, I felt should of been included, but does an excellent overview/summary of ideas and concepts. I only give it four stars because of it's lack of information. This book is not for the beginner. If you're serious, and want to learn something, then read this one.