Product Review

Algorithms are the lifeblood of computer science. They are the machines that proofs build and the music that programs play. Their history is as old as mathematics itself. This textbook is a wide-ranging, idiosyncratic treatise on the design and analysis of algorithms, covering several fundamental techniques, with an emphasis on intuition and the problem-solving process. The book includes important classical examples, hundreds of battle-tested exercises, far too many historical digressions, and exaclty four typos. Jeff Erickson is a computer science professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; this book is based on algorithms classes he has taught there since 1998.