Rating: 
Summary: Too conversational
Review: This book should be given a rating lower, if it were possible. The reason I dislike this book is that it is written in a conversational style, which is very hard to follow. Being a beginner at this, it would be much more helpful if things were separated and clearly emphasized step by step. This book makes it difficult because all proofs are written into a big block of a paragraph. I normally have taken an hour or so to decode a paragraph so that I can say "Oh! That's what he meant." The content is good- layout is bad.
Rating:
Summary: Too conversational
Review: This is a good book - far better than an average rating of 2 stars
would suggest. However, i think a big reason for such a rating is
that it's supposed to be an introductory textbook (as claimed by the
authors in the preface), and from that point of view, it leaves much
to be desired. The presentation is such that it can be difficult for first-timers to
follow, and many topics are simply absent, e.g. network flows. On the other hand, those already familiar with the material will find
it quite readable and handy as a reference or for brushing up. The authors choose to present algorithms from a design point of view,
ie greedy approach, divide-and-conquer, bactracking, dynamic programming
etc instead of the traditional way of presenting algorithms for solving
a class of problems, e.g searching, sorting, graph algorithms and so on. While this is good for those who're already familiar with the traditional
approach and also offers a unified view of problem-solving strategies in
Algorithmics, it is decidedly easier for the beginning student to have (e.g)
all sorting algorithms in one place than to discover that they're scattered
across different chapters. All algorithms are presented in pseudocode, and are thus have no
programming language dependencies. A healthy number of solved examples
have been provided, and unsolved problems are numerous. In summary, i think this is quite a good book for practitioners, researchers
and those doing an advanced course in Algorithms, whereas it may not be
suitable for an introductory course (except, perhaps, as a supplement).
Rating: 
Summary: Great as a supplement or reference, not as an introduction
Review: This is a good book - far better than an average rating of 2 stars
would suggest. However, i think a big reason for such a rating is
that it's supposed to be an introductory textbook (as claimed by the
authors in the preface), and from that point of view, it leaves much
to be desired. The presentation is such that it can be difficult for first-timers to
follow, and many topics are simply absent, e.g. network flows. On the other hand, those already familiar with the material will find
it quite readable and handy as a reference or for brushing up. The authors choose to present algorithms from a design point of view,
ie greedy approach, divide-and-conquer, bactracking, dynamic programming
etc instead of the traditional way of presenting algorithms for solving
a class of problems, e.g searching, sorting, graph algorithms and so on. While this is good for those who're already familiar with the traditional
approach and also offers a unified view of problem-solving strategies in
Algorithmics, it is decidedly easier for the beginning student to have (e.g)
all sorting algorithms in one place than to discover that they're scattered
across different chapters. All algorithms are presented in pseudocode, and are thus have no
programming language dependencies. A healthy number of solved examples
have been provided, and unsolved problems are numerous. In summary, i think this is quite a good book for practitioners, researchers
and those doing an advanced course in Algorithms, whereas it may not be
suitable for an introductory course (except, perhaps, as a supplement).
Rating: 
Summary: Fundamentals of Algorithmics
Review: Wow...I don't understand how this book can be used in an introductory course to algortithm analysis. I can see where readers with a great deal of mathematical skill would like this book, because that is the only way you are going to understand any of it. There are too many instances where the authors gloss over their explanations, saying that the answer is "Easily derived". If you have a Ph.D in Mathematics and an entry level skill of programming you might like this book. Otherwise, avoid it all cost.
Rating:
Summary: Fundamentals of Algorithmics
Review: Wow...I don't understand how this book can be used in an introductory course to algortithm analysis. I can see where readers with a great deal of mathematical skill would like this book, because that is the only way you are going to understand any of it. There are too many instances where the authors gloss over their explanations, saying that the answer is "Easily derived". If you have a Ph.D in Mathematics and an entry level skill of programming you might like this book. Otherwise, avoid it all cost.
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