Date: 2009-03-27 18:48:53 Created: 2009-03-08 10:23:03
The title pretty much gives it away. This book by Steven Skiena is about algorithms on the length, breadth and any other dimensions you care to name. I have read through it once, or perhaps it's truer to say that I've browsed through it once. There is no way I can claim that any significant amounts have stuck, but at least I feel that my eyes have been pried a little more open to the subjects of algorithms, how they're classified and how you might think about them.
I like Skiena's writing style, he manages to get a pinch of humour in wherever it doesn't disturb anything. For example, the foremost lesson to be learned from one of the "war stories" (stories from real life related to algorithm design and problem solving) is to do everything you can to avoid being involved in a lawsuit. Or the way Skiena very carefully avoids taking the blame for any mistakes toward the end of the preface.
In short, this is a good and fact-filled book which I hope to come back to and get more out of over time.