Java Collections: An Introduction to Abstract Data Types, Data Structures and Algorithms <pre>
Author/s : David A. Watt, Deryck F. Brown
Publisher : Wiley
Category : Beginning Java
Review by : Margarita Isayeva
Rating : 7 horseshoes</pre>
The title of this book, "Java Collections", is somewhat misleading. The subtitle - "An Introduction to Abstract Data Types, Data Structures and Algorithms" - reveals what the book is really about. It is positioned as "a first course in algorithms and data structures". It accustoms with basic Abstract Data Types
philosophy on examples of set, list, map, queue, tree and few other. For each ADT first its contract is defined - in plain English. For a set it goes as:
it must be possible to add or remove a member of a set;it must be possible to test whether a value is a member of a setit must be possible to make a set empty..." Then the same contract is represented as a Java interface, and several data structures and algorithms implementing it are provided. The authors show how choice of underlying implementation affects operation speed. To indicate algorithm efficiency O-notation is used, and it is introduced on almost an intuitive level, with very light math.
A reader is expected to possess only basic knowledge of Java. Writing style is easy; though professional programmers seeking to refresh their knowledge of algorithms, for whom the book is recommended, can be irritated by euphemisms like "a date in the ISO format i.e., 'y-m-d'".
If your goal is to learn Java Collections framework - well, there is about a page for each its main interface. If you want more, get another book.
More info at Amazon.com More info at Amazon.co.uk More info at FatBrain.com
[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Johannes de Jong ]
