his book is intended as a manual on algorithm design, providing access to combinatorial algorithm technology for both students and computer professionals. It explains the fundamentals of algorithms in a story line that makes the material enjoyable and easy to digest.

Most professional programmers that I've encountered are not well prepared to tackle algorithm design problems. This is a pity, because the techniques of algorithm design form one of the core practical technologies of computer science.

Techniques - Good algorithm designers understand several fundamental algorithm design techniques, including data structures, dynamic programming, depth first search, backtracking, and heuristics. Perhaps the single most important design technique is modeling, the art of abstracting a messy real-world application into a clean problem suitable for algorithmic attack.

Resources - Good algorithm designers stand on the shoulders of giants. Rather than laboring from scratch to produce a new algorithm for every task, they can figure out what is known about a particular problem. Rather than re-implementing popular algorithms from scratch, they seek existing implementations to serve as a starting point. They are familiar with many classic algorithmic problems, which provide sufficient source material to model most any application.

This expanded and updated second edition of a classic bestseller continues to take the "mystery" out of designing and analyzing algorithms and their efficacy and efficiency. Expanding on the highly successful formula of the first edition, the book now serves as the primary textbook of choice for any algorithm design course while maintaining its status as the premier practical reference guide to algorithms.

About the Authors

Steven Skiena is Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University. His research interests include the design of graph, string, and geometric algorithms, and their applications (particularly to biology). He is the author of four books, including "The Algorithm Design Manual" and "Calculated Bets: Computers, Gambling, and Mathematical Modeling to Win". He is recipient of the ONR Young Investigator Award and the IEEE Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award.