Algorithms with Implementations in Java: A Quantitative Approach

by Henry H. Liu

You might want to learn algorithms and implementations for a variety of reasons, (1) you are a student in CS or another science or engineering major and target a career in the field of computers or software in future, (2) you are a software professional and look for ways to improve your productivity, quality of work, and efficiency in coding, and (3) you want to find a more challenging job and need to prepare for your coding interviews. No matter what your motivations are, this text helps equip you with a solid understanding of most common algorithms that run on as many electronic devices and behind many applications as one can imagine. Besides, your learning of algorithms is enhanced with implementations in Java, with many examples from real coding interviews from a few top computer and software tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The programming language Java is chosen as it is one of the most widely used programming languages for building any kind of software and applications. Java is the most ideal language for learning algorithms and developing software, as it does not only deliver high performance but also get numerous third-party support libraries to integrate with. Although some may suggest that algorithms can be studied and understood in a language-independent manner, this text is heavy on coding and light on math and textual descriptions. It advocates learning algorithms with real, working code instead of no code or pseudo code. To help you assess the level of your problem solving skills with algorithms and data structures in Java, three real, formal onsite coding interview problems are made available in the Preface section of this text. You can use these examples to check whether you have reached the master level in algorithms and implementations. The subjects covered in this book are logically organized as Appendix A shows how you can set up an IDE of Eclipse for all your programming needs with Java. Appendix B introduces n-square problems in the field of number theory, including Waring’s problem, Lagrange’s four-square theorem, Legendre’s three-square theorem, and Fermat’s theorem on sums of two squares. You might be surprised how uncommon a real coding interview problem may be.

262 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2021