The algorithm design manual
by Steven S. Skiena · first published 1998
73% recommend24% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Practical, approachable algorithms text on choosing the right data structure and modeling real problems, with C-based code, war stories and exercises; suits self-learners, interview prep and CLRS-averse readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
CD-ROM contains: Hypertext version of text -- Source code and URLs for all cited implementations -- Audio lectures on design and analysis of algorithms.
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…Abrash books (eg [1]) are actually highly entertaining. Effective C++ and Java are eminently readable. I lot of people recommend CLRS and I've certainly studied from parts of it but I found Skiena's The Algorithm Design Manual to be far more approachable and enjoyable. If your goal is to learn I suggest that. CLRS seems more aimed at people who want or need to know mathematical proofs or are bound for postgrad CS. TAOCP and…
on “Books Programmers Don't Really Read But Recommend” ↗The Algorithm Design Manual by Skiena. Each section contains a story of some situation he was in where he faced a problem which he solved by applying one of various algo techniques (DP, divide and conquer, etc.). After reading…
on “Ask HN: What's the best computer science book you've read recently?” ↗Structure Interpretation of Computer Programs - enough is said about it here. must-read. The Algorithm Design Manual - Skiena - a formidable way to learn algorithms and associated concepts. still challenging to read, but war stories offer great prose and I actually laughed several times. if you couple this book with…
on “Ask HN: What are the 3 programming books you learned the most from? Mine” ↗The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven Skiena Amazing book. Very readable. I highly recommend it. The book has a section call "War story" at the end of each chapter in which Skiena shares his real life experience of when the contents…
on “Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures” ↗…at this point, and was dated even when I read it, but was the first book that made me "get" many basic OO concepts and taught me a language I've gotten a lot of professional mileage out of * Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual and Sedewick/Wayne's Algorithms. Most people do algorithms in school. I learned about it while I was already writing programs for money all day, which means it deeply impacted the way I think about…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…Dennis Kernighan and Brian Ritchie * Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by Peter Van Linden * TCP/IP Illustrated Volume I: The Protocols by W. Richard Stevens * The UNIX System by S.R.Bourne * The Algorithm Design Manual by Steve S. Skiena
on “The Programming Books That Meant The Most To Me” ↗I haven't read Mastering Algorithms in C (I have the perl version) but if you want to mention one book on algorithms, that's got to be Skiena's Algorithm design Manual (http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~algorith/video-lectures/). I also like Jeff Erikson's algorithm lecture notes (http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/~jeffe/teaching/algorithms/notes/all-...) that comes as a 800+ PDF file.
on “Books every self-taught computer scientist should read” ↗I like Cracking the Coding Interview: http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Fourth-Progr... And The Algorithm Design Manual by Skiena: http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Fourth-Progr...
on “Ask HN: good, quick algorithms course to prepare for big tech interviews?” ↗…this gets you interview calls. 2. People are not that creative with tech questions. Even Google (at least these days) asks you questions that come out of a textbook. So go through one, say like Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual and solve all the problems on a white board. This sucks a ton because when I sketch out code for a project, I never go do it on a whiteboard. The trick is to get to the stage where you can mentally compose…
Here's an often overlooked technique for older, self-taught engineers like me: study. Go get this book, The Algorithm Design Manual by Skienna. Also pick up a whiteboard, and a nice set of dry-erase markers. Read the book, and do whatever exercises you can from the book on the whiteboard. Talk out loud, the way you will in the…
on “On Secretly Terrible (Old) Engineers” ↗This is the single best text I've seen on algorithms in the real-world: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steve-Skiena/d... Can't recommend it enough.
on “Ask HN: After SICP, what next?” ↗I haven't read Knuth but I recommend http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steve-Skiena/d... From what I understand Knuth uses MIX assembly language to imlpement his algorithms. Contrast this to the Skiena book which uses C++. I found this to make it very practical. Though…
on “Ask HN: After SICP, what next?” ↗I have to second Skiena's book. I had three books: the famous Cormen tome, "Algorithm Design" by Kleinberg and Tardos, and Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual" available when learning advanced algorithms. I'm still amazed at how Skiena's book covers both the basics in a far better pedagogical way than the other two, as well as serving as a really nice lookup…
on “Books every self-taught computer scientist should read” ↗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…
on “Ask HN: What's a great algorithms book?” ↗Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual and Kleinberg and Tardos' Algorithm Design are both very nice books. CLRS is very nice, and depending on your personal ethics the Solutions manual for the 2nd edition is pretty easily obtainable online,…
on “A list of free programming books” ↗