Algorithms in C (Computer Science Series) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Algorithms in C is a comprehensive repository of algorithms, complete with code. If you're in a pinch and need to code something up fast, this book is the place to look. Starting with basic data structures, Algorithms in C covers an enormous scope of information, with extensive treatment of searching and advanced data structures, sorting, string processing, computational geometry, graph problems, and mathematical algorithms. Although the manual often neglects to provide rigorous analysis, the text surrounding the algorithms provides clear and relevant insight into why the algorithms work.

Product Description

Sedgewick's bestselling book, Algorithms, is now available for C programmers. Algorithms in C describes a variety of algorithms in a number of areas of interest, including: sorting, searching, string-processing, and geometric, graph and mathematical algorithms. The book emphasizes fundamental techniques, providing readers with the tools to confidently implement, run, and debug useful algorithms.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 657 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (January 11, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201514257
• ISBN-13: 978-0201514254
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,185,226 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Algorithms, perhaps not for C++ implementations, August 11, 2001

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

This review is from: Algorithms in C++ (Hardcover)

This is easily one of the leading texts on data structures and algorithms - a third edition has already been released (however, that is practically a new book ,so read on :-)...). Sedgewick is a student of the great Donald Knuth, and a leading researcher and authority in the field of Algorithmics.

'Pound for pound', this might be as good as Cormen et al's classic, which is the undisputed leader among introductory books on algorithms. However, this has two advantages over that book :

(1)Size : Weighing in at a lean 656 pages, this is almost 40% smaller than Cormen's classic, while providing approximately the same breadth. However, Cormen has the edge in depth, especially rigorous analysis of algorithms' performance.

(2)'Real' code : This book has code snippets in C++, as opposed to Cormen which has it in pseudocode.However, the code is far from 'ready to run' - it's just enough to give you an idea how to go about building your own code.

Another plus point is short and crisp chapters which can be easily 'digested' - average chapter size is only about 14 pages.

This book really covers a lot of topics - sorting, searching, parsing, computational geometry, graphs, fast fourier transforms, mathematical algorithms and much,much more.

It is written in a very readable style, and the illustrations are a big help, perhaps the best in a book of this kind. It would've benefitted from a few more exercises, brief solutions, and a little more rigour in performance analysis.

The code is excellent at one level, but it's actually excellent C code masquerading as C++ code, i believe.

If you have no problem with C, you should perhaps go for the C version of this book - the C code is reminiscent of Kernighan & Ritchie. Beautiful, elegant C code !!

If it's good C++ code that you're after, perhaps Mark Allen Weiss's book or Heileman's book might be a better choice. Also, the new (3rd) edition of this book has much better C++ code.

If you want more depth and rigour, and are willing to work a little harder, then Cormen's the way to go.

However, if you want a bit of everything in one compact book, then this is the best choice.

(Sedgewick's come up with a recent revision, but it's spread over several volumes - not sure whether that's a better choice, however the C++ code seems much better in that, with C++ consultancy by Chris Van Wyk, another student of the great Don Knuth)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attention : These are NOT reviews for part 5, March 6, 2002

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

This review is from: Algorithms in C++ Part 5: Graph Algorithms (3rd Edition) (Pt.5) (Paperback)

Just wanted to let everyone know that the reviews here (till 6th March
2002 at any rate) are not of the book 'Algorithms in C++ part 5
graph algorithms' by Robert Sedgewick, but of the earlier edition of
his book on algorithms.

To get an idea of the book it's supposed to be about, please refer to
the review(s) on 'Algorithms in C part 5 graph algorithms', which i
expect to identical but for the code.

It'd be surprising indeed if the book isn't substantially better than
the reviews for the earlier book indicate ..........

The first volume, ie parts 1-4 are excellent - please refer to the
reviews on that, they're for the current edition :-)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good content but hard to read, January 17, 2004

By	Christophe Keller (Amel, Belgique) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a learned industrial engineer in electronics but got into informatics right after my degree. So I never had a course on algorithmic and had to learn nearly everything by myself.

After some years of working in the field, I tought it was maybe time to get some background on the subject so I got this (now an outdated edition) of the book.

Well, it was the book it took the longest to me to finish in the informatics field.

The book explains a whole bunch of basic and more advanced general-purpose algorithms, and so has a good coverrage of the subject.

However, there are two problems with the book:

1) The coding style is very bad: the author likes to use global variables, and variable names are often very cryptic. Example:
* p = parent
* g = grandparent
* gg = greatgrandparent
* c = child
* x = current node
* y = temporary node
...

2) You cannot read this book's chapters in a random way: you have to follow the chapter ordering, because often knowledge of later chapters is based of knowledge of earlier chapters, and, because of the bad coding style you have to often remember the meaning of the cryptic variable names several chapters later when they are reused. If you're like me, you've forgotten the meaning, which means reread that damn chapter, which in turn can again be based on an earlier chapter. You get the picture why it took me so long?