The Algorithm Design Manual (Hardcover)

~ Steven S. Skiena (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the second edition: "...the book is an algorithm implementation treasure trove, and putting all of these implementations in one place was no small feat. The list of implementations, an extensive bibliography, and the CD-ROM make the book an invaluable resource for everyone interested in the subject." (ACM Computing Reviews) "My absolute favorite for this kind of interview preparation is Steven Skiena’s The Algorithm Design Manual. More than any other book it helped me understand just how astonishingly commonplace … graph problems are -- they should be part of every working programmer’s toolkit. The book also covers basic data structures and sorting algorithms, which is a nice bonus. … every 1 – pager has a simple picture, making it easy to remember. This is a great way to learn how to identify hundreds of problem types." (Steve Yegge, Steve Yegge’s Blog, March, 2008) "For a decade, Steven Skiena’s Algorithm Design Manual retained its title as the best and most comprehensive practical algorithm guide to help identify and solve problems. It is now available in an improved second edition that is worth buying simply for the updates. … Every programmer should read this book, and anyone working in the field should keep it close to hand. … Would I recommend it? Absolutely. This is the best investment … a programmer or aspiring programmer can make." (Harold Thimbleby, Times Higher Education, November, 2008) "Addressing the main difficulties of solving problems, this book goes far beyond the design of algorithms. It is essential for scientists, engineers, and any professionals who aim to solve problems, with a noticeable emphasis on real problems. It will not only serve as a valuable undergraduate textbook, but it will also become an irreplaceable reference guide for most professionals in the area." (Carlos Linares Lopez, Computing Reviews, February, 2009)

Product Description

This expanded and updated second edition of a classic bestseller continues to take the "mystery" out of designing and analyzing algorithms and their efficacy and efficiency. Expanding on the highly successful formula of the first edition, the book now serves as the primary textbook of choice for any algorithm design course while maintaining its status as the premier practical reference guide to algorithms. NEW: (1) Incorporates twice the tutorial material and exercises. (2) Provides full online support for lecturers, and a completely updated and improved website component with lecture slides, audio and video. (3) Contains a highly unique catalog of the 75 most important algorithmic problems. (4) Includes new "war stories" and "interview problems", relating experiences from real-world applications. Written by a well-known, IEEE Computer Science teaching-award winner, this new edition is an essential learning tool for students needing a solid grounding in algorithms, as well as a uniquely comprehensive text/reference for professionals.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (August 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848000693
• ISBN-13: 978-1848000698
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,897 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers an Important Middle Ground, March 6, 2003

By	Jason (Illinios) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Algorithm Design Manual (Hardcover)

This book fills a nice niche -- it is practical enough to be useful and accesible to professional programmers (rather than algorithms researchers or academics) but is build on solid theory as well.

Aside from this, the book has several features to recommend it:
(1) There are "war stories" scattered throughout the text. These are special sections that describe the author's experience working with algorithmic problems "in the field". These are particularly interesting because the present false starts and failures along the way to the final solution. This is a nice change from the standard model of simply presenting algorithms and proving them correct.

(2) Unlike others, such as the popular Cormen, Lieserson, Rivest and Stein text -- which is a bit advanced for beginning study -- this really is an introduction to algorithms. It is quite suitable for, say, undergradutes who have taken a couple of basic CS courses.

(3) Chapter 8 is a 250-page "Catalog of Algorithmic Problems". Here, you will find descriptions of hundreds of standard formulations for algorithmic problems along with the basic solution approaches, and -- this is what really sets it apart -- pointers to implementations of these algorithms. This is part of the overall emphasis of the book: that of understanding standard algorithms in order to avoid "reinventing the wheel".

Overall, I recommend this book for people with some programming experience that would like to take their work to the next level. Hardcore computer scientists (especially those with a more theoretical bent) may also benefit from this book, but should consider it a supplement to one of the more advanced texts, such as the above-mentioned CLRS.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will love it!, March 20, 2001

By	Nikos Kanellopoulos (Athens, Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Algorithm Design Manual (Hardcover)

Apart from beeing really useful, this book has two more interesting characteristics: 1. it is very readable 2. it is very amusing/interesting at times. The book is very good if you are a beginner in the subject of computer algorithms, but note that it is not a stand-alone book. You also need a good algorithms textbook to cover the subject of algorithms. Skiena reviews some aspects of the algorithmic theory he regards especially useful/important and presents his interesting perspective, but some times he uses algorithms or techniques he has not presented. What makes this book great is the "War stories", where the author describes real problems and the process that led to the algorithm that solved the problems. Something like Bentley's magnificent book "Programming pearls" (get this one too!). And, of course, the categorized catalog of algorithmic problems, which comprises the bigest part of the book, is almost a guarantee that once you come across a real problem you will shortly know where to look for a solution. Moreover, that solution may already be coded, waiting for you in the CD that comes with the book (which also includes a one-semester lectures of the author in shockwave-audio format).

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful resource!, October 2, 2001

By	Shlomo Yona (Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Algorithm Design Manual (Hardcover)

In my line of work I am, many times, in need of some algorithm or resource to do some job. Sure I learned many during my B.Sc. studies, and during my work, but some are hard to remember, and some I never knew - and sometimes you just need to know how to call the problem in order to locate resources about it from the internet.

Well - this book solves it all!

One part contains "war stories", which I found very useful, and amusing - After reading them I felt like I learned many lessons.

The second part, which is the reason I bought this book at the first place, is a very impressive catalog of algorithms and problems - you just need to know something about the problem you need to solve, and most probably, your problem will be described here with clear definitions, and some suggested algorithms for solutions and with resources from other books/articles and web resources.

I tell you - so many times this book was the first and only stop in my persue of finding the algorithm I needed.

I'd recommend this book to anyone studying and working with algorithms. This is a must in your bookshelf - even more - it's a must on your table!