Product Description

This book is a solid foundation of the most important formalisms used for specification and verification of reactive systems. In particular, the text presents all important results on m-calculus, w-automata, and temporal logics, shows the relationships between these formalisms and describes state-of-the-art verification procedures for them. It also discusses advantages and disadvantages of these formalisms, and shows up their strengths and weaknesses. Most results are given with detailed proofs, so that the presentation is almost self-contained.

Includes all definitions without relying on other material

Proves all theorems in detail

Presents detailed algorithms in pseudo-code for verification as well as translations to other formalisms

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The central problem considered in this book is the determination of rational parametrizability of an algebraic curve, and, in the positive case, the computation of a good rational parametrization. This amounts to determining the genus of a curve, i.e. its complete singularity structure, computing regular points of the curve in small coordinate fields, and constructing linear systems of curves with prescribed intersection multiplicities. Various optimality criteria for rational parametrizations of algebraic curves are discussed.

This book is mainly intended for graduate students and researchers in constructive algebraic curve geometry.

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Rapidly evolving computer and communications technologies have achieved data transmission rates and data storage capacities high enough for digital video. But video involves much more than just pushing bits! Achieving the best possible image quality, accurate color, and smooth motion requires understanding many aspects of image acquisition, coding, processing, and display that are outside the usual realm of computer graphics. At the same time, video system designers are facing new demands to interface with film and computer system that require techniques outside conventional video engineering.

Charles Poynton's 1996 book A Technical Introduction to Digital Video became an industry favorite for its succinct, accurate, and accessible treatment of standard definition television (SDTV). In Digital Video and HDTV, Poynton augments that book with coverage of high definition television (HDTV) and compression systems.

For more information on HDTV Retail markets, go to:http://www.insightmedia.info/newsletters.php#hdtv

With the help of hundreds of high quality technical illustrations, this book presents the following topics:

* Basic concepts of digitization, sampling, quantization, gamma, and filtering
* Principles of color science as applied to image capture and display
* Scanning and coding of SDTV and HDTV
* Video color coding: luma, chroma (4:2:2 component video, 4fSC composite video)
* Analog NTSC and PAL
* Studio systems and interfaces
* Compression technology, including M-JPEG and MPEG-2
* Broadcast standards and consumer video equipment ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Over my head!
I work for a Great entertainment company, in order to understand the business little better I decided to read books about TV, Cinema, Video and entertainment in general.
This was a book I got with a bundle of other books. I read the book end to end. I must confess that I need to read it couple of more times before I can say I get it. If you are in the business of Television you may find this book either boring or educational, but if you want to read it to learn the jargon so you can mingle with the business folks and pretend you "understand", find another book.

The most complete guide
This is a very useful book if you work in the HDTV industry. It is a handy tool for me, as it points out concepts that are rather new and not so easy to understand even for skilled engineers, like HDTV timing.

Very useful, but ...
This book is undoubtedly useful for any practicing video engineer and for anyone seeking to familiarize themselves with video standards and technology. It covers a broad range of topics under one cover. Depth is lacking in most parts, but then this book is not intended to be used for theoretical study. It is a handy guide to have at one's desk.

My biggest and only complaint is about the way the material is presented, which, in my opinion, is highly unstructured and makes the book much more difficult to read than it needs to be. In almost every chapter, the author asks the reader to refer to the material in both future as well past chapters for details. As an example, the section on nonlinear image coding, on p.12, refers to the material in different chapters on pages, 197, 198, 203 and 257!

Nonetheless, despite this writing flaw, the book is recommended.

Comprehensive and dense
Not an easy read for beginners. If you are serious about video (i.e. work related), get this, it is recommended reading in the field.

Magnificent Book
I buy and read a lot of technical books--there are hundreds in my library--and this is one of the best in any field. An adequate technical book has to be accurate, reasonably organized, provide a good selection of material, and be understandable. A good book will engage your interest and impart general knowledge. But a truly great technical book will leave you with deep insights that make you smarter. This is one of those books.

The text is lucid and the illustrations are uniformly excellent. I particularly like the layout, which leaves a column to the left of the main body text for references, notes and comments. The author deeply understands the material and conveys that knowledge beautifully. This is one of about 5 technical books I've ever come across that's hard to put down.

A minor production nitpick is that the paper shear was was a bit dull when they cut my copy, leading to slightly rough edges on the left-side (even-numbered) pages, but it wasn't bad enough to exchange the book. Otherwise the binding and paper color and quality are top notch. ... Read more

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Computer simulations based on mathematical models have become ubiquitous across the engineering disciplines and throughout the physical sciences. Successful use of a simulation model, however, requires careful interrogation of the model through systematic computer experiments. While specific theoretical/mathematical examinations of computer experiment design are available, those interested in applying proposed methodologies need a practical presentation and straightforward guidance on analyzing and interpreting experiment results.

Written by authors with strong academic reputations and real-world practical experience, Design and Modeling for Computer Experiments is exactly the kind of treatment you need.The authors blend a sound, modern statistical approach with extensive engineering applications and clearly delineate the steps required to successfully model a problem and provide an analysis that will help find the solution. Part I introduces the design and modeling of computer experiments and the basic concepts used throughout the book. Part II focuses on the design of computer experiments. The authors present the most popular space-filling designs - like Latin hypercube sampling and its modifications and uniform design - including their definitions, properties, construction and related generating algorithms. Part III discusses the modeling of data from computer experiments. Here the authors present various modeling techniques and discuss model interpretation, including sensitivity analysis. An appendix reviews the statistics and mathematics concepts needed, and numerous examples clarify the techniques and their implementation.

The complexity of real physical systems means that there is usually no simple analytic formula that sufficiently describes the phenomena. Useful both as a textbook and professional reference, this book presents the techniques you need to design and model computer experiments for practical problem solving. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

simulated annealing, evolution ...
The book covers several important computer modelling ideas, that have seen widespread use in many fields. One such idea is simulated annealing. A concept originating in physics, perhaps during the 50s or 60s. You can see how the concept of temperature is generalised to some suitable key parameter. And how by increasing this temperature, and using it in a probability distribution that is often just a Maxwell-Boltzmann decaying exponential, you can sample a parameter space. Elegant concept.

Then there are evolutionary ideas. Where you might apply competition between various test solutions, to find the most effective. And then mix "genetically" the parameters of these solutions, to hopefully find even better answers.

Fang does a good job of explaining the broad concepts of these and other ideas. Along with detailed examples that show how useful implementations. ... Read more

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The second edition of this successful textbook provides an up-to-date introduction both to distributed algorithms and to the theory behind them. The clear presentation makes the book suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses, while the coverage is sufficiently deep to make it useful for practicing engineers and researchers. The author concentrates on algorithms for the point-to-point message passing model and includes algorithms for the implementation of computer communication networks. Two new chapters on sense of direction and failure detectors are state of the art and will provide an entry to research in these still-developing topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Simply the Best Book on Distributed Algorithms!
Gerard Tel's is easily the best compilation of distributed computing algorithms existing. First the contents:

I found its coverage to be excellent, broad yet deep coverage on network algorithms and protocols for communication, routing, deadlock-free packet switching, election, termination, global snapshot, sychronization, authenticating, self-stabilization, failure detection, wave, traversal, deadlock detection, fault tolerance, consensus, sense of direction and orientation, etc. It terms of breadth of coverage no existing book compares to this book. In particular it covers more recent areas like sense of direction and orientation and wave algorithms missed by its main competitor Nancy Lynch's Distributed Algorithms.

It uses very intuitive pseudocode and the algorthimic analysis and proofs are quite intuitive and easier to understand.

My complaints: The coverage in a few areas like consensus are not nearly as comprehensive as Nancy Lynch's. Also, Tel covers algorithms for asynchronous systems mostly and synchronous systems, but Nancy Lynch covers partially synchronous systems as well.

I recommend Gerard Tel's book which costs less and has a deeper and broader topic coverage. For balance you need both books if you can afford them (and indeed Vijay Garg's Elemenets of Distributed Computing as well). Vijay Garg's new book - Concurrent and Distributed Computing in Java would be the best for you if your focus is distributed software development as opposed to algorithmic computing.

For coverage of distributed systems principles, design and architecture I recommend one of the 3 'Distributed Systems' books by Courolis OR Andrew Tanenbaum OR Sape Mullender.

translation
Je trouve à M. Tel le maître des algorithmes distribués. Les concepts sont précis et bien documentés. Le livre est très complet, très claire et on peut trouver une extense bibliographie sur le sujet.

>>
I find the author to be a master of distributed algorithms. The concepts were precise and well written. The book is very complete, very clear and you'll find in it an extensive coverage on the the subject.
>>

Distributed Algorithms
Je trouve à M. Tel le maître des algorithmes distribués. Les concepts sont précis et bien documentés. Le livre est très complet, très claire et on peut trouver une extense bibliographie sur le sujet. ... Read more

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Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop, WAE 2000, held September 5-8, 2000, in Saarbrucken Germany. Nineteen revised full papers were presented together with one invited paper, selected from a total of 30 submissions. Softcover. ... Read more

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Curves and Surfaces for Geometric Design offers both a theoretically unifying understanding of polynomial curves and surfaces and an effective approach to implementation that you can bring to bear on your own work-whether you're a graduate student, scientist, or practitioner.

Customer Reviews (3)

Best text on geometric design
This is a great book, definitely the best among the various books on geometric design and CAGD (other good ones include Farin, Mortsenson, Piegl and Tiller, Hoscheck and Lasser).It is not as encyclopedic as the sources listed above,but it a lot more coherent anda lot clearer, because it follows the unifying concept of blossoming. As a result, one gets multiple complementary views of polynomial curves and surfaces: algebraic, geometric,combinatorial, and algorithmic. For example, we can see where the Bernstein polynomials come from, instead of mysteriously being dropped from the sky. The systematic use of blossoms (polar forms) is particularly elegant in the presentation of surfaces, where it clarifies greatly the differences between rectangular and triangular patches. The discussion of subdivision versions of the de Casteljau algorithm is very thorough and unique. Gallier's book is also the only book to discuss subdivision surfaces in some detail (Doo-Sabin, Catmull-Clark, and Loop). In particular, an analysis of the convergence of Loop's scheme is given. For this, the author gives a remarkable crash course on the discrete Fourier transform. However, this chapter is too dense and should have been split. Also, much more pictures are needed. It seems that the authorwas in a rush.The appendix on vector spaces is gorgeous, and the one on differentials is also excellent. This book is highly recommended to mathematically inclined readers interested in geometric modeling and computer graphics. Too bad that applications to medicinesuch as organ modeling, or to computer animation, are notpresented. Nevertheless, Mathematica code is provided for most of the algorithms. A web site would be helpful.

A good mathematical review for practicing graphics engineers
This book is a good review of the concepts of geometry for Modeling.The presentation is original.The mathematical treatment is sound. This a "required reading" for thosein Computer Graphics research anddid not have a good course in geometry.Those who have had a good coursein geometry will appreciate the original style of presentation.This bookfills a long felt gap in the treatment of geometry from the perspective ofComputer Graphics.The book assumes minimal background in mathematics, andis almost self-contained.

There are fewer graphics programmers who havean adequate understanding of the underlying mathematical concepts.Thisbook can partially help the graphics programmers to cross over to thatselect group. Problems at the end of each chapter enhance the value of thebook.The material is updated with latest developments in the field suchas subdivision surfaces.

People interested in Computer Graphics,Geometric Modeling, Computer Vision, and Robotics will benefit fromstudying this book.

A brillian geometry book
I found this book an exellent introduction to advanced geometry concepts used in computer graphics, vision, robotics, geometric modeling and many other related areas. Gallier has struck a perfect balance between formalmathematical rigour and intuition and readability which the book lendseasily with its many beautiful illustrations and examples. The concept of"blossoming" is a rarely-seen but extremely elegant way ofpresenting the curves and surfaces. This book is a must for anyone wholoves the elegance of geometry. ... Read more

Product Description
Updated to follow the recommendations put forth by the ACM/SIGCSE 2001 task force, Analysis of Algorithms, Second Edition raises awareness of the effects that algorithms have on the efficiency of a program and develops the necessary skills to analyze general algorithms used in programs. The text presents the material with the expectation that it can be used with active and cooperative learning methodology, based on the premise that students learn more effectively and retain more information longer when they are active participants in the learning process.To accomplish this, the chapters are clear and complete to encourage students to prepare by reading before class, and the text is filled with exciting examples and exercises that look at the efficiency of various algorithms to solve a problem.The author is well known for workshops that he presents on the active learning model.He has written an instructor's manual that helps instructors understand how to present the material in an "active" way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Unacceptable errors
I recently obtained the second edition of this text, since it seemed like it gave a fresh approach to the topic.I happen to be teaching this topic this semester, and so I went to the chapters dealing with computability and complexity theory.I found several glaring errors in terminology there, andthis is simply unacceptable in a text.Apparently, the reviewers didn't do their job here.For example, in chapter 10, the author attempts to treat the classes P, NP, and NP-complete.Unfortunately, the term NP is used in many cases where NP-complete should be used.This leads to several areas of confusion.(Just because a problem is in the class NP, doesn't mean it is intractable -- it could be trivial, since P is a subset of NP.)

In summary, there are several other texts out there that are relatively readable and accurate.Among them are Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen et al, andIntroduction to the Design and Analysis of Algorithms by Levitin.

That is the book
For a long time I have been searching for an algorithm book which is comprehensible, easy to follow. This is the book, I am really looking for. The other books like "Introduction to Algorithms" and most of the others do not give the point of the subject, full of mathematics, strange symbols many unneccessary details, I think that the other authors must follow the approach like in this book.

I wish that the author had also written other books containing the other advanced algorithm issues like network flow, linear programming... I would have bought without hesitating...

Good Basic Textbook
I am a professor of computer science and used this book for my Algorithms class. Although it had a few errors, there were many things I liked about it. First, the size of the book is just right; it covers all of the major subjects and I was able to use the entire text in one semester. Other textbooks cover topics in so much detail, I often had to leave many topics out of the course. Second, the active learning approach is great; having students do in class exercises and group projects helped them grasp the material more quickly. Third, I liked the omission of higher level mathematics; our college offers a degree in computer science but also other computer-related degrees which do not require a knowledge of calculus. Any student should be able to grasp the math in this book. In conclusion, I will use this text again and look forward to other authors writing books that "get to the point" quickly like this author did. ... Read more

Product Description
Michael Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia, authors of the successful, Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, 2/e, have written Algorithm Engineering, a text designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the design, implementation and analysis of computer algorithms and data structures from a modern perspective. This book offers theoretical analysis techniques as well as algorithmic design patterns and experimental methods for the engineering of algorithms.
Market: Computer Scientists; Programmers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

do not buy this book
This book is horrible. It doesn't explain anything properly. Do yourself a favor and buy a different book.

A good book for algorithms
It is great as a textbook to learn about algorithms.
The book emphasizes on writing pseudo-code for algorithms. There is a rich number of sorting, searching algorithms, along with popular abstract data structures. The part about graph theory is especially good when accompanied by the Power point.

For reference, other books may be better because this book has much introductory content.

Be honest with your transactions...
I got the book but I was so sad that on the cover it says that the book shouldn't be sold outside some specific countries. it means two things number 1 and which is very important it violated some rules. number 2 so it means that the price of the book should be lower than what i paid. since the book is printed on a lower quality of paper and price should be lower when sold on third world countries.

This book hits the sweet spot
This book will take you from "programmer" to "engineer". Recommended to me by a Google engineer. You use her work everyday.

You need understanding of programming fundamentals to use this book. With that said, if you finish this book and the exercises, you'll be in the top ranks.

Easy to read and not quite as dense as CLRS Introduction to Algorithms.

Do yourself a favor and dont buy this book
Though I am a member of Amazon for years, and purchased many books, this is my first review about a book. It`s 2 am, and I am trying to understand the book`s questions, as a PhD student for hours. I took algorithms course before when I was getting my MS in a different university, where we were using Cormen & Leiserson`s book, I was liking this course and having no problems, I also watched all the MIT OCW`s lectures from Leiserson and the other young professor, and I can say I was totally comfortable with subjects. Algorithm was a course I was liking till I came across with that book.

However, this book became my nightmare with its ambiguities, poorly written sentences, ambiguous questions. I asked TA about some questions, and for every and every question I asked, she said `oh yes, this was not clear for other students too, so we thought this may be ...` And the hard part about questions are understanding the question, not solving it. This incidence happened in a 2nd tier(top 30) US university, in a graduate course.

What can I say? What is the reason and justification to write such a book?


I think, during my life I used over 40 textbooks, this one without doubt is in top 3 in worst text book lists (with Mark Weiss`s Data Structures, and Sedra& Smith`s microelectronics). I am giving two stars because they made at least a website, though I cant say its very helpful, they continue to being ambiguous even in the hints they say.

The book is so dull that, by just inspecting introduction which tells Archimed`s history (which became a cliche even in high school books and irrelevant to the introduction and algorithms in general) you can see this. Then look at Sedgewick`s introduction about an efficient algorithm finding prime numbers, Knuth`s introduction about roots of algorithm word etc...

I recommend Cormen`s or Sedgewick`s books, actually I cant imagine a worse book than that, if I had written something only that can be worser, but I am not claiming I am a good writer/author (as it can be seen from this review). I am sorry for writing such a harsh review, but my advice if you see a course offering this textbook, please refrain for taking the course for your good.


... Read more

Product Description
With an accessible writing style and manageable content, Data Structures and Algorithms using Java is the ideal text for your course. It covers the entire recommended syllabus put forth by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) standard curriculum guidelines for "Algorithms and Data Structures." The authors main motivation for writing the text was to produce a text that was more readable and instructional than those currently in print without compromising the scope of the CS103 course material. McAllister does just that with his unique student-friendly pedagogical approach and organizational structure. The pedagogical features of the text, based on the author's 30 years of teaching experience, include succinct code examples, a unique common template used as the organizational basis of each chapter, the use of pseudocode to present the major algorithms developed in the text, 300 carefully designed figures, and a review of Java. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Okay, not the best
This book is okay for a general/introduction to data structures. Most of the examples are pretty well written and the topics are explained well. I found its coverage of speed, big(O) notation and other topics lacking. The book does not go into the dept of coverage you can find in other texts, and often assumes previous knowledge of data structures and algorithms. I think this book is best suited as a reference or supplementary text (think study guide). It does not work well as a primary or sole resource for a data structures course. As such, the price is a bit high. I gave it 3 stars because I received it quickly, and in great condition. (I bought it used, but it looked almost brand new). Would definitely recommend bookbytl and Amazon. Get it used, or use a different text if you are looking for a primary resource.

A review
If someone thinksthat "Data Structures and Algorithms Using Java" is a great book that one should have in their Library, and you ask for a creative, interesting literary review ...... well, not everyone who did great in the Math part of the SAT's, duplicated that in the English part. My suggestion would be to borrow the book from a friend and then decide if you should purchase it.If it is required for a class, then it doesn't matter if I like it or not! ... Read more

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Descriptions given include precise definitions, complete algorithms and thorough complexity analysis. Serves as a basis for future research. Softcover. ... Read more

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This first up-to-date textbook for machine vision software provides all the details on the theory and practical use of the relevant algorithms. The first part covers image acquisition, including illumination, lenses, cameras, frame grabbers, and bus systems, while the second deals with the algorithms themselves. This includes data structures, image enhancement and transformations, segmentation, feature extraction, morphology, template matching, stereo reconstruction, and camera calibration. The final part concentrates on applications, and features real-world examples, example code with HALCON, and further exercises.Uniting the latest research results with an industrial approach, this textbook is ideal for students of electrical engineering, physics and informatics, electrical and mechanical engineers, as well as those working in the sensor, automation and optical industries.Free software available with registration code ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a follow on to Davies
This very recent book can be used as a follow on the Davies tome, Machine Vision : Theory, Algorithms, Practicalities. The latter was a good general treatment of the many ideas used in image recognition. Whereas the current book does not start from scratch in the field, and takes the reader to much of the current research issues.

Image segmentation, morphology and edge extraction are several of these issues. The level of mathematical detail goes beyond the introductory style of Davies. Which can be a great help if you are relying on Davies. The problem with it is that a serious researcher often has to recreate or rederive much of the needed low level methods. These are often presented here by Steger et al.

For users of OpenCV, note that it is nowhere referenced in the book. But some ideas that form its basis, like template matching, can be found here. ... Read more

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Accuracy and Stability of Numerical Algorithms gives a thorough, up-to-date treatment of the behavior of numerical algorithms in finite precision arithmetic. It combines algorithmic derivations, perturbation theory, and rounding error analysis, all enlivened by historical perspective and informative quotations.

This second edition expands and updates the coverage of the first edition (1996) and includes numerous improvements to the original material. Two new chapters treat symmetric indefinite systems and skew-symmetric systems, and nonlinear systems and Newton's method. Twelve new sections include coverage of additional error bounds for Gaussian elimination, rank revealing LU factorizations, weighted and constrained least squares problems, and the fused multiply-add operation found on some modern computer architectures.

An expanded treatment of Gaussian elimination incorporates rook pivoting, along with a thorough discussion of the choice of pivoting strategy and the effects of scaling. The book's detailed descriptions of floating point arithmetic and of software issues reflect the fact that IEEE arithmetic is now ubiquitous.

Although not designed specifically as a textbook, this new edition is a suitable reference for an advanced course. It can also be used by instructors at all levels as a supplementary text from which to draw examples, historical perspective, statements of results, and exercises. With its thorough indexes and extensive, up-to-date bibliography, the book provides a mine of information in a readily accessible form. ... Read more

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Introduces the basic concepts and characteristics of string pattern matching strategies and provides numerous references for further reading. The text describes and evaluates the BF, KMP, BM, and KR algorithms, discusses improvements for string pattern matching machines, and details a technique for detecting and removing the redundant operation of the AC machine. Also explored are typical problems in approximate string matching. In addition, the reader will find a description for applying string pattern matching algorithms to multidimensional matching problems, an investigation of numerous hardware-based solutions for pattern matching, and an examination of hardware approaches for full text search. ... Read more

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Data Structures and Algorithms for Game Developers teaches the fundamentals of the data structures and algorithms used in game development. It provides programmers with a detailed reference to what data structures and algorithms are, and why they are so critical in game development. It teaches new game programmers, students, and aspiring game developers how to create data structures and write algorithms using C++. All key features of C++ are also covered, especially those related to game development. Additionally, a demo application is included in each chapter focusing on the data structure and/or algorithms presented in that chapter. The book covers many modern topics that game and graphics programmers must know to be successful, including geometry management techniques, and data structures and algorithms such as KD-Trees, Binary Space Partitioning Trees, Sphere Trees, etc. The code written in this book is not dependent on any specific hardware or operating system. Each chapter ends with questions, exercises, and challenges for the reader to complete in order to help them better understand and apply what they learn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Should just be titled "Data Structures and Algorithms"
This is a decent C++ data structures book. Everything is explained clearly and concisely, sometimes not enough detail is provided though. I don't know why this is titled "...for Game Developers", there's nothing in this book that makes it more appropriate for game developers. Occasionally the author will state things like "this data structure is good for keeping a list of players" and nothing more. I guess that's about the best you can do when trying to aim for a particular demographic.

Regardless, I recommend this book for any C++ programmer that just wants a primer on data structures. If you need a more full blown, highly detailed, complex book, look elsewhere.

The book is good, but it has some shortcomings
I don't like to retype what others have already said, so I'll quickly go through some of the positives this book has:

1) Very well written: good organization, clear and clean language. It is never a drag, you never have to jump around pages or reread something. It's probably a better introduction for those seeking a C++ algorithm or data structure book than Sedgewick or Josuttis (though in the end, this is no replacement, after reading this it is essential to read those books anyways).

2) Methodology is great: he first works an example that shows how some concepts might be implemented, and then he moves to explain the real thing. For example, he first did a custom UnorderedArray template class, and then explains the STL's vector class template.

3) He often points the advantages of using an algorithm or data structure, and goes as far as showing the (very) basic mechanics of the big-O notation.

4) Even if this book is oriented for beginners, there is something here for everyone.

5) The CD that comes with the book is pretty complete: not only it comes with the files to run the demos, but he even includes the figures and graphs that are printed in the book in a digital picture format.

The other reviewers have failed to provide any meaningful disadvantages for this book, which is why I bought it in the first place, but there are some things you should consider:

1) The author has some bad C++ programming habits, which comes as a surprise, given how much the industry professionals stress the need for better C++ code. Evidence: just look at all the "Write Better C++ Code" books out there (e.g. Exceptional C++ and Effective C++ are two great books on the topic). Getting into specifics: all of his classes methods are inline member functions (in C++, all functions that are defined inside the class definition are considered to be inline), ALL of them. It is weird that someone who talks so much about optimization goes as far as making everything inline, when some of the functions are obviously not good inline candidates, some are actually very involved, and the advantages won by making them inline are outweighed by the disadvantages.

He never provides function prototypes either. Never.

Another thing: he uses way too many macros in his custom code. He even commits the atrocity of making function-like macros. A great example of this is the BitArray class almost at the very beginning of the book. In fact, all his macros make great inline candidates, and making them so would be much more efficient (and more legible) than function-like macros. That particular BitArray example was a pain for me; I almost died a little bit.

There are more of these, but here I've written the ones that have stayed with me.

2) Some STL concepts, like iterators, are explained throughout the whole book bit by bit. This might not be a disadvantage for some, but speaking for myself, I like to understand something clearly before any attempt to move forward.

I hope this helps you understand the nature of this book better, and the shortcomings it has. This is no 5-start, but not because it's methodology, writing or editing, these are in fact very good. The thing is: why would the author want to expose beginners to such bad code? (I know, he probably doesn't, but he should've gotten a professional opinion on his code. Honestly, I doubt he did).

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UPDATES
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EDIT: Ok, now that I think about it, maybe the author decided to make all functions inline for the sake of simplicity, as Java and C# users are not that used to seeing prototypes and whatnot. Still, He should've said that those were his intensions anyways. As for the function-like macros, I've been unable find a suitable excuse.

EDIT #2: There is an implementation error in one of the classes developed by the author. More precisely, the Linear Probing Hash Map demo. The problem is that the functions for the HashMap class: Delete and Find, do not take into account deletion prior finding on keys that generate the same hash values. I've been trying to contact Mr. Sherrod to propose a solution, but I have not heard a reply of either him, or Cengage Learning. The solution is a bit involved, so anyone interested in it can contact me.

Fills the gap for me
My level with C++ is intermediate beginner. Just before reading this book, I finished Accelerated C++.

I have enjoyed the entry level style of the book and the challenges at the end of each chapter have been sufficiently challenging. It doesn't mention the mathematic theory behind the techniques although it does cover big-O notation and the pros and cons of each type of container and sort. The examples are not game centric or even game themed, except the last two chapters. It simply presents the most common sorting and storage techniques in adequate, short explanations and examples.

My first complaint is that even though the technique discussions are adequate, the code sample explanations are redundant. My next complaint is one of the author's unorthodox coding style.

There was a circumstance where the answer to a problem was not available. Chapter 7 covers Hash Tables and one of the problems (I can't remember which) asks the reader to create a perfect hash. I found that nearly impossible since there was so little information on how to do it in the book or on the web! I did skip this one problem after watching a lecture from MIT on Hash Tables.

I also found that the third problem in Chapter 8 : Advanced Sorting, "Create an example of Introsort", required that I jump to the first part of Chapter 10 : Heaps, because Introsort is a combination of Quicksort and Heapsort.

The last chapters amped up the difficulty and the relevancy to video games challenges. The code for these two chapters were in the CD, rather than the book. I wish there were more chapters dedicated at this level.

The author may have done better to have went for a general data structures and algorithms beginner book, then have dedicated a second one to the study of more in-depth usage in games.

Overall, the book is an adequate re-introduction into the subject.

Nice Introduction, very well chosen list of Data Structures
Many of the beginners videogame programmers starts with some book that teaches the basics of graphic, event, sound handling, but fails short on the basic theoretical background that they will need to have as soon as their projects get bigger.

This book, through simple and effective examples teaches the most fundamental data structures that an efficient game engine will need for sure.

Those algorithms and data structures are also a very good toolbox that anyone who plans to get serious with programming business should be. Be it games or commercial applications. Even if you would never code yourself a hash table, knowing what one does is a very powerful information. And this book will give you this information.

As a bonus, the author is very friendly and attentions, replying fast and throughly any question concerning the book.

Excellent Reference
I would say this book is geared more for the intermediate programmer. If you already have the basics of c++ down, then this book will get you into the inner depths of exactly how things are implemented in the STL.If you alreadt know how they are implemented, or have an idea, this book serves as a handy reference. Also, it has some interesting chapters about where and how certain structures are used for bot pathing and other video game techniques.

The topics and structures in this book are great, and clearly explained. If you are not familiar with the basic data structures used in programming, then I suggest reading this book front to back. Don't worry if you don't get everything at once, so long as you get an idea of what the various structures and algorithms are. When you actually need to implement them it is easy to find the information that you need.


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Product Description
The authors' treatment of data structures in Data Structures and Algorithms is unified by an informal notion of "abstract data types," allowing readers to compare different implementations of the same concept. Algorithm design techniques are also stressed and basic algorithm analysis is covered. Most of the programs are written in Pascal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Let's not get too excited
Hyperbolic remarks about this book will mislead you into thinking that this book is absolutely unique, when it's not. The material here is standard and present on many, many algorithms and data structures book.

Furthermore, this book is dated, as it uses Pascal. It has very little relevance for today's world of collections of data structures made by experts (on Java, C#, Eiffel, Smalltlak, etc.) which are resources you need to know how totap into to be more productive.

And as a last point, algorithm analysis is not the strong point of this book either, as it is just a late chapeter in the book and gets nowhere near advanced (i.e., real) algorithmic analysis (for which you will need higher math, such as calculus and probability).

Nevertheless, it's a good book but I don't know if you should buy it instead of that other, nice and new book using Java 5.0 using generics.

An okay book!
It is just an okay book, not extraordinary in any way. Especially, this is certainly not for the novice in this topic, i.e., it is certainly not a good introductory book. So if you are new to data structures and algorithms, stay away from this book, go for some good introductory book.

For the advanced readers, it is an okay book. Better books are available, e.g., books by Cormen et al. and Robert Sedgewick.

The book is written in a way not very intersting or engaging. The algorithms are not explained in detail. Often things are left unexplained or assumed that the reader already knows it. Algorithms are presented in pseudocode, which causes problems especially for the readers familiar to some particular programming language.

Excellent Book
This book explains very clearly the subjects of data structures and algorithms. Its in-depth coverage is very intuitive and easy to follow unlike other literature that is often tedious or esoteric.
The only complaint I have is the choice of the programming language. Pascal is a language of the past. A new edition using C will make this book simply a gem.

A JEWEL
Perfect book. Nice and small. You can buy it cheap too, it's old. But it's full of the meat and potatoes, no fluffy Java source code. Sure, it uses Pascal, but it's not that hard to understand Pascal code even if you never programmed in Pascal (me neither). What matters is the discussions behind the scenes. It covers the whole range of what you should know and it's concise. They don't write books like this anymore.

A classic text book on Data Structures.
I believe two books make a classic collection in data structures - one was the data structures book by sartaj sahni (his first edition book many years ago - I haven't looked at his recent books).That was the book I had to study when I was an undergrad student.Now I was entrusted with the task of teaching Data Structures and after looking at several books, this is the one I chose (may be because it comes most close to the style of teaching using psuedo-pascal that I grew up with).

I believe psuedo languages are the best way to learn concepts of any computer science area without getting bogged down in the nitty gritty of a language's syntax and semantics.I found the problems at the end of the chapters to be thoughtful and not extremely hard for undergraduate students.This book also goes into brief mathematical aspects of analysing the complexity of algorithms where necessary.The mathematical analysis is usually the part that most undergrad students moan and groan about, but they better get used to it IMO, if they wish to elevate themselves from the ranks of "a programmer" to an software / algorithm designer.

I have to agree that this book can be extremely hard for the weaker students in the class who have never had any programming or basic college algebra exposure.For all others, this book should be great. ... Read more