Introduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Looked in even better shape than expected!

Levitin approaches this broad topic by focusing on design methods first, rather than application. After a brief introduction to efficiency analysis, he moves into elementary methods such as brute force, divide-and-conquer, etc. before broaching more difficult ideas like dynamic programming and greedy technique. In each chapter, most classes of problems that can be solved with the technique are at least mentioned, if not explained in some detail. As a beginner to computer science but having a good amount of programming experience, I was able to pick up the ideas from this book better than from my professor. Bear in mind that this book does not discuss implementation at all, but most algorithms are designed with a C-like or procedural style; you may want to follow up with a book more focused on OO design techniques if you are implementing with C++ or Java. As another reviewer mentioned, there are no solutions to the exercises, but I did find the hints helpful on a few occasions. The solution manual was provided to us by our instructor electronically. The only other complaint is the relatively high cost; this is not a book I plan to keep around for reference due to its limited scope. Nonetheless, as a solid introduction to the field, I found it to be indispensable in my algorithms course.

I had the pleasure to be taught by the write of this book. He perfectly explains each and every algorithm in there. Definitely enjoying this class and enjoying reading this book. The problems presented after each section are interesting to solve. The shipping was fast and the item received was as described. Satisfied...

This book is sadly lacking in examples that fully explain the material. It reads like a giant essay, with references to a library of more worthy material. My overall gpa is 3.82 (out of 4.0); and I am certainly going to receive a D, if I pass my algorithms course at all. Did I mention that I have taken three semesters of calculus, one course in matrix algebra, and two semesters of discrete math, prior to my current algorithms course? To use this text is a shameful waste of a students time and money.

A great way to learn object oriented design with Java!

This was the required textbook for my Design and Analysis of Algorithms class. The text content is decent and clearly written, but there are no answers to the heavily math-oriented (that's the nature of this topic) exercises in the back of this book -instead the author thinks that an annoying series of hints will provide the necessary help with the exercises. As anyone who has done any schoolwork involving math will know, feedback in the form of answers to exercises is critical to knowing whether or not you're on the right track with learning the material. The publisher website has the solutions -available only to instructors (presumably) behind a pay wall, which is about as useful to me as a steering wheel on a sliding-glass door. And for a $90 book, I really don't think I should have to petition an instructor to get answers for me so that I can check my work. IMHO, the author would have wasted less time by simply putting odd answers in and skipping the hint BS. Now I've gotta drop another wad of cash on a supplemental book (I'm going to try Introduction to Algorithms since it has answers available online at least) so that I'm not flying blind or stuck receiving feedback after the fact in the form of a grade that may suffer for the lack of answers to compare my work to.

I really liked how short the chapters/sections were. It was easy to understand. Not as complicated as I thought. I finished the class that required this book, but I'll be keeping it as a reference.

The content is fine, though presented in a rather boring way that makes it hard to get engaged. It's also made of cheap, thin newspaper, which rips easily and is kind of ugly besides. The real disappointment is the eBook version. Forget that the posted "eBook" version is some Chinese children's book. The actual digital version is a $90 pdf. No additional formatting; no effort put in at all in fact. You'd think with the arm and a leg their charging they could afford better. And it doesn't work with text-to-speech, which might make people with disabilities, or who just like to use tts, think twice before purchasing. All around a poorly produced book. If you aren't required to purchase this for school, there are better books that care about the packaging.

Content is missing from the book, there seems to be a formatting issue. This book has a lot of mathematical demonstration but some of these symbols are missing, and sometimes exponents are just completely out of place. Total waste of money considering I needed this book to understand some concepts I really needed for an assigment next sunday.

Full of horribly explained concepts that make no sense

It is very useful for learners

La pasta es blanda y supongo que por eso llegó con raspones y detalles en las esquinas. Por lo demás, todo bien.

Levitin gibt einen sehr kurzen Abriss zur Datenstrukturen und bespricht dann in einem Kapitel die Analyse der Effizienz von Algorithmen. Ein Abschnitt ist der P, NP-Thematik gewidmet. Der Rest, und damit die Masse des Buchs, beschreibt den Entwurf von Algorithmen mit diversen Methoden (Brute Force, Divide and Conquer etc.) in vielen ausführlich und gut verständlich erläuterten Beispielen. Der Stil ist unterhaltsam und das Lesen ist (zumindest mir) ein großer Spaß (gewesen). Erwarten Sie also kein Sammelsurium mit Erklärungen dazu, wie Datenstrukturen in Programmiersprache X implementiert werden (dazu gibt es genug andere - teils lausige - Bücher), oder wie in in Programmiersprache Y Algorithmen umgesetzt werden (auch dazu ..). Erwarten Sie das was der Titel verspricht. Sie werden es bekommen. Eine kleine Warnung: Zu den vielen Übungen gibt es Lösungshinweise, die tatsächlich nur teils vage Hinweise sind und damit jeder Versuchung vorbeugen, das Nach-Denken für einen vollwertigen Ersatz des Nachdenkens zu halten.