'Head First' Style Data Structures & Algorithms Book?

c++ data-structures tree graph-theory
samh picture samh · Jan 18, 2009 · Viewed 24.4k times · Source

I loved the Head First series book on object oriented design. It was a very gentle and funny introduction to the subject. I am currently taking a data structures class and find the text we are using (Kruse/Ryba Data Structures and Program Design in C++) to be very dry and hard to comprehend. This is mostly due I think to my own limitations in the area of Mathematics.

Does anyone know of a Data Structures text that is written in a lighter style, with a sense of humor, that still covers all the basics like Binary Trees, B Trees, and Graphs?

Answer

Ian Varley picture Ian Varley · Jan 18, 2009

The Algorithm Design Manual by Steve Skiena isn't exactly a barrel of laughs, but it's relatively light on the deeper mathematics and contains lots of what he calls "War Stories", which are illustrative examples from real world situations where algorithm work really paid off (or, sometimes, totally failed). He's also got his audio and video lectures online, and he's got a nice lecture style with bits of humor interspersed, so it might be what you are looking for.

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