Ask HN: What's a great algorithms book?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4907062

by kemiller • 14 years ago

8 6 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

A web resource would do, too. I'm looking for an engaging read, and a tool for recognizing patterns, more than a complete dissertation on the subject.

dmlorenzetti• 14 years ago

To recognize patterns, a great resource is Steven Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual."

After a few introductory/overview chapters, it launches into a dictionary of algorithms, organized by problem description. There are also pointers to implementations, but the focus is high-level descriptions of what sorts of algorithms for look for, and how to choose among them.

relaunched• 14 years ago

I'll second Skiena's work. It's amazing, pragmatic advice and an enjoyable read.

kemiller• 14 years ago

This looks like exactly what I want, thank you!

brudgers• 14 years ago

Web source, WikiBooks:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Algorithms

marshray• 14 years ago

I learned from Sedgewick http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032157351X/

However, it was a much earlier edition and all the examples are in Pascal. Having to mentally convert the code from 1-based arrays to 0-based like any decent language has been a major pain over the years.

This looks like a C version: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Parts-1-4-Fundamentals-Stru...

rmk• 14 years ago

https://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms/all.pdf

A little more accessible, I think.

Ask HN: What's a great algorithms book?

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