Algorithms in a Nutshell

by Heineman, George T.

• ISBN13: 9780596516246
• ISBN10: 059651624X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-21
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

Programmers seldom think about the algorithms in their programs until they encounter problems. Many programmers do not have a background in algorithm analysis and design and if they do, they don't take the time to find the right algorithm for their needs."Algorithms in a Nutshell" helps programmers select, analyze, and implement the right algorithms for their particular needs. It provides just enough mathematics to let the reader understand and analyze algorithm performance. The algorithms in the book are based upon the type of problems they address. Each algorithm is presented in the style of a design pattern - an approach, or plan for how to solve the problem accompanied by the information needed to understand why the algorithm is appropriate, how one might determine why the algorithm is the right one, and implementation tips.

Author Biography

George Heineman is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at WPI. His research interests are in Software Engineering. He co-edited the 2001 book "Component-Based Software Engineering: Putting the Pieces Together". He was the Program Chair for the 2005 International Symposium on Component-Based Software Engineering.

Gary Pollice is a self-labeled curmudgeon (that's a crusty, ill-tempered, usually old man) who spent over 35 years in industry trying to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up. Even though he hasn't grown up yet, he did make the move in 2003 to the hallowed halls of academia where he has been corrupting the minds of the next generation of software developers with radical ideas like, "develop software for your customer, learn how to work as part of a team, design and code quality and elegance and correctness counts, and it's okay to be a nerd as long as you are a great one."

Gary is a Professor of Practice (meaning he had a real job before becoming a professor) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He went to WPI because he was so impressed with the WPI graduates that he's worked with over the years. He lives in central Massachusetts with his wife, Vikki, and their two dogs, Aloysius and Ignatius. When not working on geeky things he ... well he's always working on geeky things. You can see what he's up to by visiting his WPI home page at: http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~gpollice/. Feel free to drop him a note and complain or cheer about the book.

Stanley Selkow received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1965, and then a Ph.D. in the same area from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. From 1968 to 1970 he was in the Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda Maryland. Since 1970 he has been on the faculty at universities in Knoxville TN and Worcester MA, as well as Montreal, Chonqing, Lausanne and Paris. His major research has been in graph theory and algorithm design.

Table of Contents

Algorithms Matter	p. 3
The Mathematics of Algorithms	p. 12
Patterns and Domains	p. 39
Sorting Algorithms	p. 57
Searching	p. 105
Graph Algorithms	p. 136
Path Finding in AI	p. 172
Network Flow Algorithms	p. 226
Computational Geometry	p. 251
When All Else Fails	p. 301
Epilogue	p. 314
Benchmarking	p. 323
Index	p. 337
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.