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Title: Data Structures and Other Objects Using Java (3rd Edition)
ISBN: 0321375254
Author:
Michael Main
Publicate Date: 2005-10-14
Publish: 2005-10-14
List Price: $105.80
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $78.85
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $63.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $78.85
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Too much fluff, not enough stuff
I am using this book for a introductory course in Data Structures. It wastes far too many pages on specifications of ADT's. There are pages upon pages of data structure specifications, and very little on showing how they can be used in a real program. There are much better books out there. I like Data structures & algorithms by Robert Lafore. Lafore gives example programs that use the data structure being taught. To me, the specifications are utterly useless. I had to buy a supplemental book to finish my course, as my professor was bad, too. Look elsewhere, there are better books.
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2: Useful and informative
For the student seeking to learn data structures, this book certainly covers the basics (sorts, trees, graphs, recursive elements, stacks, queues) well. While some introductory Java is enforced, it assumes a general background in basic Java programming.
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3: Java
The book is not very useful. The author jumps between Java versions but never covers all of the new features Java 5.0 has to offer.
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4: Good introductory book
Despite having a professor who criticized Main's approach to almost every topic (seemingly in a bid to sell more of her own book), I enjoyed this book and got much use out of it. Other reviewers here claim the example code was buggy: I rarely type in and compile sample code - I never did for this book - so I cannot comment on any errors. However, the author's website has code for almost every class in the book. I highly encourage you to check it out.I enjoyed his discussion of the topics; he clearly explained the fundamental ideas of the topics covered in the book. One does not need to have example code to write a linked list class if one reads his clear descriptions of it. Same goes for most ideas in the book. The weak point I thought was sorting, and this was more of a weakness of my own than the author's. Two entire chapters are devoted to searching and sorting, but I just wasn't very interested in it. However, it is a useful concept, and you get much analysis of a few common searching & sorting routines. The best strategy to use this book is simply to read it straight through. Only quickly scan his code, to get an idea of one way to implement an idea. Read his explanations a few times until you understand the ideas and can state them in your own words. You don't need to be able to memorize Java-specific implementations of ideas from this book. You should, instead, be able to clearly explain in English the abstract ideas that are taught in this text. Recommended both for class and for learning on your own.
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5: I have one too many java books in my stock
I read a lot of confusing books by java experts that sometimes forget to go back to the simple basics when teaching simple minded readers. However, this book is for continuing readers of java who had some, but not expert training, experience in writing programs. What I liked most of this book is how he gives pointers on what to look out for while programming, and provides alternate solutions that would be better off in the long run than what general programmers tend to come up with. I also liked how he distinguished between specification and implementation to improve group/team environments (especially for large programs). His specifications before each class gave me a very intuitive idea of what is being asked rather than being confused with all that code. Once I got the general idea, I was able to under the code more. By following the convention that I described about the way he helps the readers, data structures became very clear to understand, especially when it comes to implementing such structures in Java. Its better to read this book slowly one chapter at a time than to jump into the middle, if you want to get a thorough established view of what is going on.
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