Book Description
Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, Second Edition is designed to be easy to read and understand although the topic itself is complicated. Algorithms are the procedures that software programs use to manipulate data structures. Besides clear and simple example programs, the author includes a workshop as a small demonstration program executable on a Web browser. The programs demonstrate in graphical form what data structures look like and how they operate. In the second edition, the program is rewritten to improve operation and clarify the algorithms, the example programs are revised to work with the latest version of the Java JDK, and questions and exercises will be added at the end of each chapter making the book more useful to readers.


About the Author
Robert Lafore has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, has worked as a systems analyst for the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, founded his own software company, and is a best-selling writer in the field of computer programming. Some of his current titles are C++ Interactive Course and Object-Oriented Programming in C++. Earlier best-selling titles include Assembly Language Primer for the IBM PC and XT and (back at the beginning of the computer revolution) Soul of CP/M.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
￯﾿ﾽNo pain, no gain￯﾿ﾽ does not have to apply to data structures and algorithms. In the long-awaited Second Edition of Data Structures & Algorithms in Java, Robert Lafore proves once again that you can learn this stuff in English -- without compromising your ability to make the most of it.

Lafore brings a strong practical focus to arrays, sorts, stacks, queues, linked lists, recursion, trees, hash tables, heaps, graphs, and other essential topics. He shows how every technique works, when to use it, and how it looks in real Java code. (Of which there￯﾿ﾽs plenty -- including ￯﾿ﾽWorkshop applets￯﾿ﾽ on the Web that go even further toward illuminating his explanations.)

Much of the code, first published in 1998, has been revamped to reflect Sun￯﾿ﾽs latest releases -- and five years' more experience with Java. Plenty of new topics are covered, too: depth-first-search and game simulations; Huffman codes for data compression; the classic ￯﾿ﾽTraveling Salesman￯﾿ﾽ problem and ￯﾿ﾽKnight￯﾿ﾽs Tour￯﾿ﾽ puzzle; Floyd￯﾿ﾽs and Warshall￯﾿ﾽs algorithms; 2-3 trees; radix sorts, and more. Finally, new programming projects and end-of-chapter questions make this book a complete hands-on course.

Lafore￯﾿ﾽs focus is on making sure you walk away with a strong understanding of how data structures and algorithms really work. So he only briefly alludes to Java￯﾿ﾽs built-in data structure classes (Vector, Stack, Hashtable, et al.). That￯﾿ﾽs about all that￯﾿ﾽs missing, though. And you￯﾿ﾽll have the consolation of knowing that you understand data structures and algorithms well enough to use them anywhere -- in Java or whatever language comes next. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER