| Sams Teach Yourself Data Structures and Algorithms in 24 Hours presents data structures and algorithms in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand style, allowing you to grasp the concepts quickly and apply the knowledge to your programs. The very popular C++ programming language is used for examples and code samples.
This book is about data structures and algorithms as used in computer programming.
Data structures are ways in which data is arranged in your computer’s memory (or stored
on disk). Algorithms are the procedures a software program uses to manipulate the data
in these structures.
Almost every computer program, even a simple one, uses data structures and algorithms.
For example, consider a program that prints address labels. The program might use an
array containing the addresses to be printed, and a simple for loop to step through the
array, printing each address.
The array in this example is a data structure, and the for loop, used for sequential access
to the array, executes a simple algorithm. For uncomplicated programs with small
amounts of data, such a simple approach might be all you need. However, for programs
that handle even moderately large amounts of data, or which solve problems that are
slightly out of the ordinary, more sophisticated techniques are necessary. Simply knowing
the syntax of a computer language such as C++ isn’t enough.
This book is about what you need to know after you’ve learned a programming language.
The material we cover here is typically taught in colleges and universities as a
second-year course in computer science, after a student has mastered the fundamentals of
programming. |
