Algorithms in C++, Parts 1-4: Fundamentals, Data Structure, Sorting, Searching (3rd Edition) (Pts. 1-4) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THE OBJECTIVE OF this book is to study a broad variety of important and useful algorithms: methods for solving problems that are suited for computer..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Robert Sedgewick has thoroughly rewritten and substantially expanded andupdated his popular work to provide current and comprehensive coverage ofimportant algorithms and data structures. Christopher Van Wyk and Sedgewickhave developed new C++ implementations that both express the methods in aconcise and direct manner, and also provide programmers with the practicalmeans to test them on real applications. Many new algorithms are presented, and the explanations of each algorithmare much more detailed than in previous editions. A new text design anddetailed, innovative figures, with accompanying commentary, greatly enhancethe presentation. The third edition retains the successful blend of theory andpractice that has made Sedgewick's work an invaluable resource for more than250,000 programmers! This particular book, Parts 1-4, represents the essential first half of Sedgewick'scomplete work. It provides extensive coverage of fundamental data structuresand algorithms for sorting, searching, and related applications. Although thesubstance of the book applies to programming in any language, theimplementations by Van Wyk and Sedgewick also exploit the natural matchbetween C++ classes and ADT implementations. Highlights

Expanded coverage of arrays, linked lists, strings, trees, and other basic

data structures Greater emphasis on abstract data types (ADTs), modular programming, object-oriented programming, and C++ classes than in previous editions

Over 100 algorithms for sorting, selection, priority queue ADT implementations, and symbol table ADT (searching) implementations

New implementations of binomial queues, multiway radix sorting, randomized BSTs, splay trees, skip lists, multiway tries, B trees, extendible hashing, and much more Increased quantitative information about the algorithms, giving you a

basis for comparing them Over 1000 new exercises to help you learn the properties of algorithms Whether you are learning the algorithms for the first time or wish to have up-to-date reference material that incorporates new programming styles with classic and new algorithms, you will find a wealth of useful information in this book.

From the Inside Flap

This book is intended to survey the most important computer algorithms in use today, and to teach fundamental techniques to the growing number of people in need of knowing them. It can be used as a textbook for a second, third, or fourth course in computer science, after students have acquired basic programming skills and familiarity with computer systems, but before they have taken specialized courses in advanced areas of computer science or computer applications. The book also may be useful for self-study or as a reference for people engaged in the development of computer systems or applications programs, since it contains implementations of useful algorithms and detailed information on these algorithms' performance characteristics. The broad perspective taken makes the book an appropriate introduction to the field.

I have completely rewritten the text for this new edition, and I have added more than a thousand new exercises, more than a hundred new figures, and dozens of new programs. I have also added detailed commentary on all the figures and programs. This new material provides both coverage of new topics and fuller explanations of many of the classic algorithms. A new emphasis on abstract data types throughout the book makes the programs more broadly useful and relevant in modern programming environments. People who have read old editions of the book will find a wealth of new information throughout; all readers will find a wealth of pedagogical material that provides effective access to essential concepts.

Due to the large amount of new material, we have split the new edition into two volumes (each about the size of the old edition) of which this is the first. This volume covers fundamental concepts, data structures, sorting algorithms, and searching algorithms; the second volume covers advanced algorithms and applications, building on the basic abstractions and methods developed here. Nearly all the material on fundamentals and data structures in this edition is new.

This book is not just for programmers and computer-science students. Nearly everyone who uses a computer wants it to run faster or to solve larger problems. The algorithms in this book represent a body of knowledge developed over the last 50 years that has become indispensible in the efficient use of the computer, for a broad variety of applications. From N-body simulation problems in physics to genetic-sequencing problems in molecular biology, the basic methods described here have become essential in scientific research; and from database systems to Internet search engines, they have become essential parts of modern software systems. As the scope of computer applications becomes more widespread, so grows the impact of many of the basic methods covered here. The goal of this book is to serve as a resource for students and professionals interested in knowing and making intelligent use of these fundamental algorithms as basic tools for whatever computer application they might undertake. Scope

The book contains 16 chapters grouped into four major parts: fundamentals, data structures, sorting, and searching. The descriptions here are intended to give readers an understanding of the basic properties of as broad a range of fundamental algorithms as possible. The algorithms described here have found widespread use for years, and represent an essential body of knowledge for both the practicing programmer and the computer-science student. Ingenious methods ranging from binomial queues to patricia tries are described, all related to basic paradigms at the heart of computer science. The second volume consists of four additional parts that cover strings, geometry, graphs, and advanced topics. My primary goal in developing these books has been to bring together the fundamental methods from these diverse areas, to provide access to the best methods known for solving problems by computer.

You will most appreciate the material in this book if you have had one or two previous courses in computer science or have had equivalent programming experience: one course in programming in a high-level language such as C++, Java, or C, and perhaps another course that teaches fundamental concepts of programming systems. This book is thus intended for anyone conversant with a modern programming ivlanguage and with the basic features of modern computer systems. References that might help to fill in gaps in your background are suggested in the text.

Most of the mathematical material supporting the analytic results is self-contained (or is labeled as beyond the scope of this book), so little specific preparation in mathematics is required for the bulk of the book, although mathematical maturity is definitely helpful. Use in the Curriculum

There is a great deal of flexibility in how the material here can be taught, depending on the taste of the instructor and the preparation of the students. There is sufficient coverage of basic material for the book to be used to teach data structures to beginners, and there is sufficient detail and coverage of advanced material for the book to be used to teach the design and analysis of algorithms to upper-level students. Some instructors may wish to emphasize implementations and practical concerns; others may wish to emphasize analysis and theoretical concepts.

I am developing a variety of course materials for use with this book, including slide masters for use in lectures, programming assignments, homework assignments and sample exams, and interactive exercises for students.

An elementary course on data structures and algorithms might emphasize the basic data structures in Part 2 and their use in the implementations in Parts 3 and 4. A course on design and analysis of algorithms might emphasize the fundamental material in Part 1 and Chapter 5, then study the ways in which the algorithms in Parts 3 and 4 achieve good asymptotic performance. A course on software engineering might omit the mathematical and advanced algorithmic material, and emphasize how to integrate the implementations given here into large programs or systems. A course on algorithms might take a survey approach and introduce concepts from all these areas.

Earlier editions of this book have been used in recent years at scores of colleges and universities around the world as a text for the second or third course in computer science and as supplemental reading for other courses. At Princeton, our experience has been that the breadth of coverage of material in this book provides our majors with an introduction to computer science that can be expanded upon in later courses on analysis of algorithms, systems programming and theoretical computer science, while providing the growing group of students from other disciplines with a large set of techniques that these people can immediately put to good use.

The exercises--most of which are new to this edition--fall into several types. Some are intended to test understanding of material in the text, and simply ask readers to work through an example or to apply concepts described in the text. Others involve implementing and putting together the algorithms, or running empirical studies to compare variants of the algorithms and to learn their properties. Still others are a repository for important information at a level of detail that is not appropriate for the text. Reading and thinking about the exercises will pay dividends for every reader. Algorithms of Practical Use

Anyone wanting to use a computer more effectively can use this book for reference or for self-study. People with programming experience can find information on specific topics throughout the book. To a large extent, you can read the individual chapters in the book independently of the others, although, in some cases, algorithms in one chapter make use of methods from a previous chapter.

The orientation of the book is to study algorithms likely to be of practical use. The book provides information about the tools of the trade to the point that readers can confidently implement, debug, and put to work algorithms to solve a problem or to provide functionality in an application. Full implementations of the methods discussed are included, as are descriptions of the operations of these programs on a consistent set of examples.

Because we work with real code, rather than write pseudo-code, you can put the programs to practical use quickly. Program listings are available from the book's home page. You can use these working programs in many ways to help you study algorithms. Read them to check your understanding of the details of an algorithm, or to see one way to handle initializations, boundary conditions, and other awkward situations that often pose programming challenges. Run vithem to see the algorithms in action, to study performance empirically and check your results against the tables in the book, or to try your own modifications.

When appropriate, empirical and analytic results are presented to illustrate why certain algorithms are preferred. When interesting, the relationship of the practical algorithms being discussed t

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Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (July 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201350882
• ISBN-13: 978-0201350883
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #196,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Exhaustive (but not rigorous), October 20, 2001

By	"optimistix" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

If you're looking for an exhaustive, upto-date reference/textbook for
fundamental, searching and sorting algorithms, then this is one of
the very best available.

Sedgewick has split his popular book into two volumes, with Graph
algorithms being hifted to the second volume. Moreover, many advanced
topics like computational geometry, fft, number theoretic algorithms
etc, which were introduced in the previous edition, seem to be missing
now - so the breadth of coverage seems to have reduced, which is a pity.

However, the depth has increased instead - i doubt that even Knuth
covers more sorting algorithms ! In particular, there are several
recent algorithms and data structures which are treated in greater
detail here than by Knuth. Of course, Knuth analyses all the
algorithms he presents in rigorous and exhaustive detail, which
this book doesn't.

Moreover, the book has many new algorithms and presents the state of the
art in sorting and searching algorithms, giving it a distinct advantage
over the older books.

Sedgewick makes it very clear in the preface that the emphasis is on
the practical importance of the algorithms, so esoteric algorithms which
are important 'only in theory' may find no mention. Also the emphasis is
more on the design of algorithms than on their analysis.

The number of (exercise!!) problems has multiplied manifold in this edition
to become more than most competing textbooks. Problems are graded by
difficulty level to help you choose the ones relevant to your needs.

The exposition is clear and authoritative - Prof. Sedgewick is a leading
authority in the field of algorithms and a student of Donald Knuth.
He has a gift for making difficult concepts seem simple, and the great
illustrations in the book go a long way in explaining the behaviour of
the algorithms.

For the practising professional, this is an ideal reference, since it'll
help you select the best algorithm for your task without bogging you
down with heavy mathematics.

The reasearcher, on the other hand, may benefit by gaining unique insights
from a master of the area, while using other books for the detailed
analysis of algorithms, including prehaps Sedgewick's own book on the
analysis of algorithms(with Flajolet).

A caveat - the code may not be 'ready to run'. It's better not to rely
on this book to provide you with usable code - if that is what you want,
perhaps the books by Drozdek/Weiss/Heileman/Rowe might be better choices.

If you want C code rather than C++, then the C version of this book is
a good choice, since the code provided is of 'K & R' class and therefore
a delight to read.

Of course, if you're looking for a language independent coverage,
then 'Introduction to algorithms' by Cormen,Leiserson and Rivest is
possibly the best book which combines rigor with comprehensive coverage
of the most important algorithms. Look out for the newly released
second edition.

And if you want a more rigorous and equally exhaustive coverage of
sorting and searching, go for Knuth vol.3 - still the authoritative
reference, though it may require more hard work on the reader's part.

Otherwise, invest in this and you won't be disappointed.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've read the rest and this one is the best., April 3, 1999

By A Customer

Algorithms in C++ Parts 1-4:

After an exhaustive review of nearly every book available on data structures and algorithms (including the seminal "Art of Computer Programming"), and after a considerable reduction in my bank account, I can safely say that this is the best book available on these topics - period.

I rate a book on the basis of how close it comes to being the ONLY book that is needed to completely cover the subject matter. This is actually an almost unattainable goal for an author but this is the test I use. Writing style, clarity of communicating ideas, organization of the material, depth of coverage, practicality, and usability are all crucial elements of that goal and marks a book that will retain its value over time.

This book comes closer to reaching that goal than any other book I've read. I do have a minor complaint about this book and that is the particular coding style that Dr. Sedgewick uses. I am always diligent about writing clear, self-documenting, and visually appealing code whereas Dr. Sedgewick's code is, perhaps from necessity, rather abbreviated. For example, I've always preferred to use meaningful variable names, not just X or Y and am careful to use indentation to improve code readability etc. etc. This is a minor complaint however, and does not affect the usability of the code.

By the way, I do have one other complaint about which I have tried to contact Dr. Sedgewick: WHEN WILL THE SECOND VOLUME BE AVAILABLE!?

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deceiving after "Algorithms in C", December 29, 2000

By	Rubens Altimari (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't honestly give less than 3 stars, since this series is one of the best on algorithms I ever had. But, having two editions, including the last one, of "Algorithms in C", by the same author, I thought this C++ version would be a revelation. But it is not! It gives the impression that he just exchanged "printf" for "cout <<"! I thought he would use C++ specific structures to enhance the algorithms (at least that is what I've expected), but it's just another slightly different version of the same book. I wish I knew beforehand... If it's your first book by Sedgewick, though, I guess it's a good option.