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Data Structures Demystified by Jim Keogh, Ken Davidson

 
Bartender
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<pre>Author/s : Jim Keogh, Ken Davidson
Publisher : McGraw-Hill/Osborne
Category : Other
Review by : Matthew Phillips
Rating : 4 horseshoes
</pre>
I can't recommend that anyone buy this book. The good aspects of the book are far outweighed by the bad. First the good. Each chapter starts with a plain nglish description of the data structure covered. For the most part, these descriptions are really good. The exception is when both a stack and a queue are described as "first in, first out" data structures. I also like the fact that the code sections of each chapter have a Java version and a C++ version.
Now for the bad. It appears that one author created the diagrams and the other wrote the descriptive text because they often did not match up. It caused a great deal of confusion for me because they were close enough to not disregard all together. Because of this problem the first two chapters were almost unreadable.
If there is a particular data structure that you are confused by, go to your local library or book store and read the first couple of paragraphs of the chapter on that data structure. That may make it easier to understand what you read in your primary text. If you don't know data structures, then you probably won't know them after reading this book either.
More info at Amazon.com
More info at Amazon.co.uk
 
Greenhorn
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Sheesh. I don't think it's that bad. However, I did just skim the first couple of chapters since I'm already familiar with those topics. Maybe when I get to the later chapters that I don't understand I will feel the same way. We'll see.

I'm just into chapter 4 now and about to see what he has to say about stacks.
By the way, I like that moose image -- very cool

howling
 
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Hi Mr. Dog,

Welcome to JavaRanch!

You might not have noticed the sign hanging on the door on your way in. We don't have a lot of rules, but we do have a policy that says your display name has to be a real first and last name. You can fix your display name here.

Thanks for taking care of this, pardner. Hope to see you around the Ranch!
[ July 23, 2004: Message edited by: Ernest Friedman-Hill ]
 
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Mr Mad (lol)

If you know data datastructures you don't need the book to: Demystify if for you. Right?? The goal is to look at it from perspective of someone that dont know them.
 
Roger Deutsch
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okay, didn't see that sign about the names, but thanks.
Also, the link you gave me was names.jsp, but in actuality it is name.jsp, but I found the information and read it.

Also, I'm mystified on some of the data structure stuff so that's what I'm trying to learn from the book. I'm just now going into the stack stuff.

I'll let you know how well he seems to do on that subject and others.
Roger (boy that sure don't sound as good as Howling_maddog) ;-)
 
With a little knowledge, a cast iron skillet is non-stick and lasts a lifetime.
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