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Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

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Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#71

Post by throwaway81523 »

dyeje wrote: post #34

If your goal is to be good at LeetCode, then save yourself the time and just go straight to LeetCode. Nobody cares if you actually understand the stuff. They just want you to come in and do the dance (recognize the problem archetype, talk through your thought process for solving it, and adjust based on whatever twists they've thrown in). If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through De…

> If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through Designing Data Intensive Systems. This will prepare you for System Design interviews where you do need to actually understand stuff.

Do you mean "Designing Data Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann? That's what most of my search hits found. If something else, do you have a link? Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#72

Post by dyeje »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #71
dyeje wrote: post #34

If your goal is to be good at LeetCode, then save yourself the time and just go straight to LeetCode. Nobody cares if you actually understand the stuff. They just want you to come in and do the dance (recognize the problem archetype, talk through your thought process for solving it, and adjust based on whatever twists they've thrown in). If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through De…

> If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through Designing Data Intensive Systems. This will prepare you for System Design interviews where you do need to actually understand stuff. Do you mean "Designing Data Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann? That's what most of my search hits found. If something else, do you have a link? Thanks.

Yep, sorry that's the book I'm referring to.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#73

Post by cols »

lma21 wrote: post #48
ioli wrote: post #10

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...

It's unfortunate that it costs 77$ :( Edit: unfortunate for me ofc.

Goodwillbooks.com had it for $11.50. As an aside, I really love that website. I am not too picky about the books I buy being in perfect condition, so it works out well for me. YMMV.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#74

Post by Someone »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #31
Someone wrote: post #13

If you want basics and details, the art of computer programming is a good candidate. Unfortunately, it isn’t done yet (1), and the completed parts have are very basic and have parts that are a bit dated (multi-tape sorting, for example) (1) and likely never will be. Knuth is turning 84 in two months, and isn’t even halfway writing it, after almost 60 years

It would be fitting if the work were carried on by a committee, like Bourbaki.

That would be harder than Bourbaki, I guess. They had the benefit of a blank slate.

It would have to be done in Knuth’s spirit, and there would be lots to argue over what to include, before even writing about it

How complete are Knuth’s notes? Would he have found Foo important enough to include, even though his notes don’t mention it? Should the completion include stuff discovered after his death? Should earlier volumes be revisited, as Knuth probably would do, if he had an eternity to live?

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#75

Post by digianarchist »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #71
dyeje wrote: post #34

If your goal is to be good at LeetCode, then save yourself the time and just go straight to LeetCode. Nobody cares if you actually understand the stuff. They just want you to come in and do the dance (recognize the problem archetype, talk through your thought process for solving it, and adjust based on whatever twists they've thrown in). If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through De…

> If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through Designing Data Intensive Systems. This will prepare you for System Design interviews where you do need to actually understand stuff. Do you mean "Designing Data Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann? That's what most of my search hits found. If something else, do you have a link? Thanks.

That's a good read regardless of your level.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#76

Post by [deleted] »

988747 wrote: post #65
stickyricky wrote: post #17

"Algorithms Illuminated" by Roughgarden. Very accessible. Reads like a novel not a textbook. Has exercises throughout the chapter to test knowledge. I recommend it over your suggestion that you want a textbook. This book will serve you much better.

Is there a way to buy ebooks from the seller other than Amazon (for those of us who hate Jeff Bezos ;) ?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#77

Post by cloverich »

alanfranz wrote: post #23

My personal favourite is Sedgewick & Wayne's _Algorithms_. https://algs4.cs.princeton.edu/home/ You can even find an excellent two-part MOOC on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1 https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part2 Maybe it's not the "purest" class or book, but it's engaging and it lets you understand how algos work AND how to use them in practice.

Sedgewick is a masterpiece but also overkill for interview prep. Interviews are mostly trivia and for that leet codes volume is your friend. Buy sedgewick for your long term growth but it will stand in the way of any near term interview prep, at least it did for me.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#78

Post by digianarchist »

lr1970 wrote: post #40

A great and quite unconventional book on Algorithms is "INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS - A Creative Approach" by Udi Manber. After leaving academia the author was hired first by Amazon (A9.com) and then by Google. At some point around 2010 he was responsible for all search products at Google [0]. The book not only describes the algorithms per se, but also teaches how to think about the algorithms and the problems they ar…

Excellent book if you can find it. I kick myself for selling my hardback copy.

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#79

Post by wagslane »

Not a book but I've been working on a project that sounds like it might be what you're looking for. It's algos and data structures courses in code-along style. It's free to audit, so do check it out even if you aren't interested in the certification stuff :)

https://qvault.io

Re: Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures

#80

Post by throwaway81523 »

dyeje wrote: post #72
throwaway81523 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're interviewing for senior positions, it is worthwhile to read through Designing Data Intensive Systems. This will prepare you for System Design interviews where you do need to actually understand stuff. Do you mean "Designing Data Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann? That's what most of my search hits found. If something else, do you have a link? Thanks.

Yep, sorry that's the book I'm referring to.

Thanks, the table of contents looks promising.
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