Top positive review
19 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book but I received counterfeit copies
BySean Lawrenceon July 15, 2017
Buyer beware! Amazon appears to be selling counterfeit textbooks. I have notified Amazon of this problem and re-purchased and still received what I believe to be counterfeits due to the very poor quality of the color, binding, printing, and horrible misspellings on the back of the book in particular.
The contents of the book is great BTW. However I'd recommend buying direct from publisher.
The contents of the book is great BTW. However I'd recommend buying direct from publisher.
Top critical review
78 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsHigh hopes but a little disappointed
ByBHon October 7, 2015
I had high hopes for this book given the reviews here. I bought this book brush up on my existing knowledge and learn new things and was very excited to receive it. There are some interesting points and I liked that it has a section on heuristics. It introduced me to the idea of simulated annealing, which I am using for a problem at work now actually, but like most things in the book I had to turn to the internet for a better explanation. The book is a bit wordy and hard to read at times.
The other major gripe I had is with the code examples. Most variables and method parameters are named a, k, c .. etc. For instance here is a method header in the backtracking section: construct_candidates(int a[], int k, int n, int c[], int *ncandidates)
This makes the code very hard to read and follow as well when you are a lines deep in a method trying to figure out what
k[i] - c + a is. It has been my experience that most math/engineer types and professors tend to write code this way vs giving things descriptive names so the code is easily understandable. The book would be 10X more valuable had the code samples been clearer. I ended up sending it back.
The other major gripe I had is with the code examples. Most variables and method parameters are named a, k, c .. etc. For instance here is a method header in the backtracking section: construct_candidates(int a[], int k, int n, int c[], int *ncandidates)
This makes the code very hard to read and follow as well when you are a lines deep in a method trying to figure out what
k[i] - c + a is. It has been my experience that most math/engineer types and professors tend to write code this way vs giving things descriptive names so the code is easily understandable. The book would be 10X more valuable had the code samples been clearer. I ended up sending it back.
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ByCameron Pietrafesoon January 27, 2013
I purchased this book (Kindle edition) to brush up on what I learned in Algorithms class over a decade ago. I found it has amazing and detailed information, and if I was teaching an algorithms course this would be THE text book. However, I found at times Skiena's presentation to unnecessarily complicate some of the material. Without a lecture to help clarify I found even myself getting confused. For this reason I can't give it 5 stars and would recommend watching MIT's video lectures on Algorithms first if you are a novice, and that should help enough to smooth over some of this book's rough edges in your mind. Other than that the "War Stories" are great tails of practical real-world algorithm solutions, and I loved the emphasis Skiena uses on proper data-structure selection for various algorithms and the comparison tables. I also liked the quick reference/cook-book chapter to aid in solving encountered problems.
13 people found this helpful
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ByVivinon April 16, 2013
This book is great! For a lot of software engineers, you don't really end up dealing with data-structures or interesting algorithms; most of the time you're stuck in business logic. So it's easy to get rusty on your basic concepts. This book does a great job reintroducing those concepts to you. Even if you're a novice, this book is great. But if you've already had some exposure to CS-II/CS-III level concepts, then that is pretty helpful as well.
The author introduces the algorithms and data-structures in practical terms and so it is easy to relate to them instead of thinking of them as purely abstract and theoretical. I especially liked the "war stories", where he shows you how he was able to apply theory in practice. What is great about this is that it lets you recognize the different problem domains and where you can apply specific algorithms and/or data-structures.
The second half of the book is essentially a catalog of different problems that you can encounter, and how you can solve them with specific algorithms/data-structures or variations thereof.
All in all, a great book and it is absolutely indispensable for a good software-engineer.
The author introduces the algorithms and data-structures in practical terms and so it is easy to relate to them instead of thinking of them as purely abstract and theoretical. I especially liked the "war stories", where he shows you how he was able to apply theory in practice. What is great about this is that it lets you recognize the different problem domains and where you can apply specific algorithms and/or data-structures.
The second half of the book is essentially a catalog of different problems that you can encounter, and how you can solve them with specific algorithms/data-structures or variations thereof.
All in all, a great book and it is absolutely indispensable for a good software-engineer.
ByNelson Eduardo Arapé Pérezon March 23, 2018
Very comprehensive guide through algorithms and data structures, with a lots of exercises and reference at the end of the chapter. But what I liked the most was the war stories: the author is a university professor and also a consultant so he present interesting war stories related to the content of the chapter.
On the down side I had to reread some explanations several times but most probably is because of the subject itself rather
On the down side I had to reread some explanations several times but most probably is because of the subject itself rather
ByJustin M Joyceon April 30, 2013
This is a great book for anyone looking to learn about algorithm design and big O analysis. some of the math is very involved it, so to the uninitiated (like me) it can be a bit slow reading, but it is absolutely doable. there are some great explanations of the basics such as sorting, data structures, etc... and the "war stories" provide some excellent practical applications of the ideas the book lays out.
ByGaneshon June 11, 2014
I've read serveral algorithms book in my career as an software engineer!. This book is something I am in awe about. Writing style was pretty good. Instead of listing what is what, this gives the perspective on how to arrive at a particular algorithm as a choice. Author articulated his thought process really well through several of the war stories which were real world problems he encounterd. I can recommend this book enough. This is my review of any book! that says something. Is n't it?
ByFrancois Rouaixon July 15, 2005
There are many reasons I like this book more than other Algorithms books I own (e.g. Sedgewick). One is that Skiena's book comes with an HTML version, so it's easy to keep it with you at all times (e.g. on your laptop, at work, and at home). Another is the "war stories". I found that I wanted to read the war stories first, rather than the technical content. Another is that the book points you at existing implementations, which really is what you'll eventually need to look at if you're going to use or write any code.
Overall, I found that when confronted to real world problems, the "Algorithm Design Manual" was a better resource than other Algorithm books. This is why I'm recommending it to software engineers out there. It seems to be written for people working with algorithms to solve problems, rather than as a support for an academic course.
On the negative side: I find the resource catalog to be exhaustive but somewhat shallow. As I'm getting older and slower, some things are not as obvious as they used to be. For example, I was quite unable to derive how to use Voronoi diagrams to perform nearest neighbour search, although it is supposed to be "a simple matter".
Overall, I found that when confronted to real world problems, the "Algorithm Design Manual" was a better resource than other Algorithm books. This is why I'm recommending it to software engineers out there. It seems to be written for people working with algorithms to solve problems, rather than as a support for an academic course.
On the negative side: I find the resource catalog to be exhaustive but somewhat shallow. As I'm getting older and slower, some things are not as obvious as they used to be. For example, I was quite unable to derive how to use Voronoi diagrams to perform nearest neighbour search, although it is supposed to be "a simple matter".
BySteven F. Lotton May 23, 2014
The challenge with presenting algorithms and data structures is explaining why this is so important.
Skiena's war stories underscore the computer science with eloquent justification for why it's so important to get the fundamentals right. This elevates the book beyond the other core computer science books everyone must have. This makes the book likely to become a classic that everyone will reference.
Skiena's war stories underscore the computer science with eloquent justification for why it's so important to get the fundamentals right. This elevates the book beyond the other core computer science books everyone must have. This makes the book likely to become a classic that everyone will reference.
ByHarmanon November 2, 2015
One of the best book on algorithms, it keeps you engaged.
The chapters neatly describes practical use case of the various algorithms before diving into the actual algorithm. Authors view of Heuristic methods seems to me a bit odd. War Story are a nice addition to the book. I would recommend trying to solve the war story yourself before reading how author was able to solve it.
The real treasure is the catalog of algorithms. Again, in each of these individual algorithm problem, emphasis is on practical use case. Although, no algorithm in the catalog is described in detail, it gives pointer to many resources where you can look at for the details of the algorithm.
This book can very much work as a reference book for algorithms.
It also has nice recommendations for book on specific set of algorithms.
The chapters neatly describes practical use case of the various algorithms before diving into the actual algorithm. Authors view of Heuristic methods seems to me a bit odd. War Story are a nice addition to the book. I would recommend trying to solve the war story yourself before reading how author was able to solve it.
The real treasure is the catalog of algorithms. Again, in each of these individual algorithm problem, emphasis is on practical use case. Although, no algorithm in the catalog is described in detail, it gives pointer to many resources where you can look at for the details of the algorithm.
This book can very much work as a reference book for algorithms.
It also has nice recommendations for book on specific set of algorithms.
Byralph kelseyon October 24, 2008
This is a unique book, about 2/3 of the way from textbook to reference manual. It is very well written. It assumes competentcy in the analysis of algorithms and reviews a wide range algorithmic techniques. Many extensions are outlined as exercises. An unusual and interesting feature is the many "war stories" about the use of algorithms in the real world. Skiena does not shy away from stating what he thinks are good approaches - and otherwise. I am the proud owner of a couple dozen algorithms books, and this is probably the most useful of the bunch.
ByK. Mehtaon November 3, 2013
Very readable book. I picked up to review basics and it was easier than flipping through Cormen. However both complement each other nicely, so I did review Cormen too. Hitchhiker's Guide aka Catalog is nice place to spend as much time as you want. All the references for each catalog entry will take you on internet journey more frequently than you would think - if you want to dig deeper. I loved war stories which don't have any equivalent in other algo books but most relevant for people who are reviewing material.
Overall very nice book and must have in shelf.
Overall very nice book and must have in shelf.
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