Customer Reviews

Data Structures Demystified (Demystified)

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

 

 

Target Audience
Developers who want or need a practical course on data structures in computer programming.

Contents
This is a practical guide on data structures and how they are used in a programming environment.

The book is divided into the following chapters: Memory, Abstract Data Types, and Addresses; The Point About Variables and Pointers; What Is an Array?; Stacks Using an Array; Queues Using an Array; What Is a Linked List?; Stacks Using Linked Lists; Queues Using Linked Lists; Stacks and Queues: Insert, Delete, Peek, Find; What Is a Tree?; What Is a Hashtable?; Final Exam; Answers to Quizzes and Final Exam; Index

Review
If you went the traditional college route to make it into programming, you no doubt had a course or two on data structures. But if you're like me and more into the self-taught method, data structures are one of those things you hear about but never probably take the time to understand. You may use them, but you don't really understand the theory behind what they are and when they should be used. For you (and me), Data Structures Demystified helps get you up to speed in a practical, straightforward manner.

Each chapter follows a standard format. The subject (such as linked lists) is likened to some real world situation. The structure is then explained and illustrated in generic terms using C++ or Java code. The methods necessary to manipulate the data structure are explained, followed by an implementation in both C++ and Java code. Finally, there's a short quiz at the end to test your understanding of the concepts just discussed.

As a Java programmer, I found this book helpful in conceptually fleshing out some of the array constructs that you can use in the language. While many reference books might tell you that you have a HashMap class along with certain properties and methods, not too many books actually go into any depth about what a hashmap is and how it should be used. Having an understanding of these "whys" can make all the difference when you're trying to decide how best to structure your program.

And if you're tending to shy away from this title thinking it would be too simplistic, don't. This is not an entertainment book that treats you like a newbie. You'll have to think about what you're reading, and it will take some effort to understand the details. But it's all presented clearly, so at least you have a chance if you're not Einstein to begin with.

Conclusion
This book is very good for C++ and Java programmers who have not taken formal courses in data structures, and need a better understanding of the subject.

Data structures is complex, but these authors take the pain out of learning data structures. Warning. This isn't for anyone who wants advance knowledge about data structures. There are other books that will fill those needs. However, this is a perfect way to learn basic data structures enough so that you can easily move on to more advance books on the topic. I teacher data structures and I won't have any problem recommending this book to my students to suppliment my course.

OK I gotta say that I agree with ALL of the reviews listed about the book. What the 5 start and 1 star reviewers say is true so it depends on what you look for in a book. When you read a book you can tell if the author truly cares about the success of the reader. When they do then that is what makes it a great book. The spirit and extra care James and Ken seem make is taking the scary mask off the data structure beast. They use example we can all relate to from our everyday lives. When they are done you vividly understand this material. Their ability to do this is matched by very few books. It helped me immensely and my standards are very high.

Yes I did squint when they talked about memory space 2 and the figure arrow points to memory space 3. That is minor compared to what this book does well. The stories and examples are great and it turned something I struggled with for months into an achievement over a single weekend. So how do you rate such a book? The greatness of this book far outweighs the minor mistakes. I am torn between 4 and 5 stars and feel the average needs me to pull this up to more of what is deserves so here are my 5 stars. In fact if it were not for them some minor editing oversights it would be the perfect book. I would like to read other books created by this dynamic duo of James and Ken. Nice work!

While I am used to more rigorous presentations I began reading this book before reading several more academic works on data structures and the book does simplify the topic while presenting a robust C++ and Java example of the data structure itself, using object oriented code. An example is the doubly linked list - the author includes the theory and code to implement a doubly linked list in C++ and Java and the code works great - expanding on this code I can expect to design a linked list containing much more complicated objects. I was surprised that the book is as good as it really is - I expected a much more "watered-down" presentation than the author actually gives -- the author is great!

The diagrams in the book don't match the text and are just plain wrong in multiple instances. Since the text relies on the diagrams to make sense, it completely fails its audience, regardless of its "friendly" delivery.

This lack of editing is just inexcusable. If I were a publisher I'd be ashamed to put a book like this out.

If you're an intermediate to advanced programmer, you don't need the content this book attempts to provide. If you're a beginning programmer, this book will completely confuse, frustrate, and anger you.

I am in the process of re-acquainting myself with some CS fundamentals and figured this would make for a good read. I do like what I've read so far, but I've noticed that there are a number of errors present (very poor editing). If you have a CS background and want to brush up on the fundamentals then this is a good read for you (I assume you can figure out the errors yourself). However, do not read this book if you are starting off in programming since you may not be able to detect the technical errors and thus will get very frustrated.

If the errors in the book are corrected I would give this book 4-5 stars instead of the 3 it has now. Author had good intent, but this book was too rushed. This also makes me question the quality of the other demystified books...

I haven't finished the book yet - in fact, I'm just two chapters in, but the sloppy editing and information design has already irritated me enough to warn others off. The frequent diagrams often don't match the text that explains them, and even when they do, they're garbled to the point of being too confusing to use. The topic of data structures is a complex one, and I only partially fault the book's confusing language (things along the lines of "a pointer to a pointer is a variable that points to the contents of another pointer variable"), but the slapdash diagram design is inexcusable. When I have to stop thinking about the example the diagram is meant to describe just to figure out what the diagram *should* look like, the diagram has failed.

Are you kidding me? At the start of chapter 3, this book tries to explain an array of pointers to pointers to you. Then the next section explains how to declare an array. Um, wouldn't it make more sense to explain how to declare an array before tackling an array of pointers to pointers?

I gave up with this book as I lost all faith in the possibility of its having been carefully written. Slipshod, confusing, illogical. Wow. I didn't know a tech book could be this bad.

I have to agree with the other reviewers- there are lots of typos in the book that an experienced IT person looking for a review could probably puzzle out but a newbie would be misled and frustrated by. What I'll add to the discussion is that I contacted the publisher about the availability of an errata sheet. Their response is that there isn't any. Sloppy editing is bad enough but not to even bother to create an errata sheet for a book published back in 2004 is inexcusable. This reflects very poorly on the publisher and I for one, will think twice before buying anything else in the "demystified" series.

If you are the beginner who wants to learn data structure,I recommend that you should read this book first. This book will explain and teach you in step by step of data structure with good and clear examples. Moreover at the end of each chapter, there are exams to help you to remember the main topic of each chapter. However if you have the basic knowledge in C/C++ and Java, you can read and understand this book faster because this book provides the example with C/C++ and Java.