Algorithms in Java, Part 5: Graph Algorithms (3rd Edition) (Pt.5) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Text provides a tool set for programmers to implement, debug, and use graph algorithms across a wide range of computer applications. Covers graph properties and types; digraphs and DAGs; minimum spanning trees; shortest paths; network flows; and diagrams, sample Java code, and detailed algorithm descriptions. Softcover.

From the Back Cover

Once again, Robert Sedgewick provides a current and comprehensive introduction to important algorithms. The focus this time is on graph algorithms, which are increasingly critical for a wide range of applications, such as network connectivity, circuit design, scheduling, transaction processing, and resource allocation. In this book, Sedgewick offers the same successful blend of theory and practice that has made his work popular with programmers for many years. Michael Schidlowsky and Sedgewick have developed concise new Java implementations that both express the methods in a natural and direct manner and also can be used in real applications.

Algorithms in Java, Third Edition, Part 5: Graph Algorithms is the second book in Sedgewick's thoroughly revised and rewritten series. The first book, Parts 1-4, addresses fundamental algorithms, data structures, sorting, and searching. A forthcoming third book will focus on strings, geometry, and a range of advanced algorithms. Each book's expanded coverage features new algorithms and implementations, enhanced descriptions and diagrams, and a wealth of new exercises for polishing skills. The natural match between Java classes and abstract data type (ADT) implementations makes the code more broadly useful and relevant for the modern object-oriented programming environment.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (July 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201361213
• ISBN-13: 978-0201361216
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #861,243 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal for the serious developer, July 31, 2003

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In my work, I have a bunch of interlinked objects. I can use tables to display these, but showing linkages is awkward. It is far more natural to graph them. This lets me use evolution, for the human eye and brain are excellent at processing images and discerning patterns in them. But I also want to algorithmically find groupings and invariant properties of the graphs. There is a danger here. In graph theory, it is very easy to inadvertantly pose a simple question that is computationally hard to solve (NP-hard). Conversely, I don't want to reinvent the wheel. From graph theory, there may well be properties of my graph that I can easily extract. Certainly, the amount of research on graphs is voluminous.

But how does one take advantage of that? Consulting research journals in maths for papers on graph theory is really feasible only for the career mathematician. But for me, graphs are just a tool; not an ends per se. So I need a book that has the right amount of complexity. It needs to get enough into the subject, beyond the trivial exposition of definitions. Yet it should not bury me in lemmas and theorems.

I found such a book! This one. A well deserved third iteration. The explanations are extremely clear. Before I encountered this text, I used Donald Knuth's "Art of Computer Programming" (which is also put out by Addison-Wesley) and his treatment of graphs. But Sedgewick's discourse is far more extensive and, to me, just as well written.

A bonus is the extensive problem sets at the ends of each chapter. Even if I have no inclination to do them, the results they give are a valuable extension of the text, by providing an extra summary of the research. I only wish that Sedgewick would provide answers, like Knuth. But this is a just a quibble.

This edition has example code in Java. Certainly nothing wrong with that. [I program in Java.] But really the code should be a secondary consideration to you. If you are a programmer and you can understand the text, then you should be of a calibre that you can write the code.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars `Algorithms in Java' aka `How little code does it take to confuse people?', February 9, 2006

By	A. Flamholz - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Algorithms in Java, Parts 1-4 (3rd Edition) (Pts.1-4) (Paperback)

I have the dubious distinction of having taken a class that used this book as it's central text. The illustrations are great. The explanations of algorithms and general algorithm design concepts are clear. The code, however, is neigh unreadable in a lot of places.

This was a huge problem for me, as I had a lot of difficulty seeing a clear mapping from the concepts explained to the code examples. Sedgwick's code examples often build on previous ones to the degree that they are not understandable on their own (this is especially true with the graph algorithms in part 5). If you try to use this book as a reference you will find yourself digging much harder than you would like in order to understand code samples that are actually quite simple. You could see how this might make a programming based course difficult.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a gifted writer, February 12, 2007

By	mathboy (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Algorithms in Java, Parts 1-4 (3rd Edition) (Pts.1-4) (Paperback)

[...]I have at least half of both volumes, and it really seems to me that there are real problems here with the exposition. Let me see if I can elaborate.

Here is an actual sentence from the book-

We construct a symbol table that is made up of an ordered array of keys, except that we keep in that array not the key, but an index into the text string that points to the first character of the key.

Consider that there are two possible conflicting meanings of the sentence fragment :

...an index into the text string that points to the first character of the key.

In the first meaning, there is an index that points to the first character of a string which string has the property that it, in its turn "points to the first character of the key". (a String is engaged in pointing and so in the index.)

In the second meaning, there is an index that points (into) a text string and in fact that index points into the FIRST CHARACTER of that text string, and that first character the index is pointing to, well, that is the also first character of the key. (only the index is pointing; the string pointeth not.)

OK so how do you describe what's missing here? At least the disambiguating use of commas, at least. It's as though he likes to write in subordinate clauses, but thinks it's economical to leave out the punctuation (which, it is true, there are no hard and fast rules for).

So it's just sentence after sentence after sentence like that. Sometimes you can understand what he's saying. Other times, really you just can't. IF each sentence has 2 (or more!) possible interpretations, and each sentence depends on your understanding the last (as is the case- he never says the same thing in two different ways), then you get this ambiguity growing at the alarming rate of x^2, an observation the author might enjoy.

As the other reviewers said, the code is a C programmers attempt to write in Java. This never goes well.....


But the fact remains it is still the most accessible and thorough coverage of some of its subjects. So what are you going to do?

I don't get the impression he is deliberately bartering in obscuratism, it's just that this book suffers (and so will you) from a lack of editing, a lack of reviewing and feedback by genuine, unaided learners etc. etc.

You might want to check other people's lists for alternatives. Or not. Perhaps that passage was perfectly clear to you.