Grokking Algorithms

I don’t have much algorithm experience, so I was nervous about starting this book. It turned out to be really easy to follow. The pictures and simple explanations made it much less confusing than I expected. Each chapter builds up slowly; the examples helped me see how things work. The exercises weren’t too hard, and I liked that the code is in Python, which is beginner-friendly. This is a great place to start if you’re new to this topic and want something that doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Excellent book on on algorithms for computer programmers. Introduces basic algorithms in an easy and approachable manner.

Antes de leer ya le doy 5 estrellas

There is no way around this, this book is incredibly good. It explains some base, yet key, data structures and algorithms in a way to is fairly simple to comprehend; the illustrations allow you to visualize the structure of the data structures in a far more organic way than just looking at a wall of code, while also allowing you to follow step by step the flow of the algorithms. This, completed with the code given, allow you to learn and comprehend fairly quickly the contents inside, and trust me, this book is both an eye opener to a whole new world of incredibly interesting things to learn and demystifies an entire new branch of IT that goes from "impossibly hard" to "it wasn't that bad". Furthermore, when required, the book also explains the underlying computer architecture that favors one type of structure and algorithm based on another. If you read this, you will know why reading from an array is faster than a linked list, but also why writing to it might be incredibly fast or far slower, depending on which situation. Aside from this example, this kind of knowledge allows you to make far more informed decisions. The only slightly negative, but debatable point, is the choice of the language Python. On one hand, this book being in Python instantly becomes accessible to everyone, even without any Python experience grasping the content is incredibly easy. On the other hand, I feel like some concepts will always remain purely hypothetical if you do not have to implement them. For example, the linked list vs array example made before is completely transparent if you use Python, because you do not have to deal with the underlying structure, which is what you care about. Same can be said for hash maps, of course Python, like many other languages and libraries, provides dictionaries, therefore writing your own is useless. However if the entire point is learning how hash maps work, then perhaps writing an implementation and "having to deal with it" is not that bad. Perhaps a less accessible but more practice heavy version of this book in C would be helpful, or at least the reader should try to use a language such as a C to force himself to actually apply the knowledge that some time is purely theoretical of this book. That aside, it's fantastic, and it's a great first algorithm book. It made me pass my interview, allowing me to get a fairly substantial career upgrade, I can't not suggest it.

There are multiple serious, and sometimes very basic mistakes in Python code in this book!!! The author uses CamelCase for variables/function names, what the...?! Answers do not contain full/accurate solutions to exercises!! Book looks like totally unreviewed. Stack Overflow is full of reports on mistakes in this book!! I'm going to make a complaint to the publisher after I complete a list of mistakes. DO NOT BUY IT, IT WILL MISLEAD YOU!!!