cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45602294

Hello All

I am someone who graduated some time back and was not able to score their first job in the field. I am recently getting back into programming a bit more as a hobby. In particular I am toying around with Rust and a bit of C#.

Was wondering what books you all used for data and algo class? It would be good if you know some with those languages in mind, but otherwise just a book that is more generic would be great too.

    • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
      1·
      6 days ago

      Keep in mind this book is really long - I believe it’s something to do with authors being paid by the page in the US? But anyways, it’s very detailed but that may not be a bad thing. I don’t have any other suggestions.

  • SailorFuzz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    7 days ago

    Depends on what you’re doing, programming wise. Structures and Algos is good if you’re doing a lot of foundational, ground-up work. But most times (like 90%) you’ll just use a library for those structures. If you really, really need a RedBlackTree (you dont), you’re probably not going to build it yourself. I mean you can, but it’s probably better (and safer) to import a library for it. It’s more important to know their use-cases rather than how to build them.

    I would argue, that if you’re want to learn something functional, I would study up on Design Patterns. Especially for C#.

    Structures/Algos are the tools, Patterns are what to build with the tools.

    Best book, long term, is probably: Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software I have it, use it. It’s great as a reference, but it’s also very “textbook”.

    I actually recommend: Game Programming Patterns it covers almost all the same patterns as the above. But, it’s written with a functional “game” usecase standpoint, which makes it easier to comprehend and get through.

    • InternetCitizen2@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      7 days ago

      Depends on what you’re doing, programming wise. Structures and Algos is good if you’re doing a lot of foundational, ground-up work.

      True. I guess to be a bit more clear its a bit more for its own sake to built the brain muscle of sorts.

      Thank you for the links. I do love a yummy textbook.

    • sobchak@programming.dev
      1·
      7 days ago

      You need to have a general idea what structures and algorithms those libraries are using, so you know if they’re a right fit for your use case,what configuration options to use, and how they’ll scale. Design patterns are good to learn (required even), but I wouldn’t go too deep into them. IIRC, that Design Patterns book goes a little too crazy and gets a little too abstract in some cases, and is what caused all that Enterprise Java craziness. The profession seems to be currently moving away from that kind of OOP, and moving to OOP-ish + some functional programming concepts mixed in (Rust, React, etc).

  • Glitchvid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    7 days ago

    The course I’m in uses Algorithms (Fourth Edition) by Sedgwick and Wayne[1], and I consider it pretty good. A large focus is on clear implementations that demonstrate the core parts of each algorithm, without getting bogged down in specialization, which I can appreciate. The book also has very good visualizations (they call them traces) if you learn better visually. The only real downside is it’s entirely Java oriented material. But since you’re working with C# this probably isn’t a deal breaker.

    The other recommendation in the thread is Introduction to Algorithms, which I’ve read chapters of (used as reference) — personally it’s ok, definitely more abstract and math heavy, so if that’s something you want or appreciate then it’s a good option.

    There’s also The Art of Computer Programming by Knuth, which to me is grad level stuff, very very math heavy, but also brilliant, if you can keep up.

    1. Theres a book, supplemental video courses, and example implementations: https://algs4.cs.princeton.edu/home ↩︎