Data Structures and Algorithms (Addison-Wesley Series in Computer Science and Information Pr) (Paperback)

As an introduction to the fascinating field of Data Structures and
Algorithms, this is perhaps the best textbook you'll find out there.
Starting with the basics, the authors develop the concepts in a
natural manner. Array, lists and stacks soon give way to binary trees,
heaps and then more advanced data structures. All data structures are
introduced with proper motivation in terms of the kind of problems
that they are useful in solving.

The basic algorithms in searching, sorting, and graphs are then presented
in detail, followed by a chapter on algorithm analysis techniques, and
one on design paradigms such as dynamic programming, backtracking, divide
and conquer, greedy approach, and local search. The book ends with chapters
data structures and algorithms for external storage and memory management.

This is a textbook, and therefore you can expect a fair amount of maths
in the analysis of algorithms, without which you can only do hand-waving.
All algorithms are explained, with detailed examples and illustrations -
this is one of the easiest books to follow in theoretical computer science.

All algorithms are presented in pseudocode, which makes it easier to
understand things at an abtract level without getting bogged down in
language specific technical details, and the pseudocode is very clear
and concise, making it an easy task to adapt it to any given language.

An additional plus-point is its size - weighing in at less than 450
pages, this is a 'backpack friendly' book which you can easily carry
around, unlike many others on the subject.

The only caveat is that the book is almost 20 years old, so you won't
find the more recent topics like red-black trees, skip lists etc.
I'd suggest using this book for an introduction to the basics, with the
book by Cormen et al (if you want the maths) or Sedgewick (if you don't
want the maths) as excellent supplements as well as advanced references.

I must confess to having a weak spot for this book, since it introduced
me to algorithms and i fell in love with the subject. However, i think
most people who've read it would agree that it is a classic among Computer
Science textbooks which has stood the test of time.

It basically deals with the two ingrediants of programming ,
Data Structures and Algorithms.

The first part gives a wonderful introduction to the concept of Data Structures.It goes on to deal with several classes of Data Structures such as lists, stacks, queues, trees and graphs..
This book is profusely illustrated with examples, and lots of exercises for the student to expand upon the ideas.

The next part goes on to deal with Algorithms. Beginning with the concept, approaches, and different metrics that quantify algorithms such as time and space complexity. Common problems such as sorting , searching and the different algorithms are elaborated with the pros and cons.

One nice thing about the text is the way the subject is presented to the reader. Each topic begins with a few basic concepts and then extended in a natural manner to reach the complexity. This especially equips the student with the ability to continue evolving the solutions on their own. Not to mention the numerous exercises.
For example by studying the concept of abstract data types one would understand how OO programming evolves naturally.

I highly recommend this book for any one seriously interested in programming.