Data Structures and Algorithms book recommendation

[A55a551n]

Hi,
My semester is about to start and I wanted to start my course before the classes begin. I wanted to know which Data Structures and Algorithms book is beginner friendly. I started reading from a very old book written by an Indian Author but the book is confusing and explains in a weird way. Also suggest me some good YouTube tutorials which will help me out.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

[jonnin]

you may as well use the textbook for the class; you have to buy that anyway. If it is no good, then you can get something else, have you tried that first?

[againtry]

Not a textbook but a place to get an overview including code examples:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/data-structures/

Books and on-line courseware by Robert Sedgewick at Princeton University are 'heavily' involved with Java/C++ being used.

[A55a551n]

Jonnin
I have tried the book which is being taught by our clg and it's complex and explains it vaguely. For instance an example code is given which comes after seven pages.

[jonnin]

Ok. If that book won't work, I am with doing it for free online as well: every data structure in the classic study has been explained to death online and then some. Even weirdo stuff that is rarely used is out there in good detail. 7 pages and vague seems like a really bad book indeed, I can be vague and still give you all you need in 1/2 a page + code on all but graphs and trees.

I can dig out my books but they are probably older than you are. For the last 20 years I have used the web for this info and I can't recall the last time I bought a book for reference.

[A55a551n]

Jonnin
Can u tell me the books name. I really want to improve my GPA and this is my only chance in doing so.

[againtry]

What is the title/author of your college book?

[jonnin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Algorithms ~1990 but they have new editions so don't go dumpster diving for the original version.

and I also appear to have picked up this gem along the way
http://www.vumultan.com/CS301-Data-Structures-and-Algorithm-Analysis-in-C-Plus-Plus-by-Mark-Allen-Weiss.aspx

the 2nd one was good at the time but its over 20 years old now. C++ has changed significantly (assuming this was written before the 98 standard was fully out) many times: in 98, 2011, 2017, and again in 2020. This may as well be in C for how the code examples are given. The principles haven't changed, of course.

And, if there is something you just don't understand, try asking here too. We can explain it a bit or point you to a resource.

[A55a551n]

Againtry
Data Structures, Algorithms and Application in C++ by Sartraj Sahani

[A55a551n]

Jonnin
Thanks a lot
I will be asking questions if i don't understand it myself. Also which utube tutorial will accommodate me.

[jonnin]

I can read at a rate of about 5 times or more the speed of video. People talking (and worse, typing or mouseing at you) is exceedingly inefficient compared to the printed word, and so, I do not use utoob resources for learning; I use text. Double down on that, outside of utube, 95% of so-called learning sites break there presentation into chunks that go like this:
5 min of what will be talked about (if not first installment, blather about where that is and what was in it) and how you can pay them more to get at it
2 min of actual content, about 1 small paragraph worth of material.
2 min conclusion on how to buy the next video in the series and where to find it.
Avoid paying into video based learning sites, unless that format is attractive to you.

[againtry]

Againtry
Data Structures, Algorithms and Application in C++ by Sartraj Sahani

Thanks, I looked at it briefly and it looks a bit grim - probably does the job but it's old-school reader-student-unfriendly.

Another one that might be of interest among the mountain of similar titles available is:

Data Structures and Algorithms in C++, Michael T. Goodrich, Roberto Tamassia, David M. Mount, Wiley 2011

Topics: (i.e. pretty much standard)
1. A C++ Primer
2. Object-Oriented Design
3. Arrays, Linked Lists, and Recursion 4. Analysis Tools
5. Stacks, Queues, and Deques
6. List and Iterator ADTs
7. Trees
8. Heaps and Priority Queues
9. Hash Tables, Maps, and Skip Lists
10. Search Trees
11. Sorting, Sets, and Selection
12. Strings and Dynamic Programming 13. Graph Algorithms
14. Memory Management and B-Trees
A. Useful Mathematical Facts

[jonnin]

the one for your class actually looks like it covers and explains a lot of good stuff pretty well.
Its terse, though, and expects the reader to know a fair amount of math. It uses dynamic memory too long (this may be useful in the linked list, then show how to avoid it and move on) and has way, way, way too much "in case you missed c++, a quick (full book's worth of) recap".

All in all its not "that" bad. It would rub americans etc a bit wrong with some of the word choices (India english has many small differences that make it weird to readers from other areas, and likely the inverse is true if they get our books).

I suspect it is a very difficult read for a beginner, though. Its like it was written for a master's degree student, not something you see in your second computer class ever (dunno about your program but data structures was like my second class!).