Mastering Algorithms with C (Mastering)

By Peter Kenez

Book Overview

There are many books on data structures and algorithms, including some with useful libraries of C functions. Mastering Algorithms with C offers you a unique combination of theoretical background and working code. With robust solutions for everyday programming tasks, this book avoids the abstract style of most classic data structures and algorithms texts, but still provides all of the information you need to understand the purpose and use of common programming techniques.

Implementations, as well as interesting, real-world examples of each data structure and algorithm, are included.

Using both a programming style and a writing style that are exceptionally clean, Kyle Loudon shows you how to use such essential data structures as lists, stacks, queues, sets, trees, heaps, priority queues, and graphs. He explains how to use algorithms for sorting, searching, numerical analysis, data compression, data encryption, common graph problems, and computational geometry. And he describes the relative efficiency of all implementations. The compression and encryption chapters not only give you working code for reasonably efficient solutions, they offer explanations of concepts in an approachable manner for people who never have had the time or expertise to study them in depth.

Anyone with a basic understanding of the C language can use this book. In order to provide maintainable and extendible code, an extra level of abstraction (such as pointers to functions) is used in examples where appropriate. Understanding that these techniques may be unfamiliar to some programmers, Loudon explains them clearly in the introductory chapters.

Contents include: Pointers Recursion Analysis of algorithms Data structures (lists, stacks, queues, sets, hash tables, trees, heaps, priority queues, graphs) Sorting and searching Numerical methods Data compression Data encryption Graph algorithms Geometric algorithms

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565924533
• ISBN13: 9781565924536
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Helpful book on algorithms using C

C programming is still with us because of its high performance ability and this book outlines several algorithms using the language. It begins with a classification of algorithms as randomized, divide-and-conquer, dynamic programming, greedy and approximation. Some algorithms the author states defy classiification but he does not give examples. Pointers are discussed in the next chapter, and covers how to avoid dangling pointers,...

Fantastic addition to any personal libriuary.

Just what I needed. One of those books I had to ring in sick to work, sit at home and read.Writing commercial c applications for the Internet, I was looking for a book to give me assistence with my coding. What I found was something which caused me to go back and rewrite a lot of my work!Starting by explaining exactly how memory is managed when calling fuctions, going on to explain, in english, how many commonly used...

Stuff I have never seen before!

I have read a half-dozen or more books pertaining to C Algorithms, and most of them were the same. This touched on the usual stuff - sorting, hashing, linked lists, etc. But it touched on these subjects in ways that are so general purpose that the sample code can be used with little modification! It also adds a couple of new things such as Set algorithms and an explaination of how to pass functions as paramenters to functions...

I don't know what the first guy is talking about, but...

I loved this book. Saved me so much time and effort when I had to delve back into C after a two year hiatus. The code works, and works well! Good discussion of the whys and wherefores of the various algorithms

Exceptional writing, elegant code, great examples

Mastering Algorithms in C is the most readable algorithms book I've ever encountered. Not only does the author have a tremendous command of English, he has a writing style that is simply a pleasure to read. The author also deserves mention as having one of the cleanest coding styles I've come across. Having taught and worked with computers for over 15 years, I've seen many. It is no easy feat to present the subject of algorithms...