Grokking Algorithms: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People

Despite having been a software developer for more years than is socially acceptable, I lack a background in computer science - granted, I have a doctorate in computational physics and can write code for money but I've never had any formal training in the 'fundamentals' of computer science.Let's get something straight: algorithms can be hard, and when you get down to the nitty gritty the source material is drier than a particularly dry thing at midday in the Sahara so anything that attempts to make the concepts more palatable to the self-taught is to be applauded irrespective of whether or not it succeeds. The thought of an illustrated book will, no doubt, make the purists recoil in horror - that's their loss. Sometimes a couple of drawings are far more illuminating than pages full of discrete mathematics, and this is what we have here.This won't be to everyone's tastes - some programming knowledge is assumed, but the fundamentals are discussed in a fluff-free manner with short snippets of code (in Python) to reinforce the points made. The usual suspects are here: starting with binary search, moving up through various sorting and tree/graph algorithms with a brief detour into NP-complete problems such as the travelling salesman and knapsack problem. There's an excellent overview of big-O notation and one of the better explanations of recursion that I've come across - I almost feel that I understand it now.If your background is in 'hard' computer science then there's probably very little here for you - having said that, if you're self-taught or have moved into software development from another discipline then you'll probably learn something. Certainly, I found even the basic stuff to be very illuminating and have started applying some of the concepts to my own code with tangible results.TL;DR - if you've already got a grounding in computer science then look elsewhere- there are plenty of other books on algorithms and algorithmic design that will go into excruciating amounts of detail. If you're not one of these people and want to get up to speed then this may be right up your street - the content is engaging enough that it'll encourage you to read more deeply into the subject.

I’ve been using Python for data analysis for a couple of years but don’t have any format computer science training. This is a great introduction to algorithms and also the concepts and benefits of code optimisation.It’s really clearly written, and the pictures help to explain the concepts, that could be quite dry, in easy to understand format. Exercises and examples are all well laid out and easy to follow.Highly recommended.

Got this book to support in study. It is excellent at introducing algorithms in an easy to understand way, and the publishers provide an online version as well.One small point, the early chapters use python2 to demonstrate some of the topics, most current python developers will be using 3+ so if you want to run in a python3 environment you will need to change the syntax in parts.

Grokking Algorithms is a great introduction to algorithms for anybody new to programming. What makes the book stand out is its use of pictures to help explain how the algorithms work.Several concepts that aren’t algorithms per se are also explained, for example arrays, linked lists, hash maps and call stacks. The book covers a broad range of algorithms, from basic ones, like binary search and sorting, to more advanced like graph algorithms and dynamic programming.The implementations are given in Python. However, the emphasis is not on the code, but on explaining how the algorithms work. The true test to see if you have understood the content is to write your own implementations of the algorithms. Reading this book is a good first step to that understanding.

A great primer on algorithms and data structures. You will gain an understanding of important concepts from the very beginning of the book which you can then apply in your work as a software engineer. The author has clear writing style and balances high- and low-level detail well so that you don't get lost in the information but still feel like you've delved to a reasonable depth in the subject. I highly recommend this book as an introduction to algorithms and data structures!

I bought this book two days ago and it was delivered to Poland today, 3 days earlier than scheduled. I got my book approximately 3 hours ago and I’m already on chapter 3 of the book. It breaks things down to the tiniest bit. It is so easy to understand and isn’t boring. It’s a great way to get into DSA. It gives me hope that I can meet my goal soon.

After years of University Computer Science, its amazing how little you know about programming.This book is specifically geared towards the visual learner. We want to "see" where we're going, and this book gives you more in the first chapter than an entire year of University education.If you're a visual learner, this book is unique and a must have.There is nothing else on the market that has this approach. You can "see" the point, the logic and how it works, and that's it. You've learnt a "hard concept" and are grinning from ear to ear, as it's taken you 10 minutes.

This is the first resource on Algorithms that has worked for me. Aditya writes in a clear, concise, and accessible way. He provides very relevant, real-world examples of the existence and application of algorithms, as well as code examples (in Python), both of which are crucial for kinesthetic learners such as myself. 100% recommend.Another bonus is that the publisher provides the means to download the ebook versions (kindle, pdf, etc.) free of charge with the purchase of the paper book.

The book just arrived and I’m truly amazed. I’m a python developer with 3 years of experience but in my job I never had the opportunity to get in deep with some algorithmical problems or particular structures (that’s probably one of the downsides of coding in Python, with C++ I would have surely needed to learn these in the early stages). So, I’m preparing for an interview and I already had Cracking the coding interview at home (since years!) but I was never able to really get through it without getting bored and dropout, or feeling I was missing something. I bought Grokking algorithms after a youtube recommendation and I feel like I’ve finally found the golden ticket of my learning strategy. This book looks too easy and maybe naive at the beginning but in the second chapter you start getting a real grasp of concepts that were really un-teached in Cracking the Coding interview or similar books. I think it’s super important to first get the large picture and the answers to “why do I need this?” “why did they invented it in the first place?” and THEN get through the serious implementation. This books does it and I’m happy for the purchase! (Above, a comparison of the two books over the same topic)

Grokking Algorithms does a very good job of providing a gentle introduction to algorithms. This is probably one of the best beginner-friendly books about algorithms you can find out there. But If you are already familiar with the topic then this book adds almost nothing to you because you probably already know all the material presented in the book.

I'm gonna keep this short (EDIT: that..definitely didn't end up happening) because I haven't gone through the whole book yet, so **disclaimer** on that part. But after just the first couple of chapters, I was very impressed.I'm a 'seasoned' programmer, I would like to think (industry experience at a “top” company, CS degree, coding all my life, etc), and so almost all of this book is "review" for me. I'm going back through fundamentals in preparation for coding interviews, as I'm back on the market for a job. I'd say this book does these things very well:1) Fills in the gaps that might've always been there - What I mean by this is, if you maybe got a bachelors in computer science, there could easily have been some material that just didn't completely sink in or that your curriculum didn't focus on. I think going through this book is a great way to make sure those gaps are filled.2) Explains concepts in an easy to grasp form - The examples that are used in the book are great. There's one example early on with big O involving drawing 16 boxes on a piece of paper. One way is to draw 16 boxes one at a time - yielding O(n). Another way is to fold that piece of paper in half each time. This gets your 16 boxes in only 4 folds - big O(log n). It's simple, yet a great way of showing the difference in the two.3) Keeps your attention - I love to buy books and then not read them… it’s a talent that I exercise often… One thing I can say about this book is that it actually keeps my attention, and I enjoy reading it. That’s saying a lot if it can do that. How much good is a book if it’s too boring to focus on and get through? If you don’t read it, it doesn’t matter how quality the content is.I’ve recommended this book to several people in my life already, and I wish I still had my Amazon affiliate account setup because I feel like a freaking spokesperson for the thing..! Haha.In summary: I would recommend this book to a very wide range of people—ANYONE in computer science looking to get a job, anyone trying to get a degree or just take anything CS related, anyone interested in some of the CS fundamentals, anyone looking to review computer science concepts, anyone wanting to dip their feet into a new field of study they haven’t explored before.I wish I had this book when I was an undergrad—It would’ve saved me so much headache and difficulty.I’ll update this review once I’ve finished more of the book, but from what I’ve gone through so far, and compared to plenty of other programming books (algorithms, interview prep books, etc), it’s by far my favorite.

Excellent

Easy to read, easy to understand and to enjoy. Excellent to brush up or reinforce previous knowledge.