Practical Algorithms in C++ [Paperback]

Bryan Flamig (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471009555 | ISBN-13: 978-0471009559 | Publication Date: February 16, 1995 | Edition: 1

A practical guide to implementing algorithms in C++.

Have you been looking for a C++ book that not only talks about some of the most popular algorithms of today, but also implements them? Then look no further. This book presents algorithms from a practical point of view, clearly explaining how the algorithms work, as well as fully implementing them in C++. Written to the intermediate C++ programmer, this book covers a wide range of subjects, from sorting and searching algorithms, to graph traversal algorithms, hashing algorithms, priority queues, finite state machines, and "algorithmic generators," a unique, object-oriented way of implementing algorithms.

Includes theory and practice, with emphasis on practice.

• Builds from the basics to the most advanced techniques.
• Backs each algorithm with full source code provided on disk-no misleading code fragments.
• Includes high quality code, written specifically for C++, and not simply ported from some other language.
• All code fully tested in Borland and Microsoft versions of C++.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A practical, step-by-step exposition of the special features of C++ algorithms and how they fit in overall program design. All algorithms in the text and on the accompanying disk have been created from scratch in C++. Methods described in each example are backed up with complete source code and each chapter progresses from fundamental concepts to sophisticated methods. Includes algorithms which can be immediately incorporated into larger programs.

From the Back Cover

A practical guide to implementing algorithms in C++.

Have you been looking for a C++ book that not only talks about some of the most popular algorithms of today, but also implements them? Then look no further. This book presents algorithms from a practical point of view, clearly explaining how the algorithms work, as well as fully implementing them in C++. Written to the intermediate C++ programmer, this book covers a wide range of subjects, from sorting and searching algorithms, to graph traversal algorithms, hashing algorithms, priority queues, finite state machines, and "algorithmic generators," a unique, object-oriented way of implementing algorithms.

Includes theory and practice, with emphasis on practice.

• Builds from the basics to the most advanced techniques.
• Backs each algorithm with full source code provided on disk-no misleading code fragments.
• Includes high quality code, written specifically for C++, and not simply ported from some other language.
• All code fully tested in Borland and Microsoft versions of C++.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 16, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471009555
• ISBN-13: 978-0471009559
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,727,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for prime time, July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Algorithms in C++ (Paperback)

Overall, this book may have something to offer as a basic introduction to algorithms for persons with little or no college exposure to computer science, but I would not recommend it . There are some important topics, most notably trees, which are inexplicably omitted, while other topic contain incorrect information. The author starts most chapters by explaining a naive or "brute-force" implementation of an algorithm, and then proceeds to improve on it. Such an approach is fine, but most chapters spend too much time on the naive solution, and not enough time on the efficient solution. The chapters on sorting and hashing are good. Nothing particularly exciting in these chapters, but it is a good overview of the basic techniques. My main objection to this book is in some of the more advanced chapters. The chapter on text searching, for instance, does not deal with regular expressions, on the ground that such matters are beyond the scope of the book. The a! uthor then spends an entire chapter discussing finite state machines (FSA's), without mentioning the equivalence between regular expressions and finite state machines. Also missing is the insight that some of the text searching algorithms discussed in another chapter are actually specialized FSA's. The result is an entire chapter covering a complicated subject, but without showing any practical use. The worst chapter in the book is the chapter on prime numbers and factors. Had this chapter been replaced with a decent chapter on search trees (which are noticeably absent from the book), I may have actually recommended the book. Many statements in this chapter are simply wrong, and what is covered is often trivial. The topic of prime numbers itself is important in a book on algorithms due to its connection with cryptography, but this connection is not mentioned at all. Furthermore, the algorithms presented are completely useless for any cryptographic purpose. Since thi! s is not a book on number theory, the fact that state of th! e art algorithms are omitted should not be considered a serious shortcoming. However, the incorrect statements in the chapter are inexcusable and leads me to question whether the other chapters (covering random numbers, graph algorithms, heaps, etc.) also contain similarly inaccurate information. The source code is heavy on the use of templates, but light on the other object-oriented constructs (ex. inheritance, polymorphism) available in C++. Even so, this is an improvement on most C++ algorithms books which claim to have C++ code, but in reality only contain C code. In summary, this book is not yet ready for prime time. None of faults of the book are beyond repair, and a subsequent edition addressing these shortcomings could result in a much needed introductory algorithms book. The source code presented appears to work fine as advertised, but I would advise against relying on the information in the book in deciding which algorithms are suited for a particular purp! ose.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, but see his Data Structure's book., February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Algorithms in C++ (Paperback)

The first reviewer missed the division of Flamig's work. He split the work into two books, Practical Data Structures and Practical Algorithms. I recommend both books to my computer science students for their work. Flamig does not talk about regular expressions = FSA, but that is a not too important to me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding practical guide for all OO developers., February 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Algorithms in C++ (Paperback)

This book is the single best introduction to practical computer algorithms that I've found, book, magazine, or otherwise. While the code is all C++ (good code style too), the information is easily understood and represented in Java or another object-oriented language. Highly recommended for new or experienced developers.