Practical Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms, Java Edition

Book Description

The author, Cliff Shaffer provides a superior learning tool for those who desire more rigorous data structures and an algorithm analysis book utilizing Java. While the author covers most of the standard data structures, he concentrates on teaching the principles required to select or design a data structure that will best solve a problem. The emphasis is on data structures, and algorithm analysis, not teaching Java. Java is utilized strictly as a tool to illustrate data structures concepts and only the minimal, useful subset of Java is included.

Customer Reviews:

Depressing.......2007-07-14

This book gave me no hope for Analysis of Algorithm and Data Structures class, i have yet to find another book to assist me in this area. the book was so-what easy to read, but the explanation of the concepts is really horrible, dont waste ur money

The gears on the cover dont even work!.......2006-03-21

I have Dr Shaffer as my professor and he is just as boring in real life as his book. He has told us that some of the code segements are broken to make his students figure them out. DONT buy this book... It's not worth the money.

Anonymous.......2006-02-15

I would not reccomend this book for learning about data structures. With incomplete code and scampy sections on core area material, it seems to serve more as a workbook than anything else. In addition to this I find it to be poorly worded which has often caused me to overlook important details or have to read a sentence multiple times to understand what the author is saying. What saves this from being a one star product is the fact that if you do know the material, it can help you review structures but even then, the ackward wording still can slow down a quick read.

Very unhelpful book.......2005-11-29

Dr. Shaffer attempts to address the difficult topic of data structures and fails. Consistently he glosses over important points, or does not describe the implementation of data structures (the buffer pool, for example, is especially poor) adequately and leaves the hapless student confused and frustrated. For a computer scientist who already understands the subject this book may contain a few good points. Indeed, I was able to follow the sections where I had previous training, but when I studied material new to me, I was out of luck.

If you are unlucky enough to have a university that uses this text, consider trying to find a better book to get yourself an adequate understanding of this important subject, because Dr. Shaffer's text won't do that for you.

I normally buy books because they contain information..........2004-11-05

...but this was a mandatory book for my university's two-course Data Structures & Algorithms sequence that all computer scientists and computer engineers must take.

Coming in with a good deal of programming experience, I find that this book is not as clear or as complete as it could be. The sample code snippets throughout tend to be awkwardly implmented with obscure variable names and obtuse datatyping, and more often than not represent 'a' way of accomplishing a task rather than 'the best' way. Finding better ways of doing things is normally left for exercises at the end of the chapter; the answers are not included with the book.

Also, many significant details or comments are skimmed over or are ommitted from the text. Many important (and complex) observations are left as exercises - but again, the answers are not included, so there is no way of validating your answers.

Further, this book is targeted at the C++ language. It is obscene to discuss data structures and algorithms without mentioning the free, prepackaged, and optimized code of the C++ Standard Template Library. Indeed, this book and the code it includes would have benefitted from the ingenious architecture and software engineering behind the STL.

I really hope the campus bookstore will buy this one back when I'm done with it.

Average customer rating:

Meh...
Not a self-study tool
Worst Textbook I've Ever Used
I would give it 0 stars if I could
The worst DSA book ever written!

Data Structures and Algorithms in C++
Michael T. Goodrich , Roberto Tamassia , David M. Mount , and David Mount
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471202088

Book Description

* Provides a comprehensive introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation
* Each data structure is presented using ADTs and their respective implementations
* Helps provide an understanding of the wide spectrum of skills ranging from sound algorithm and data structure design to efficient implementation and coding of these designs in C++
Wiley Higher Education

Customer Reviews:

Meh..........2007-08-22

While I think that the other reviewers might be a little too harsh on this book, it definitely leaves a lot to be desired. It is not written very well at all (confusing language and sentence structure) and skims over important topics while going into too much detail on pointless ones. There is still a lot that can be learned from this book, but I would recommend checking out the alternatives.

Not a self-study tool.......2005-12-23

This book is very bad unless you have a good teacher to supplement. I used this book only to understand concepts that I wasn't clear on during the class lectures. In short, a horrible book if you want to self-teach but not too bad if you just want it as a supplement.

Worst Textbook I've Ever Used.......2005-12-05

This is honestly one of the worst if not the worst textbooks i have ever used. I am a computer science major at the University of Buffalo and was required to use this book for a course with the same name. This book is full of useless examples that demonstrate the easiest of concepts while there are huge holes in coverage of harder concepts in the book. The end of the chapter exercises are terrible and are not explained in the chapters preceding them. Stay away from this text.

I would give it 0 stars if I could.......2005-07-24

This is a very frustrating book. The writing is horrible, there are no sample exercises in the book so when you go to do an assignment from the exercises, there is no example of how to approach the problem. There is a "hint database" on their online website that gives you one line of how to approach a problem, but even that is hit or miss and can make things even more confusing. In short, I didn't learn any more about data structures than I didn't already know from my previous courses.
If you are looking for a book that explains things in a much better format, look for the Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++ by Weiss. It explains things so much better.
Don't waste your money on this, and if you have to buy it for a class, definitely buy used. I'm selling mine back to the school bookstore!!

The worst DSA book ever written!.......2005-03-02

This is one of the dozens of Data Structures and Algorithms books in the market and till now the worst I've ever seen. I have taken two DSA courses in my undergrad years, and now as a grad, I'm TAing that course.

The theoretical treatment of the book is superficial and too childish. Yet, there's too little practical value. They discuss the unnecessary linked list implementations of trees which is quite confusing for students. I am also amazed that they do not mention finding or removing an element in a BST. And, more importantly there's too little discussion of graphs.

I don't understand those professors trying to bog down students with useless details and complicated C++ codes. Rather, they should give the intuition and the theory behind the data structures and algorithms. Weiss' book is much better than this one. But, even that is obsessed with doing tricky things with C++.

Anyway, to sum up: This book is a garbage. Stay away unless it's required for the course you're taking in case you may need to do homeworks and such.

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good book for beginners BUT....
No Java source codes available
Best book to read about data structures and algorithms with little to no knowledge about them
Applet Source Files
Very good book

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java (2nd Edition)
Robert Lafore
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0672324539

Book Description

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, Second Edition is designed to be easy to read and understand although the topic itself is complicated. Algorithms are the procedures that software programs use to manipulate data structures. Besides clear and simple example programs, the author includes a workshop as a small demonstration program executable on a Web browser. The programs demonstrate in graphical form what data structures look like and how they operate. In the second edition, the program is rewritten to improve operation and clarify the algorithms, the example programs are revised to work with the latest version of the Java JDK, and questions and exercises will be added at the end of each chapter making the book more useful to readers.

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Customer Reviews:

Good book for beginners BUT...........2007-01-17

I found this book to be very useful to learn data structures even with minimum Java knowledge. The chapters are well written so that it's very easy to understand the matter quickly.
BUT: Many of the source codes are incomplete or even missing! I have no problem with typing source code from the book but if the author shows source codes where important methods are missing (delete method on 2-3-4 Trees) or even whole data structures are only explained in theory (Red Black Trees) without any piece of source code and at the end of the chapter tells us to find such stuff out by ourself I'm starting to wonder what do I paid the 45$ for?! I don't need a book for telling me to try to find out stuff by myself! I'm buying a book exactly for the matter to tell me the things that I can't find out by myself!

No Java source codes available.......2006-10-08

One major problem with this book, particularly for beginners like me, is that the Java source codes are UNAVAILABLE. To try the code in the book, you have to type, which obviously is a tremendous wate of time and frustration. There are no alternative. Hope that the author may immediately act to resolve the issue. Considering the amount of frustration that I have gone through, even two stars are a generous rating for this book. Now I am looking for other data structure books which are rated good and provide source codes.

Best book to read about data structures and algorithms with little to no knowledge about them.......2006-08-10

This book for people who do know little to nothing about data structures and algorithms in a programming language. If you do not know much about data structures and algorithms then the mere thought of learning them on your own can make you afraid of them. On top of that there aren't many books written in Java that talk about them. But this book makes learning it as easy as having an ice cream. As the title suggests, all algorithms and code examples have been written in Java. If you laready know Java then it is very easy to understand the chapters and the examples.

The chapters start off with good introduction to a topic and then as it progresses, the code is shown. After that the code is explained as well. The code that used in each chapter is further explained using a workshop applet. For example, in the chapter in Linked Lists, if you run the workshop applet you can actually see how the nodes are being added and deleted from the list. This makes learning even simpler.

Algorithmic complexities are also explained clearly and concisely without going too deep into the mathematics part of it.

This book is a good reference manual for people who already know these concepts and wanna keep something handy to browse through it.

But primarily, I would recommend this book for people with knowledge in Java and little to no knowledge in data structures and algorithms.

Applet Source Files.......2005-03-15

I just purchased the book. I download
the files of this book from the publisher website. I notice
that applet demonstration workshops in the book only contain
class files and html files. I just wonder if the original
java source files for applet workshops can also be posted in the
publisher website, which will facilitate the learning process,
since readers can modify the soruce files, and to see how the
applet results might change.

Very good book.......2005-02-16

Very good book. Very clear explanations with minimal use of jargons. The visual workshops is a very good aid. Definitely recommended!

Average customer rating:

Probably OK
good, concise algorithm book ruined by comment
Good book, but HORRIBLE CODING STYLE!!!
Not worth your time or money
pretty concise and covers enough ground

Mastering Algorithms with C (Mastering)
Kyle Loudon
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1565924533

Amazon.com

Written with the intermediate to advanced C programmer in mind, Mastering Algorithms with C delivers a no-nonsense guide to the most common algorithms needed by real-world developers.

The highlight of the book has to be its concise and readable C functions for all the algorithms presented here, including basics like linked lists, stacks to trees, graphs, and sorting/searching algorithms. The C functions that implement these algorithms are clearly printed and remarkably easy to read. You can use this sample code directly or adapt it into your C/C++ code.

Although mathematical concepts like Big-O notation are discussed, the authors don't get bogged down in the computer science theory surrounding algorithms. Instead, they present the most tried-and-true algorithms available today in an efficient format. Besides introducing each algorithm, they describe how each is used in computing today, along with a short demo application. Some of these samples are quite low-level, such as a virtual memory manager implemented with linked lists. Most examples are more of general interest, such as a graphing example that counts network hops.

Each section ends with questions and answers about how the algorithms work, along with references to other algorithms (both in the book and from other sources). The authors concentrate on the most useful algorithms available today and don't try to cover every available variation. Busy readers will appreciate the intelligent selection--and efficient presentation--used here.

There are a number of books on C algorithms, but Master Algorithms with C is one of the most concise and immediately useful. It's a perfect choice for the working C/C++ programmer who's in a hurry to find just the right algorithm for writing real-world code. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Algorithm efficiency, pointer basics, arrays, recursion, Big-O Notation, linked lists, stacks, queues, sets, hash tables, trees and B-trees, searching, heaps and priority queues, graphs, sorting and searching algorithms, numerical methods, data compression, Huffman coding, LZ77, data encryption, DES, RSA, graph algorithms, minimum spanning trees, geometric algorithms, and convex hulls.

Book Description

There are many books on data structures and algorithms, and some books laying out useful libraries of C functions, but this book aims to give you a unique combination of theoretical background and working code. In offering robust solutions for everyday programming tasks, Mastering Algorithms with C avoids the abstract style of most classic data structures and algorithms texts but still provides all the information you need to understand the purpose and use of common programming techniques. Implementations, as well as interesting, real-world examples of each data structure and algorithm, are shown in the text. Full source code appears on the accompanying disk. Using both a programming style and a writing style that are exceptionally clean, Kyle Loudon shows you how to use such essential data structures as lists, stacks, queues, sets, trees, heaps, priority queues, and graphs. He shows you how to use algorithms for sorting, searching, numerical analysis, data compression, data encryption, common graph problems, and computational geometry. He also describes the relative efficiency of all implementations. The compression and encryption chapters not only give you working code for reasonably efficient solutions, they explain concepts in an approachable manner for people who never have had the time or expertise to study them in depth. Anyone with a basic understanding of the C language can use this book. In order to provide maintainable and extendible code, an extra level of abstraction (such as pointers to functions) is used in examples where appropriate. Understanding that these techniques may be unfamiliar to some programmers, Loudon explains them clearly in the introductory chapters. Contents include:

Pointers
Recursion
Analysis of algorithms
Data structures (lists, stacks, queues, sets, hash tables, trees, heaps, priority queues, graphs)
Sorting and searching
Numerical methods
Data compression
Data encryption
Graph algorithms
Geometric algorithms

Customer Reviews:

Probably OK.......2007-07-16

The book is probably OK, but there are better, much better ones on the subject. I highly recommend looking at "The Algorithm Design Manual", just search Amazon and you'll find it.

good, concise algorithm book ruined by comment.......2004-12-13

compare to most algorithm/data structure books out there, this book is not as complete as those, but it's much easier to read, and diagrams in this book is well drawn and much eaiser to follow. Why would I only give it 3 stars? One thing really ruined this book - obviously the publisher/editor/author try to increase the total page number by putting ridiculously big comment block in sample code(single line comments takes about 5 lines, all surrounded by '*' and spaces) This made the sample code difficult to read, imagine a 5 line function has to be printed in 2 or 3 pages.

Good book, but HORRIBLE CODING STYLE!!!.......2004-11-09

The book contents is good, the algorithms presented are more or less well explained and the implementeations themselves are not bad (but could be better).

Unfortunately this book has 2 mayor problems:

Sometimes you need an implementation of an algorithm for which you already know the inner-workings, just need quick code instead of reinvening the wheel yourself... the book will not allways give you that, it will sometimes build an algorithm based on previous ones! Darn!, I am supposed to go straight to the point I want and get the code without having to read a couple of previous sections.

Second and worst of all is the coding style this guy has. I don't know what the other reviwer that said that the code is great programs in but certainly not in C. The author of the book simply has the worst style ever... look at the comments, a one line comment surrounded by a box!!! give-me-a-break!... where did he learn this? He should read a book about style, perhaps read Code Complete by Steve McConnel or something before attempting to write code. Anyway this is just one of the many style flaws this book has.

If I could I would return it, after all, you can get mostly any implementation from the internet (I had to do that or would have wasted lots of time and... time is money).

If well written, the book would have been 1/2 its size and then it would have been good.

Why 3 stars? Well, in spite of the poor programming style and bad presentation of some algorithms, if you have time and patience, you get someting out of the book. Just don't use the coding style he uses... if you try that at work you would be fired or at least laughed at.

Not worth your time or money.......2003-04-17

To be fair and honest, I have not read this entire book and that is because I've read far better ones. If you are interested in this topic (and if you're a programmer or computer scientist, you should be), look to Robert Sedgewick's excellent "Algorithms in C" in two volumes, or "Mastering Algoritms" by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein. While the algorithms in Cormen, etc.'s book are not in C, they are in a pseudo language that easy to convert to C. I'm really, really glad I looked this book over before flushing my (limited) money away.

pretty concise and covers enough ground.......2002-07-27

Sure, we all have learnt algorithms back in school. We know the fundamentals, we can talk about them, no sweat. But when it comes the time to actually write out an algorithm in C, we all struggle like George W writing SAT. That's why an algorithm book with real useable sample codes is very useful. O'Reilly has a good reputation for pumping out reference books, but there are, inevitably, hits and misses in the series. This volume is a hit. It covers most frequently used everyday algorithms without going into some obscure and generally useless NP-class problems. Full example codes are given on a floopy for easy porting.

ADTs, Data Structures, and Problem Solving with C++ (2nd Edition) (Alan R. Apt Books)

Average customer rating:

Great Introductory Book
Crisp as New.
Great book
Data Structures with C++ and STL not only for C programmers

ADTs, Data Structures, and Problem Solving with C++ (2nd Edition) (Alan R. Apt Books)
Larry R. Nyhoff
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131409093

Customer Reviews:

Great Introductory Book.......2005-10-30

I actually feel that this book is a mixed bag. On one hand, the concepts are intuitively presented and are easy to understand. On the other hand, the book doesn't delve too much into technical details, which may or may not be a godsend to various students. Personally, I'd rather use the Drozdek Data Structures text, since it goes into much more detail into analysis and logic behind choosing various data structures and algorithms in order to implement an ADT.

Anyway, it's still a great textbook for an introductory course in data structures. Just be sure to get another textbook on the same material down the road if you want to get a more detailed understanding of the concepts presented.

Crisp as New........2005-09-17

The book shouldn't be called Used, its was Crisp as New, and exactly what you wanna expect at the start of a new class, having a colourful mak free book in your hands.

Great book.......2005-06-18

The coverage of C++ and data structures looks pretty good. There are lots of programming examples, and the book is written very well. I'm recommending it for our 2nd year course in data structures and C++. Our students know Java, but not C++, so it's been a challenge finding a data structures book that packages a semi-introductory version of C++ with a standard course in data structures. This book appears to be the best suited out of about 5-10 books that I've reviewed for this course.

Data Structures with C++ and STL not only for C programmers.......2004-09-28

I am teaching the second programming / first data structure course in the department of electrical and computer engineering. I have used the first edition of this book several times, and as of fall of 2004 I am into the third of semester of using this second edition as a mandatory text.

This book is very good for students who already know how to program in C, C++ or Java. The first C or C++ course does not have to cover introduction to OOP though. My students learn C part of C++ in the first programming course. This book covers object oriented programming part of C++, and introduces/reintroduces pointers, file IO with streams, and C++ strings (good for former Java programmers). Then it follows into data structures. It starts with its own definitions of dynamic array that grows, and a simple linked list as basic data containers. Then it focuses on organizing access to data with stack and queue, and then migrates to the standard template library (STL). Everything is kept on the undergraduate student level. All other STL books I know assume that you are already an expert in programming or at lest for students after two programming courses, and are too difficult for average non-CS students.

I originally rated the first edition with four-stars only because it introduced pointers very late, out of the proper sequence and added the fifth star for the unique blend of introduction to OOP C++ and data structures, and STL. However, this edition is free from this inconvenience and it also makes C++ and data structures course accessible to former Java programmers. It gets true five stars from me this time.

Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Could have been better
Not as good as I expected
not a book for beginners
Good for professors, bad for students
Knowledge is Power and Painful, too

Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java (2nd Edition)
Mark Allen Weiss
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321370139

Customer Reviews:

Could have been better.......2006-05-26

I felt the author has a firm understanding of the concepts and truly what he wanted to convey, but this book lacked a great deal for beginners or newcomers to Java. Far too many of the examples were tough to understand and in many cases simply un-answered. This is not a book for beginners.

Not as good as I expected.......2006-02-24

It is a nice book but i expected something better. I don't know what it is but something is missing here. I like the C/C++ version of this book better for some serious learning. On the other hand this is a good opportunity to learn java programming at the same time if you haven't mastered it yet.

not a book for beginners.......2005-09-28

If you don't know Java, don't expect to be able to learn the things you need to for a class. If you learned how to do alorgithms in mathematics, it may not be enough for computer science. You probably want to get a supplemental or two if you have to get this book for class. It is quite advanced and a hard read.

Good for professors, bad for students.......2003-11-24

All of the practical algorithms are left as un-answered exercises! Great in depth discussion of introductory algorithms, but very few examples, mostly pseudo-code.

INFURIATING FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY, but good if you have a professor to explain everything as you go.

Knowledge is Power and Painful, too.......2002-11-01

Well, I have to admit I did not expect much from this book. But to my overly pleasant surprise, I found this volume quite useful both as a resource for algorhythms and data processing...Forget the Bible, this is the only book one truly needs. And it's fun to say "Java." Amen.

Average customer rating:

Genuinely usefull
Hundreds of typos, and authors apparently don't want to know
quick send. great buy.
Third edition is much improved
Not Recommended

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java
Michael T. Goodrich , and Roberto Tamassia
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471738840

Book Description

Fundamental data structures in a consistent object-oriented framework

Now revised to reflect the innovations of Java 5.0, Goodrich and Tamassia's Fourth Edition of Data Structures and Algorithms in Java continues to offer accessible coverage of fundamental data structures, using a consistent object-oriented framework. The authors provide intuition, description, and analysis of fundamental data structures and algorithms. Numerous illustrations, web-based animations, and simplified mathematical analyses justify important analytical concepts.

Key Features of the Fourth Edition:
* Updates to Java 5.0 include new sections on generics and other Java 5.0 features, and revised code fragments, examples, and case studies to conform to Java 5.0.
* Hundreds of exercises, including many that are new to this edition, promote creativity and help readers learn how to think like programmers and reinforce important concepts.
* New case studies illustrate topics such as web browsers, board games, and encryption.
* A new early chapter covers Arrays, Linked Lists, and Recursion.
* A new final chapter on Memory covers memory management and external memory data structures and algorithms.
* Java code examples are used extensively, with source code provided on the website.
* Online animations and effective in-text art illustrate data structures and algorithms in a clear, visual manner.

Access additional resources on the web www.wiley.com/college/goodrich):
* Java source code for all examples in the book
* Animations
* Library (net.datastructures) of Java constructs used in the book
* Problems database and search engine
* Student hints to all exercises in the book
* Instructor resources, including solutions to selected exercises
* Lecture slides

Customer Reviews:

Genuinely usefull .......2006-02-25

It is worth to have waited for 10 days for the book
It covered up to date java technology and provide additional informations about the implementations of algorithms in real life.
I got many usefull java and algorithm theories from this book and I think it fits to people who want to learn java and the other who have java knowledge.

Hundreds of typos, and authors apparently don't want to know.......2005-11-25

I'm finding the 4th edition reasonably clear and comprehensive. However, the book is teeming with typographical errors. Most of them are typesetting errors involving superscripts and subscripts that overlap the adjacent characters so they aren't fully legible. But there are numerous other miscellaneous typos.

So, I've been marking them in my copy, in order to submit them to the authors or publisher, but apparently they don't want to know about the typos. The "errata" section at java.datastructures.net contains no errata and no instructions on how to submit errata. I wrote to one of the authors to ask how to submit errata, but received no reply.

quick send. great buy........2005-10-04

got the book very quickly. also the book was sold at a great price.

Third edition is much improved.......2005-05-14

When I learned that this was the required book for my introductory data structures class this semester, I was somewhat worried by the large number of very negative reviews I saw it had received here. However, during the first class meeting, the professor made a point of instructing us to get the third edition (published in 2004), explaining that the differences between the second and third editions were significant.

Judging by the older reviews below, he was right - the book I read seems to bear little if any resemblance to the one denounced by the other reviewers. I found it clear and readable, though it was rather basic and dry. But then, I wasn't expecting great literature - this is a introductory compsci textbook, after all. Though it could be dull at times, it generally managed to get its information across clearly, which is all it needs to do. There were some typos, of course, though probably not more than should be expected to accompany such a major revision. The book's main flaw was an index that had essentially no relation to the actual text itself. A corrected index is available at the book's Web site.

In terms of organization, Goodrich and Tamassia start off with a brief introduction to Java, object oriented design and a brief and very basic discussion of running time and asymptotic analysis. They then work their way through basic data structures and abstract data types - stacks, queues, vectors, lists, trees (general, binary, and binary search), priority queues, heaps, dictionaries, hash tables and graphs. They discuss the structures' purposes and major operations, analyze the operations' running times, and include decent, heavily-documented Java implementations of some of the structures and methods. They also do some stuff with algorithms, though generally nothing very complex or sophisticated. I used this book in an introductory data structures course at a liberal arts college, which managed to cover pretty much everything in the book with little difficulty.

There are a lot of exercises at the end of each chapter. Goodrich and Tamassia divide them up into progressively more complex "Reinforcement", "Creativity" and "Projects" sections. My instructor preferred to assign problems and programming assignments of his own creation, though, so I don't know how helpful or useful the exercises in the book actually are.

All in all, it seem Goodrich and Tamassia noticed the sort of reviews the earlier editions of this book were getting and took steps to correct the many problems they had. I expect that if you have to use the book in a data structures course, you'll find it at least reasonably clear and generally acceptable. As long as you're using the third edition, that is.

Not Recommended.......2003-03-30

Like many other reviewers, I had to purchase this book for one of my CS courses. As a reference book, it gets no more than 1 star. I find it often confusing in its explanations, incomplete code examples and uneven pace. I understand that it was designed to be a textbook, but it miserably fails to be of any value to a student. For 100+ bucks, I expected a lot more.

Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Useful and informative
Java
Good introductory book
I have one too many java books in my stock
Very confusing book,

Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java (3rd Edition)
Michael Main
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0321375254

Book Description

This book takes a gentle approach to the data structures course in Java. It offers an early, self-contained review of object-oriented programming and Java to give students a firm grasp of key concepts, and allows those experienced in other languages to adjust easily. The book also offers a flexibility which allows professors such options as emphasizing object-oriented programming, covering recursion and sorting early or accelerating the pace of the course. This title meets the needs of professors searching for a book to balance the introduction of object-oriented programming and data structures with Java.

Customer Reviews:

Useful and informative.......2006-04-26

For the student seeking to learn data structures, this book certainly covers the basics (sorts, trees, graphs, recursive elements, stacks, queues) well. While some introductory Java is enforced, it assumes a general background in basic Java programming.

Java.......2006-03-20

The book is not very useful. The author jumps between Java versions but never covers all of the new features Java 5.0 has to offer.

Good introductory book.......2004-05-19

Despite having a professor who criticized Main's approach to almost every topic (seemingly in a bid to sell more of her own book), I enjoyed this book and got much use out of it. Other reviewers here claim the example code was buggy: I rarely type in and compile sample code - I never did for this book - so I cannot comment on any errors. However, the author's website has code for almost every class in the book. I highly encourage you to check it out.

I enjoyed his discussion of the topics; he clearly explained the fundamental ideas of the topics covered in the book. One does not need to have example code to write a linked list class if one reads his clear descriptions of it. Same goes for most ideas in the book.

The weak point I thought was sorting, and this was more of a weakness of my own than the author's. Two entire chapters are devoted to searching and sorting, but I just wasn't very interested in it. However, it is a useful concept, and you get much analysis of a few common searching & sorting routines.

The best strategy to use this book is simply to read it straight through. Only quickly scan his code, to get an idea of one way to implement an idea. Read his explanations a few times until you understand the ideas and can state them in your own words. You don't need to be able to memorize Java-specific implementations of ideas from this book. You should, instead, be able to clearly explain in English the abstract ideas that are taught in this text. Recommended both for class and for learning on your own.

I have one too many java books in my stock.......2004-05-13

I read a lot of confusing books by java experts that sometimes forget to go back to the simple basics when teaching simple minded readers. However, this book is for continuing readers of java who had some, but not expert training, experience in writing programs. What I liked most of this book is how he gives pointers on what to look out for while programming, and provides alternate solutions that would be better off in the long run than what general programmers tend to come up with. I also liked how he distinguished between specification and implementation to improve group/team environments (especially for large programs). His specifications before each class gave me a very intuitive idea of what is being asked rather than being confused with all that code. Once I got the general idea, I was able to under the code more. By following the convention that I described about the way he helps the readers, data structures became very clear to understand, especially when it comes to implementing such structures in Java. Its better to read this book slowly one chapter at a time than to jump into the middle, if you want to get a thorough established view of what is going on.

Very confusing book,.......2003-08-21

The book is very weak for learning how to use data structures. I found the sample code to be buggy, but you can find updates and most of the code in the book on his website. However, there was a unique and easy to understand approach to explaining the code, but there's very few examples of situations on how and where to use, If data structures is a new concept to you, then look elsewhere. Yes this was my first experience with data structures, and I stayed lost or confussed most of the time.

Average customer rating:

Too many errors and omissions to be a great book
Too Many Mistakes!!!
Gravely Disappointed
Disappointing :-(
Clearly written; great for non-Computer Science majors

Data Structures and Algorithm in C#: 1
Michael McMillan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521670152

Book Description

C# programmers: no more translating data structures from C++ or Java to use in your programs! Mike McMillan provides a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms plus the first comprehensive reference for C# implementation of data structures and algorithms found in the .NET Framework library, as well as those developed by the programmer. The approach is very practical, using timing tests rather than Big O notation to analyze the efficiency of an approach. Coverage includes arrays and array lists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, and sorting and searching algorithms, as well as more advanced algorithms such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming. This is the perfect resource for C# professionals and students alike.

Customer Reviews:

Too many errors and omissions to be a great book.......2007-10-01

This book had the potential to be great but missed it's mark. The number of coding and textual errors is just too great for a book of this type. In addition, the coverage of the 'primitive' array and ArrayList items is, I feel incomplete...they're used a whole lot but how they're actually implemented isn't even touched upon (yes, they're language features...but it'd be nice to get some sort of insight here!).
I had such high hopes for this book; one which was missing from the C# armoury and essential to those of us who don't have a conventional Comp Sci background. This book just doesn't cut it...a second edition with better coverage and VASTLY better editing is needed.
Reading more, wish I could change my rating to 1 star (Amazon doesn't seem to allow this...). This is just an insulting book for the price...the number of errors and inaccuracies is remarkable...don't buy this!

Too Many Mistakes!!!.......2007-09-29

Intersting topic, wish it was a good book, but don't waste your money. No exaggeration, every page has at least one error. It seems as though the person writing the code and the person writing the text never talked to each other.

Sure, most of the errors are small, but I'd move on to another book. Data structures are best learned in c/c++ anyway. Get a c++ data structure book, then read about c# collections online and you're done.

Gravely Disappointed.......2007-08-03

I'm sorry to say that as somebody who has worked in this industry for about 8 years but came to it without a Computer Science degree, using this book to round out any final knowledge of things like data structures and algorithms was not very helpful. Sure it had chapters about things like sorting and searching (bubble sort, selection sort, BSTs etc.), but the presentation is pretty awful. Basically, it seems like this book might be good for Michael McMillan to be teaching a classroom with where he can have everybody follow along while he explains the notes in his book on the whiteboard, but don't try to use this book and try to learn on your own, he doesn't know how to teach very well.

Basically, he would quickly talk about a concept and then show a code sample. He did not walk through what was in the code or how he arrived at the code or what the point of the code was. He merely talked about the patterns of say a bubble sort, and then showed you a sample piece of code and left you to figure out how that might acheive those results. You are not going to be able to learn what the code's intent is by simply pushing a sample in front of some one and say "here look, i did this, so do only and exactly this next time."

It also seems to demonstrate his inability to get this book done. Note that the release date for this book got moved back time and time again, and it appears as though finally he just slapped the minimialistic amount of required content together to be able to say he completed the book.

Finally, anyone and everyone who has commented that his code samples are error prone are absolutely correct. I'm not entirely sure that this book was editted. There are constant mistakes throughout the dialog as well as the mistakes in code and I feel sorry for any beginners or C# newbies that are trying to make sense of what he left on paper.

In short, there are other books out there, but if you're set on learning algorithms for C#, there appear to be other books on the way.

I certainly hope that Michael McMillan is at least disappointed with his own efforts here. He really let himself and the developer community down with this offering.

Disappointing :-(.......2007-06-13

About half way through the book, and I am sadly disapointed and am beginning to wish I hadn't purchased this book. The examples printed in the book are grossly incorrect, variables used in the examples where something entirely different is referred to in the text, syntactically incorrect variables in a lot of the examples, and figures are even in consistent. I looked through the pages for an author email addy or someplace to go for eratta, but could find no such thing. I will keep reading through this but its costing me more work trying to figure out what the author really meant then the amount of information I am getting back in return... they really should have proof read this one a little better... my recommendation... do not buy it, or at least until they have fixed the errors.

Clearly written; great for non-Computer Science majors.......2007-06-13

This book contains a clear exposition of common data stuctures and some algorithms. I think it is particularly useful for developers like me who came to the profession indirectly without having first been computer science majors.

The book was ported from the original VB.NET version and suffers from only a few lapses in translation.

Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.NET

Average customer rating:

DataStructure/Algorithms/VB.Net
Excellent
Programmer
introductory algorithm course

Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.NET
Michael McMillan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521547652

Book Description

Including a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms and a reference for implementation using VB.NET and the .NET Framework Class Library, this is the first Visual Basic.NET book to provide a comprehensive discussion of the major data structures and algorithms. Michael McMillan presents arrays and arraylists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, sorting and searching as well as more advanced algorithms, such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming in an object-oriented fashion. Finally, the professional or student VB.NET programmer has a dedicated reference instead of having to translate material on C++ or Java.

Download Description

This is the first Visual Basic.NET book to provide a comprehensive discussion of the major data structures and algorithms. Here, instead of having to translate material on C++ or Java, the professional or student VB.NET programmer will find a tutorial on how to use data structures and algorithms and a reference for implementation using VB.NET for data structures and algorithms from the .NET Framework Class Library as well as those which must be developed by the programmer. In an object-oriented fashion, the author presents arrays and arraylists, linked lists, hash tables, dictionaries, trees, graphs, sorting and searching as well as more advanced algorithms, such as probabilistic algorithms and dynamic programming. His approach is very practical, for example using timing tests rather than Big O analysis to compare the performance of data structures and algorithms. This book can be used in both beginning and advanced computer programming courses that use the VB.NET language and, most importantly, by the professional VB programmer.

Customer Reviews:

DataStructure/Algorithms/VB.Net.......2007-10-01

For some of us learning programming has been less of a structured approach and more of a journey, picking up what we could as we went along. This book is a significant aid in that it takes us back to the basics of how to write problem solving code and at the same time giving us an extended toolbox to apply to how we perform it. It has been a real help to me by reinforcing things to me that I thought I understood, and teaching me new ways to do things that I had no idea on how to approach.
Al Edlund

Excellent.......2007-09-20

I have selected this book to be the textbook of an introductory course in data structures and algorithms for my second year programming students. There were three major reasons behind this choice:

1- The book doesn't go into the mathematics found in other books. Of course, mathematics are essential for those who want to create algorithms, but it's not the case for the majority of programmers, at least in the business computing field, who just want to implement them. On the contrary, I think that teaching the mathematics underlying the construction of algorithms makes the learning process unnecessarily hard.

2- On the data structures field, the book takes advantage of structures already implemented in the major development platforms. As the author says it: "students of data structures and algorithms can now see how to use a data structure before learning how to implement it" (Preface, p. vii). From an educational standpoint, this is a far better approach than starting to discuss a concept abstractly.

3- The examples are in VB .NET, which I consider a good starting programming language. For those who rather prefer another language, the author has recently published the same book for C#: "Data Structures and Algorithms Using C#".

In a word, I consider this book an excellent practical approach to learn common data structures and algorithms without going into the complexity of mathematics.

Programmer.......2006-12-14

Michael McMillan's "Data Structures and Algorithms Using Visual Basic.Net" is an excellent resource for the serious programmer using Visual Basic.Net. With the advent of the .Net technology there have been some major changes to Visual Basic, one of them being the collection classes. Most vb reference books provide a weak introduction to the collections and how to use them; this is the focus of the book and really allows the reader to gain enough confidence to start using them effectively in their own programs.

I look forward to more books from this author.

introductory algorithm course.......2005-09-10

McMillan does for Visual Basic in .NET what other languages like Java, C and C++ have long had. Fundamental data structures like hash tables or hash sets, arrays, linked lists. He shows how to use these in the VB context. They greatly simplify your programming tasks. These constructs are so widely used in any practical programming language.

Without them, you find yourself having to tediously reinvent basic functionality. Adding little value. And with the risk that your implementations might be buggy.

McMillan shows how to use the structures in several algorithms. Having said that, this book will not be of any surprise to someone already familiar with algorithms. It does not go into these to the depth of Knuth's 'Art of Computer Programming', or Sedgewick's texts.

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