Customer Reviews

Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

You shouldn't have to read this review... this book is unmatched in it's field - it's a great book for someone with no background in algorithms to start learning. The exercises are very interesting with some being more mathematical while others are thought provoking extensions to material covered in the book. It's easily the bible in this field. After this one can go on to more advanced specialized material like Papadimitriou, Motwani and Raghavan etc. If you don't have this book and you work with ANY kind of algorithms or do any kind of programming, you owe it to yourself to get it.

Pros:

- Good general book for basic algorithm stuff.
- Tons of basic algorithms.
- Thorough in proofs.
- Very easy to follow once in case you have enough Math background (by either being a grad student or else if undergrad, read the first few chapters as well as Appendices well in advance to the course (Spend time solving the exercises and get familiar with the notation etc. before taking the course)

Cons:-

- I don't consider it a good idea to write algorithms with index starting from 1 instead of 0? Most popular languages used in the industry, have arrays starting from zero.

- Most professors that I have discussed it with agree that this is not the best book for the subject but probably the only one with this much material in it.

A decent book in regards to theory and explanations...
though, lack of solutions for certain problems which would be beneficial for learning the concepts.

a great reference book covers a wide range of algorithms in data management. the explanation is thorough and accessible, and the proofs are solid as well.

shipped and received the book within 5 days after i ordered the book. it is much cheaper than what i could find else where.

I found this book to be very good in explaining the algorithms. The language is too complicated and long-winded. The book is an excellent accompaniment to lectures, but not very good on its own.

I have deep respect for math and people who can make sense out of it, but I am really slow thinker and this book simply overwelmed me. I don't know what is so wrong with having some problems answered. I learned to solve them by going through step by step examples, which this book lacks. After "Single Variable Calculus" by Stewart and "Discrete Mathematics" by Epp, this book looks quite arrogant. Each page like a statement: "You stupid, don't touch me!" I did not like pseudo-code and I did not find it's clear and helpful. This book has a lot of good stuff, but I don't believe that making things hard makes them more important and full of sense. After all , I think everything can be divided into simple ideas , and then explained. Like those "divide and conquer" algorithms that authors describe. It's pitty that they themselves don't practice what they preach.

Don't buy it unless you're forced. Get Robert Sedgewick's books. They balance well math and programming and have nicely done code snippets.

While many have noted how Thomas Corwen and his co-authors have added a scholarly touch to this subject with plenty of proofs it does not make for a good text. One can argue that this book should supplement the instructor's teachings. That would be fine except for the fact that there are no answers to the problems. Therefore, a student has no idea if he or she is on the right track.
To this end Corwen snidely replies on his website that any student asking for the answer will have his or her name posted as a potential cheater since Corwen believes that instructors should be able to use his problems as homework. Here's an idea, how about instructors developing their own problems!
Corwen also does not relate the material in plain English as someone like Frank Carrano does. There are other sources of many of the concepts like binary search trees, sorting algorithms, O-notation. The only thing Corwen is adding is lots of proof and mathematical shorthand.
If you are interested in the mathematical concepts behind the algorithms this is a fine introduction. If you are interested in the algorithmic concepts, this is not for you. Ultimately if you are a student whose instructor will be using this book, you have no choice about buying it. If you are an instructor, however, look at another book to supplement your teachings.

It is a book that deserves more than five stars. Hard stuff, yet it is presented in a way that you get right virtually by reading. Very concise, every page very line counts.

The material is very hard, but the book is written in a way that makes it as easy to read as possible. There is TONS of information here. I usually like to highlight the important stuff when I read, but in this book, nearly everything is important and worth highlighting. In other words, there is no B.S.; they get right down to the point.

This book delivers what every programmer
should know.

1) How to reason,analyse,determine algorithm efficiency