The Algorithm Design Manual

Category: Programming
Author: Steven S Skiena
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About This Book

Most professional programmers that I’ve encountered are not well prepared to tackle algorithm design problems. This is a pity, because the techniques of algorithm design form one of the core practical technologies of computer science. Designing correct, efficient, and implementable algorithms for real-world problems requires access to two distinct bodies of knowledge:

• Techniques – Good algorithm designers understand several fundamental algorithm design techniques, including data structures, dynamic programming, depth first search, backtracking, and heuristics. Perhaps the single most important design technique is modeling, the art of abstracting a messy real-world application into a clean problem suitable for algorithmic attack.

• Resources – Good algorithm designers stand on the shoulders of giants. Rather than laboring from scratch to produce a new algorithm for every task, they can figure out what is known about a particular problem. Rather than re-implementing popular algorithms from scratch, they seek existing implementations to serve as a starting point. They are familiar with many classic algorithmic problems, which provide sufficient source material to model most any application. This book is intended as a manual on algorithm design, providing access to combinatorial algorithm technology for both students and computer professionals.

Comments

by Hermitian909   2022-05-10
What are your goals? I don't mean to be snarky when I say that learning to ask a structured question (or being more disciplined about asking them) should be high on your priority list. Book like the pyramid principle about top down communication would probably be helpful.

1. It's probably fine. Based on your self-description, based on your self-description I imagine you're still struggling with syntax and program structure. Programming in either language will improve your abilities in that regard and let you focus more on the underlying ideas in your classes. That said, if you can stick to 1 or 2 languages for most of your CS classes that is preferable.

2. Data Structures and Algorithms is useful, how useful depends on your goals. If you want to make the big bucks you should aim to be fluent in at least a textbook's worth of material. If you don't feel the need to aim for the top, you can get away with less. I would start with Skienna: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

If you really want to be a master, you can then go for CLRS: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-3rd-MIT-Press...

3. This depends on your goals. If you're aiming to be a top engineer now's one of your few chances to really focus in on lower level system stuff: Operating Systems, Networking, Compilers, or Databases. If you want a decent job fast of college, focus on data structures and algorithms and start trying to deploy code on something like digital ocean. That said you probably also want to do: https://missing.csail.mit.edu/

General advice: Dive deep, understanding a few things really well is better than understanding many things shallowly (you will retain more info over time).

A mistake many people make when reading textbooks is to guess what words mean. In technical texts this usually leads to misunderstandings and ultimately a slower learning process. Take the time to understand the words even if it takes hours (imminent deadlines notwithstanding), you will go faster. (I once took a month to get through a single page of a textbook because it had so many new words and concepts).

Start using version control (preferably git). Try to at least every hour if you have new code.

Try to start writing well structured code now. You probably won't do a great job at first but by trying earlier you'll do better.

Related to above, start writing tests for your code. Code that is testable is usually better structured.

Source: Senior engineer at one of the bigger tech companies and a former educator.

by gjkood   2021-12-12
Have you tried some of the old "Graphics Gems" series books yet? [1], [2], [3] They are not CS fundamentals but will help you out with the necessary concepts, math and algorithms for graphics programming and ray-tracing.

As others have mentioned any books on Data Structures & Algorithms are a must. [4], [5], [6]

However in my opinion, trying to understand CS fundamentals without undergoing some sort of formal education is a chore. You won't know what you are missing. Going through an established approved syllabus will give you a fuller understanding. But that is only if you are interested in the long haul.

There are a number of MOOCs that may fit the bill allowing you to slowly gather the knowledge without sacrificing too much time and focus on a day job to keep you going. I feel they are also great value for money for what you get. Some of them are from very reputable names if that is important. [7][8].

Since you have a B.Sc you can do the Masters level but there are also Bachelors level courses. [9]

1. https://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Gems-Andrew-S-Glassner/dp/01...

2. https://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Gems-II-IBM-No/dp/0120644819...

3. https://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Gems-No-3-David-Kirk/dp/0124...

4. https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-3rd-MIT-Press...

5. https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-4th-Robert-Sedgewick/dp/03...

6. https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

7. https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-computer-science-...

8. https://www.coursera.org/degrees/mcit-penn

9. https://www.coursera.org/degrees/bachelor-of-science-compute...

by mindcrime   2021-11-25
Maybe Clever Algorithms: Nature-Inspired Programming Recipes[1]. These techniques might not be useful to everybody, all the time, but they can be very handy in places.

Edit:

A couple of other suggestions.

Managing Gigabytes: Compressing and Indexing Documents and Images[2]

Mining of Massive Datasets[3]

Algorithm Design Manual[4]

Network Algorithmics[5]

Neural Network Design[6]

I think all of these fall into the category of "Won't be applicable to everyone, but can be good for those who need this kind of stuff."

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

[5]: https://www.amazon.com/Network-Algorithmics-Interdisciplinar...

[6]: https://hagan.okstate.edu/NNDesign.pdf

by ioli   2021-11-17
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 from that particular chapter came in handy for him.

Go through it. You won't regret

https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

by andyljones   2019-08-21
Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual:

https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

Far more readable than the usual text (Cormen), the first half is a guide on how to select and design algorithms for the problems you encounter, and the second half is a whistle-stop tour of hundreds of well-known algorithms. The tour helped me a lot with X->Y esque issues where I was building bad solutions because I didn't know anything better could exist.

Incidentally, there's a lot more to CS theory than algorithms and data structures, but if you're asking on HN for a generic CS theory book, I reckon it's most likely an algorithms and data structures book that you're after.

by bcherny   2019-08-21
I’m a fan of Algorithm Design Manual. It’s also what Google and FB recommend for interview prep.

https://smile.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skie...

by Vitate   2019-07-21

My Story

Hey pal, I was in a similar boat about 8 months ago. It was my senior year as an Economics major, and after taking a programming class, I instantly fell in love with it. I crammed a few more programming classes in before graduating, but in the end, I sure as hell wasn't employable as a software engineer.

​

I had a choice: become a data analyst (the path I was currently on) or follow the software engineering dream. I chose the latter.

​

I decided to go to a (remote) coding bootcamp after college. The program was 6 months. It taught web development (Node, React) and some very basic CS fundamentals. I spent my free time outside the bootcamp inhaling all the computer science and industry information I could. I did this because I wanted to be a competent programmer. I found it fun.

​

This week I had my second onsite. I expect to receive a full-time software engineer offer (my second offer so far) later today, and I have 4 other onsites in the near future (a big 4 + a few startups). It has been a heck of a lot of work to get here, but if you want it badly enough, it's possible.

​

My Tips

  • Try not to be intimidated by these tips. Software engineering is something that you take little bites out of. You cannot become an employable developer in one bite, and sometimes the field can be intimidating.
  • Your options right now are self-teaching, a coding bootcamp, or a CS master's degree (might be hard to get into a good program without a bit more relevant experience, tbh.).
  • It's going to be pretty difficult to break into anything other than web development for your first programming job without a CS degree. Titles like Front-end Engineer, Full Stack Engineer, Backend Engineer, and Software Engineer (at a web company) are within reach. More specialized titles probably aren't very realistic.
  • Basic toy projects (i.e., simple HTML/CSS or similar) probably aren't enough to get significant attention. You need things more complex, like full-stack applications built from scratch. This means a working backend, a working database, a modern front-end (using a framework like React, etc.). Here's my portfolio if you're curious about the type of apps I mean.
  • Other types of programming applications outside of web dev are also fine, as long as they are sufficiently complex and interesting.
  • Put your projects on your GitHub no matter what. Learning how to commit code to GitHub is an important industry practice. Having a green GitHub history makes you look better.
  • Try and build a portfolio once you get better at coding. Don't kill yourself making it look amazing, but do try and make it look good. Not everyone will care about your portfolio, but some people will. I got an interview just based on having a nice portfolio.
  • Your university course sounds like a great primer, but you need to go deeper to be competent enough to pass interviews. I took similar courses at my university, but what really helped me was going through a few textbooks (1, 2, 3 -- some suggestions) and watching MIT 6.006 lectures. You will still have gaps in things like web security, scaling systems, networks, and operating systems, but I wouldn't spend a ton of time learning those topics as a new grad. Knowing the basics can be helpful though, because these things do definitely come up in interviews.

​

Happy to answer any other questions you may have. I'm not an expert or an experienced software engineer yet, but I've walked the path you're considering, so hopefully my tips are helpful.

by KeepingItClassy11   2019-07-21

I really like The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven Skiena.

by mawattdev   2019-07-21

Sounds like you could use a good foundation in data structures and algorithms. I'd find a book on the subject and dive in.

My recommendation: The Algorithm Design Manual by Skiena.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/dp/1849967202

by roastingapples   2019-07-21

The Algorithm Design Manual was super helpful for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/dp/1849967202

by You_NeverKnow   2019-07-21

I also didn't have a CS background prior to starting grad school in it. I used Steven Skienna's Algorithm Design Manual to cover my bases.

It is incredibly concise, well written, and teaches all the important concepts. I preferred it over the CLRS textbook, linked by other people down here, because it is more of a reference guide than a book you can learn something from on your own.

by karakot   2018-12-02
https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

I bought it and it was a counterfeit book. Pretty sure if you buy it there you will get either a counterfeit book or an international edition which has significantly lower print quality.

by mindcrime   2018-11-17
If it were me, I'd probably consult Cracking The Coding Interview[1], and the Robert Sedgewick Algorithms in C++ [2][3] books. That and maybe spend some time practicing on Leetcode, Hacker Rank, Project Euler, etc. Skiena's Algorithm Design Manual[4] could also be good.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Programming...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Parts-1-4-Fundamentals-Str...

[3]: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Part-Graph-3rd-Pt-5/dp/020...

[4]: https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

by zombieprocess   2018-02-24
Isn't this book too academical for any practical learning of algorithms and data structures?

I would recommend The algorithm design manual for more practical purposes. https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

by V2hLe0ThslzRaV2   2018-02-17
10 years ago being 2008 - and the second edition also appears to be the most recent edition too; age of the edition though appears to have no impact on its value.

SOURCE: The Algorithm Design Manual 2nd ed. 2008 Edition https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

by panta   2017-10-11
I can't recommend courses, because I don't have direct experience of any, but given what you say, my suggestion would be to take a bit of a pause from pragmatic problems, and dedicate some time to learn the foundations of computer science, in particular about algorithms and data structures. I'd recommend a couple of books: "The Algorithm Design Manual" by Steven Skiena if you want something not too theoretical, or "Introduction to Algorithms" by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, if you want a bit more breadth and theory:

https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena...

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-3rd-MIT-Press...

As a second suggestion, I'd recommend to learn a language somewhat different from JavaScript-like (or C-like) languages, something that challenges your mind to think a little differently and understand and create higher order abstractions. There are many choices, but to avoid confusion and being my favourite, I'll point to one: read the "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" by Abelson and Sussman. It teaches Scheme in a gentle and inspiring way but at the same time it teaches how to become a better programmer:

https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Computer-Pro...

I can't recommend it enough. If you read it, do the exercises, don't limit to read through them.

Maybe it's even better if you start with this, and THEN read the books on algorithms and data structures.

Enjoy your journey!

by anonymous   2017-08-20

Algorithm design manual

Algorithms in Java

Also I recommend you to go through this MIT lectures videos.

by anonymous   2017-08-20

My book recommendation is Steve Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual". There's a nice chapter on graphs.

by anonymous   2017-08-20

Read a book on algorithms.

Learn OOP and read a book on Design Patterns

Realize that making code readable is often more important than making it as efficient as possible, and most optimization should be left up to your compiler.

by ssurowiec   2017-08-19
For anyone interested in this subject I'd highly recommend the Algorithm Design Manual by Steven Skiena[0]. He goes over this in pretty good detail in the first ~1/4 of the book. This was my first introduction to Algorithm Complexity Analysis and by the end of that section I already found myself looking at my code in a different light.

[0] http://www.amazon.com/dp/1849967202