Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick

Algorithms Reviews

• 
  Ruxandra

  I bought this book for the course on coursera.org. I ordered it from informit and it arrived immediately.
  It is a beautiful hardback edition, with ~950 fine quality pages and typography.
  
  I love it, I used it a lot in my assignments and exercises, it is really clear and helpful, the index makes it very easy to find the answer to your questions.
  The first part of the course covered half of it, and I will take the other part too, because the professor makes it really pleasant to study algorithms.
• 
  Ivan Atanasov

  The only reason not giving 5 starts is that the book is too much concentrated on Java programming language..
• 
  Borys

  First of all, the book has excellent and free site with exercises, presentations, and examples at
  http://algs4.cs.princeton.edu/ which is great ! Then, there are 2 courses by prof. Sedgewick at Coursera, which is great also. There are lots of diagrams, and algorithm traces, and also lots of useful exercises to do by yourself.
  Well, and what I don't like is that there are passages that go like 'this should be obvious from ...' and you're like 'What? Why this is obvious, it is not obvious for me at all !!!' But I think every book on algorithm has such passages. Other than that I like this text very much.
  
  There are also minor drawbacks like, for instance, Java code doesn't always follow Java code style conventions, and maybe some other issues but they are not very important for me.
  
  Of course, reading the book, and not doing any exercises is not very helpful but overall I got myself acquainted with lots of very elegant and beautiful ideas in the field of computer science and that was amazing.
  
  P.S. And by the way, Kindle version has some errors and typos in it. Overall it's good, and it has nice code images that fit into one screen, but sometimes it's hard to identify errors, that's all.
• 
  Gabriel

  I read this textbook while taking Sedgewick's online Algorithms class on coursera.com. It covers the fundamental algorithms in searching, sorting, graphs, and string processing. There's a consistent focus on application examples, which really helps provide useful context. I found the explanations very clear and easy to follow.
  A strength of the book is that all algorithms are given in real working Java code, and great care has been given to making the code concise and readable. This can also be seen as a weakness, as large portions of the book are devoted to introducing a basic Java programming model, and to discussing specific Java implementation details. As someone who writes code for a living, I really appreciated this aspect of the presentation, but I could understand if someone else found it distracting.
  Overall, this is an excellent work for learning the fundamental algorithms of computer science from a very practical and applications oriented perspective. Highly recommended.
• 
  Tony Poerio

  A friend of mine calls Sedgewick his "CS Yoda". Not sure if I totally agree--BUT, I used this book for a class on Algorithms and would recommend. The material isn't easy (and some of it is dry), but Sedgewick is an extraordinarily clear writer, and his code snippets are instructive for gaining the necessary intuition to start using these algorithms in practice. There are many, many books on algorithms out there, and if you're not sure which to use, the choice can be kind of paralyzing. That said, you can't go wrong with this one. Would also recommend checking out his online materials for extra info:
  http://algs4.cs.princeton.edu/home/
• 
  David

  The second edition is very well written, doesn't get caught up in language specifics, and is a must read for anyone serious about programming or computer science.
  
  Unfortunately future editions seem to devolve into the obsession with Java language implementation that is a plague on many modern algorithms textbooks. If you've found a second hand copy, flip through a bit and see if anyone is gushing over automated garbage collection, and run away if it's getting in the way of content.
• 
  Amr Wahby

  the book is good, and discuss the topic in easy way , but it dont have evrey thing and need mor example.
• 
  Andrew Obrigewitsch

  This book was OK. It's not really the best book for beginners, but it's good to review, see charts of algorithms or get code examples.
• 
  Alexander

  I loved that:
  
  1. This book used Java instead of some weird language like Lisp, Pyret, Oz or pseudocode. Java is simple, straightforward, ubiquitous and has a colossal community.
  2. The word "lemma" doesn't appear anywhere in this book, and there are no pages that consist purely of opaque mathematical proofs. This book focuses on intuition, not rigorous proofs.
  3. This book's illustrations are beautiful and aid with understanding.
  4. This book focuses entirely on providing students with a solid foundation. It skips specialised topics like dynamic programming, quantum algorithms and machine learning, which some other algorithms books use as marketing gimmicks.
  
  This is a high-quality book on computing that I highly recommend.
• 
  Grzegorz Szopinski

  If you're a java person nad want to learn algorithms in linear, structured way this is a really good book. To some extent you can use it with other languages (e.g. with c#, like I did), but in such case getting pseudocode-based book on the subject seems to be a better idea.
• 
  RorSpike

  It's very detailed.
  There are many graphs illustrating the process of an algorithm.
• 
  Adam Z

  The greatest CS book I have come across so far
• 
  Krzysztof

  I can honestly say that this was the first textbook I ever carefully read almost from cover to cover. An extremely helpful book with handy examples, breakdowns and implementation discussions covering every single detail you can think of when implementing algorithms. It takes some time, but it's... heck, it's pleasant!
• 
  Dmitry Anoshin

  Very comprehensive textbook on algorithms and data structures. I've read the whole book. Sometimes it was hard to comprehend and I had to re-read few parts. But I really enjoyed reading it. Strong five stars and highly recommended.
• 
  Teejay

  This should probably be three stars, but I just can't make myself say "I liked it" because it's attached to the worst class I've ever taken. The book is fine and presents Algorithms in a decent way. The companion videos are very helpful for breaking down the examples. But this is material that I would only read if I were taking a class for it or was a hardcore programmer.
• 
  Rabib

  Together with the corresponding course, I gained a wealth of knowledge concerning algorithms and data structures. The book will serve as a useful reference going forward.
• 
  Taj Bortz

  This book is a great book for not only algorithms, but it takes the time to give you a much greater understanding of many basics of programming. I loved the writing style, the pace, the content. They build up, so you will profit most by reading it cover-to-cover.
  
  This is mostly using Java, so it is especially wonderful for a Java developer. But the topics are generally universal, so don't let that keep you from reading it.
  
• 
  Kaung Si Thu

  I read this book together with Mark Allen's C++ data structures and algorithm analysis book. And I would say this book has more visual materials for explanations on algorithms. No fancy functions for codes, just readable and clean ones. So, unlike Mark's C++ version, u might not want to use this book to study current(somewhat) ways to write languages but to see the topics more.
• 
  Dang-Khoa Le Tan

  After going through the 3rd edition, I realized the 4th edition is the best one so far. Although it omits some algorithms (and put them into the creative problems section), it is much more concise in regard to both the algorithm's implementation and description.
• 
  Nguyen Minh Huy

  wonderful!
• 
  Kasra

  One of the bests in this realm.
• 
  Abdellah Elmrabet

  "Algorithms" is a comprehensive textbook on algorithms and data structures, written by one of the leading authorities in the field, Robert Sedgewick. The book provides a detailed and rigorous treatment of the subject matter, while still being accessible to a wide audience, including students and professionals in computer science and related fields.
  
  The book covers a wide range of topics, including fundamental algorithms and data structures, graph algorithms, string processing, sorting and searching, and algorithm analysis. Each topic is presented in a clear and concise manner, with numerous examples and exercises to reinforce the material.
  
  One of the strengths of the book is its use of Java code to illustrate the algorithms and data structures. The code is easy to read and understand, and provides a practical context for the theoretical concepts being presented. In addition, the book includes numerous visualizations and animations to help readers understand the algorithms and data structures in action.
  
  Overall, "Algorithms" is an excellent resource for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of algorithms and data structures. The book is well-written, comprehensive, and accessible, making it a great choice for both students and professionals. Whether you're studying computer science, programming, or just interested in learning more about algorithms and data structures, this book is definitely worth checking out.
• 
  Malachite

  This reminds me of my programming instructor. He explains everything line by line, making sure that we understand every statement so it would be easy for us to once we started to create our own program. I expecting a mix of programming language and I was surprised to find that it is all about Java.
  
  I like the fact that there are Q&A, exercises and activities at the end of every duscussion. But I got to admit that some explanation although clear, left me confused. So I guess a repeat reading in the future is in order. Once I got a software where I can practice coding. Reading this without that is not a good idea in my case.
• 
  Nimrod Daniel

  It's a great comprehensive book about algorithms. The book contains a full implementation in java code, plus there's also a book site where you can find more code and supplemental material.
  The explanations are clear and accompanied by examples that demonstrates how the algorithms work.
  
  It's a long book, though it can be read in a very reasonable time. I was ~80% through after about a month or two (more like two I believe), but then I barely touched that for a long time.
  
  A very informative and practical book which is highly recommended to anyone who's interested in CS.
  4.5-4.75
  
  
• 
  Travis Davies

  Great book, this book is a very thorough guide to fundamental data structures. As someone with little background in programming, with the help of his free Coursera course I found the book challenging but manageable. The String section in the book is also especially interesting, learning about regular expressions and data compression algorithms.
  
  I think I should be able to ace the algorithms uni course this semester now. 10/10 would recommend any beginner who is willing to really sit down and work through the content.