Fundamentals of Algorithmics: Amazon.ca: Gilles Brassard, Paul Bratley: Books

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Book Description

This is an introductory-level algorithm book. It includes worked-out examples and detailed proofs. Presents Algorithms by type rather than application. Includes structured material by techniques employed, not by the application area, so readers can progress from the underlying abstract concepts to the concrete application essentials. It begins with a compact, but complete introduction to some necessary math. And it approaches the analysis and design of algorithms by type rather than by application.

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This is an introductory-level algorithm text. It includes worked-out examples and detailed proofs. Presents Algorithms by type rather than application.

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

2.2 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Too conversational, Oct 13 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fundamentals of Algorithmics (Paperback)

The reason I dislike this book is that it is written in a conversational style, which is very hard to follow. Being a beginner at this, it would be much more helpful if things were separated and clearly emphasized step by step. This book makes it difficult because all proofs are written into a big block of a paragraph. I normally have taken an hour or so to decode a paragraph so that I can say "Oh! That's what he meant." The content is good- layout is bad.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Too conversational, Oct 13 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fundamentals of Algorithmics (Paperback)

This book should be given a rating lower, if it were possible. The reason I dislike this book is that it is written in a conversational style, which is very hard to follow. Being a beginner at this, it would be much more helpful if things were separated and clearly emphasized step by step. This book makes it difficult because all proofs are written into a big block of a paragraph. I normally have taken an hour or so to decode a paragraph so that I can say "Oh! That's what he meant." The content is good- layout is bad.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great as a supplement or reference, not as an introduction, Jun 4 2002

By

Optimistix (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Algorithmics (Paperback)

This is a good book - far better than an average rating of 2 stars
would suggest. However, i think a big reason for such a rating is
that it's supposed to be an introductory textbook (as claimed by the
authors in the preface), and from that point of view, it leaves much
to be desired.

The presentation is such that it can be difficult for first-timers to
follow, and many topics are simply absent, e.g. network flows.

On the other hand, those already familiar with the material will find
it quite readable and handy as a reference or for brushing up.

The authors choose to present algorithms from a design point of view,
ie greedy approach, divide-and-conquer, bactracking, dynamic programming
etc instead of the traditional way of presenting algorithms for solving
a class of problems, e.g searching, sorting, graph algorithms and so on.

While this is good for those who're already familiar with the traditional
approach and also offers a unified view of problem-solving strategies in
Algorithmics, it is decidedly easier for the beginning student to have (e.g)
all sorting algorithms in one place than to discover that they're scattered
across different chapters.

All algorithms are presented in pseudocode, and are thus have no
programming language dependencies. A healthy number of solved examples
have been provided, and unsolved problems are numerous.

In summary, i think this is quite a good book for practitioners, researchers
and those doing an advanced course in Algorithms, whereas it may not be
suitable for an introductory course (except, perhaps, as a supplement).

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Fundamentals of Algorithmics
Wow...I don't understand how this book can be used in an introductory course to algortithm analysis. Read more

Published on Mar 22 2002 by Lou Dobbs

1.0 out of 5 stars Obtuse, incomplete explanations
I had the misfortune of enduring this book during a graduate level course in algorithm analysis. Bad writing and incomplete explanations make the book a bad choice to learn this... Read more

Published on July 12 2001 by Abdul