Algorithms and Data structures books: One size doesn't fit them all

Over the years running this moderately popular website, I have been asked many times what is the best book about Algorithms and Data Structures. The answer is always "It depends" !

It depends on how the programmer's brain works and what kind of notation he is comfortable with. There are many flavors of mindset out there but it usually comes down to two metrics :

• Mathematics
• Illustrations

Here are five good books that rank differently on those metrics and will fit different preferences :

• The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven S Skiena.
• The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth.
• Programming Interviews Exposed by John Mongan, Noah Kindler and Eric Giguere.
• Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne.
• Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest and Clifford Stein.

About Mathematics

If the importance of good illustrations is obvious, here is more insight about the mathematic metric: I first noticed it while reading Real-time Shadows. Near the beginning of the ouvrage, readers would come across the following line:

		(p,q) := { r | r := p + α ( q - p) , 0 < α < 1 }    *

	

The author must have felt bad about it because they included a footnote :

		* This says that the segment (p,q) consists of all points r that between p and q.

	

The footnote was raising the question: When should we describe something with mathematics instead of words ? When is is better for the reader ? There is no absolute answer because some people prefer the mathematic form while others prefer the English form.

Trivia : Here is the page in question just for reference.

Over the years I have found that there are two kinds of programmers :

• Those that can use mathematics notation.
• Those that are confused and furthermore discouraged by mathematic notation.

I used to attribute dislike of mathematics to laziness but I changed my mind: Some people have different brains and respond differently to "mathematicness". Try to learn yourself and acknowledge how your brain likes to have things explained.

Programming Interviews Exposed

Programming Interviews Exposed is a slim book that can be read within a few hours. No mathematic notation and few drawing:It doesn't cover a lot but provides enough to look good during an interview.