hobbit@SHUM.HUJI.AC.IL (yoav gonen) (05/03/91)
If you are thinking on buying the book: "INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS" - written by UDI MANBER - D o n 't d o i t!!!!!!! It is the worst book on algorithms I have ever seen - especially because it isn't including some of the most importent ones. Here are only some examples: 1. The chapter on Algebric and Numeric Algorithms is very short, and it isn't including, for instance ANY algorithm for polynomal division (there are some which take O(n logn)) or the Newton-Rapson algorithm which is being used a lot. 2. There are very important probability-algorithms which are missing. (Such as: Rabin's algorithm to find whether a given binary number is a prime or not; Solving the matching problem, using a probability-algorithm; The lemma of Shwartz and more.) 3. Very important algorithms, refering to Automats are missing. A better book is Ullman's - The design and Analysis of computer Algorithms but still, it is not good enough. Infact, I'm sorry to say that there isn't (at least - not in Israel) any book which really covers the entire algorithms-theory. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Yoav Gonen, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
rawlins@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Gregory J. E. Rawlins) (05/04/91)
In article <hobbit.673279078@shum> hobbit@SHUM.HUJI.AC.IL (yoav gonen) writes: >If you are thinking on buying the book: "INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS" - >written by UDI MANBER - D o n 't d o i t!!!!!!! >It is the worst book on algorithms I have ever seen - especially because it >isn't including some of the most importent ones. Here are only some examples: Why the hysteria? Looking at the list of point you give leads me to suspect that you don't want a textbook, but a handbook or reference book. If so, you should buy Sedgewick's book, or Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest's book (if you want detailed analysis as well a large number of algorithms). Manber's book is an attempt to teach students to think for themselves. >Infact, I'm sorry to say that there isn't (at least - not in Israel) any >book which really covers the entire algorithms-theory. Try _Introduction to Algorithms_, Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest, McGraw-Hill/MIT Press, 1990. gregory.
gln@cs.arizona.edu (GaRY NEweLl) (05/08/91)
In article <1991May3.170740.22652@news.cs.indiana.edu>, rawlins@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Gregory J. E. Rawlins) writes: > In article <hobbit.673279078@shum> hobbit@SHUM.HUJI.AC.IL (yoav gonen) writes: > >If you are thinking on buying the book: "INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMS" - > >written by UDI MANBER - D o n 't d o i t!!!!!!! > >It is the worst book on algorithms I have ever seen - especially because it > >isn't including some of the most importent ones. Here are only some examples: > Why the hysteria? Looking at the list of point you give leads me to > suspect that you don't want a textbook, but a handbook or reference book. I must agree. I have had an opportunity to use the book as a student here at Arizona (taught by Udi Manber) and found the text to be very helpful in teaching problem solving - it is not intended as a source for every algorithm under the sun but instead is an attempt to teach a systematic approach to solving problems using induction - it is quite effective in my opinion. I no longer feel helpless when presented with a problem that I am unfamiliar with - I have the tools to try and develop a solution on my own without running to an "expert" or searching a source book for existing algorithms > If so, you should buy Sedgewick's book, or Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest's > book (if you want detailed analysis as well a large number of algorithms). Again, I agree - there are better reference books available but Manber's text is very good at teaching algorithm design IMHO...