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The Art of Computer Programming, Vols. 1-3 3rd Edition

by Donald E. Knuth (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 55 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0201485417
ISBN-10: 0201485419
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The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-4A Boxed Set
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Product Details

  • Series: Art of Computer Programming
  • Hardcover: 896 pages
  • Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3rd edition (October 15, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0201485419
  • ISBN-13: 978-0201485417
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 10 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

212 of 222 people found the following review helpful
Definitive
By A Customer on June 15, 1999
Format: Hardcover
As Knuth himself says, it is impossible for any one person to keep up with all the research in computer science, but these 3 volumes do a remarkably good job of distilling the most important results and explaining them with mathematical rigor.
Each volume contains 2 chapters. Ch. 1, Basic Concepts: mathematical foundations and a description of MIX, a hypothetical machine (now available in software emulations). Ch. 2, Information Structures: lists, trees, memory allocation, garbage collection. Ch. 3, Random Numbers: how to produce series of "random" numbers and test their statistical properties. Ch. 4, Arithmetic: algorithms for integer and floating-point arithmetic. Ch. 5, Sorting: both in memory and on disks or tapes. Ch. 6, Searching: sequential, binary, hashing.
Despite the detailed coverage of the topics, which often involves esoteric mathematical notation, the author's lively style makes the algorithms and the main theoretical results relatively easy to grasp. If all you care about is getting a program to run, buy another book; but if you really want to understand how and why software works, there's nothing quite like this.
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154 of 161 people found the following review helpful
Excellent, for certain people!
By A Customer on April 4, 2000
Format: Hardcover
These books are indisputably classics of the field, and like all classics they have religious adherents and equally firm detractors. The key difference between the two groups is that the adherents are interested in computer SCIENCE, whereas the rest are more taken with computer programming. The books are well written, quite mathematical, and abstract. The books deal with the core subjects of computer science and shy away from the trendy, and so some people tend to see them as anachronistic. Nevertheless, they are deservedly core references in computer science, and a joy for any patient, theoretically minded reader. There are three points I believe should be made. 1) a lot of the detractors of the books are saying correct things: the books don't deal with hot topics, they do present things in greater detail than is necessary in day to day programming, they are books they require a lot of the reader. What they don't recognize is that this is the intention, and that there is nothing wrong with that. The book is targeted at those with a geniune interest in theoretical computer science. 2) many reviewers complain about Knuth's typesetting system, TeX. What they fail to recognize is that TeX is incredibly useful, and about as user friendly as could be expected, for the task for which it was designed: typesetting professional quality mathematics. Anyone who challenges this statement would have to contend with virtually the entire community of people who write papers using higher mathematics, including virtually all professional physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists. 3) some people accuse Knuth's books of being poorly written. These people are ignorant: either they have not read the works, or they would not recognize skillful writing if they saw it.Read more ›
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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Definitive but Daunting
By Jason on January 18, 2003
Format: Hardcover
It is with good reason that these books are so well-respected in the field. These books have enough depth for several years of careful study and will be quite rewarding for anyone who takes the time. Still, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before jumping in:
(1) These books are not for the mathematically weak-at-heart. The first section, of over 100 pages, is on mathematical preliminaries. While it is true that there are many later sections that can be understood without this background, to truly get the most from these books will take some mathematical maturity,
(2) The algorithms and programs in the book will be difficult to understand to the modern reader, since they are written in an unstructured (i.e. GOTO-centric) style. Program code is given in assembly language for a fictional computer called MIX. Knuth may have his reasons for sticking with this form, but the reader should be aware that some extra work will be required to follow along.
Aside from these caveats, these books come highly recommended.
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66 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Yeah, but is it art?
By Susan J. Foreman on December 9, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Thirty five years ago, after five years of experience programming scientific applications (mostly math stuff, not much real programming beyond algorithms) I began a job programming business applications. At that time, there was very little general communal knowledge about very basic stuff we take for granted today like searching, sorting, memory allocation, data structures...

I began my collection with Knuth and another book (no longer in print) dedicated to data structures. These books defined me as a programmer. I learned MIX only because, as a programmer, I felt that I should be able to understand Knuth's abstraction. I admit that I was frustrated by having to do this. Ironically, even back then, the "other book" used, what was the de facto standard for generically describing algorithms, an ALGOL like language-very pretty!

Many of us have looked forward to Knuth rewriting his artful collection to satisfy our sense of aesthetics. We don't consider that he would have to repeat this huge task over and over again. Or (save me from this one) he could produce an obnoxious series of books titled "The Art of Computer Programming in C", "The Art of Computer Programming in C++", "The Art of Computer Programming in JAVA", "The Art of Computer Programming in C#", and (my favorite) "The Art of Computer Programming for Dummies". I thank Knuth for not doing this, although the last would certainly have a wide audience. Publishers know what they are about.

Another reason, in my humble opinion, that Knuth probably holds to MIX is that the latest generation of programmers do not have a clue what it is like to program a machine directly, or what is happening underneath the hood. There is a huge leap from MIX to MACRO, but the basic principles are still relevant.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

I would recommend to all programmers

There is a clear reason that Knuth's books are regarded so highly. I would recommend to all programmers.

Published 5 months ago by Anon
Must have

Must-have series for any computer scientist or software engineer.

Published 13 months ago by B. MCGAVOCK
896 Pages?

I have tried (twice) to get Amazon to correct the page count for this item. Per the publisher's site, InformIT, volume 1 (3rd ed) is 672 pages, volume 2 (3rd ed) is 784 pages and... Read more

Published 19 months ago by M. BUSH
Like really new books

Books are in great condition and these books are classic. Donald Knuth did a great job with the exposed contents

Published on April 28, 2013 by Walter
Just try sorting and searching with out this book.

I have to admit I am poor so I just bought the book I needed. I needed to build a database that did not use any commercial package. This book saved my bacon. Read more

Published on February 13, 2013 by bernie
Work of a lifetime as a re-definition of perfectionism

"I thought that I was a perfectionist until I met Knuth." The previous sentence is from the renowned mathematician Fan Rong K Chung Graham and I think it also reflects the spirit... Read more

Published on April 12, 2011 by Emre Sevinc
great service!

I ordered these books, and they came within 2 days (I didn't pay for special mailing or handling), and were in perfect condition even thought they were supposedly "used."

Published on August 19, 2010 by Douglas B. Jacobs
Really wanted to enjoy this, but couldn't

I love reading technical books, in a wide variety of fields. I typically read technical books cover to cover, as if they were novels. Read more

Published on July 21, 2010 by Eric Pi
Great classic

I am an undergraduate computer science student. I picked up the Art of Computer Programming due to the authors credibility in the computer science community. Read more

Published on January 3, 2010 by Andrew Ribeiro
Best Computer Science Books ever read

These are the best books in Computer Science that I have ever read. They are selected by the American Scientist as one of the twelve physical-science monographs of the twentieth... Read more

Published on December 12, 2008 by Yuanchyuan Sheu

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