Painless 'Analysis of Algorithms' Training? [closed]

Answer 1

The single most helpful tool I've had for algorithms is Introduction to Algorithms.

It's the single best resource I know of for algorithms. It covers so many topics in good depth and has examples throughout. I still refer to it quite frequently.

Without that book my algorithms analysis class would have been a pain.

Answer 2

Most algorithm analysis courses at Universities are only open to upper level undergraduates and graduate students. Why would you expect this topic to be easy to learn? There are algorithms that are simple to analyze and the Wikipedia article on Big O notation is probably adequate to understand how and perform an analysis on them, but doing an analysis on any reasonably complex algorithm is non-trivial. The Cormen book is probably the most widely used book on algorithms, but I wouldn't consider learning algorithm analysis from it or any other book painless.

Answer 3

You don't say a lot about the remainder of you background. For straight out analysis of algorithms, the methods by which you evaluate an algorithm to find its order statistics and behavior, If you're comfortable with mathematics in general -- say you've had two years of calculus, or a good abstract algebra course -- then you can't really do much better than to read Knuth Volume One.

The usual "Analysis of Algorithms" course is also a data structures course, so a data structures text might be better if you also need to learn about lists, trees, etc. My favorite in graduate school was Aho, Hopcroft and Ullman.

I like Cormen as a reference; it also serves as an admirable doorstop, for the execution of large icky bugs, for clamping small glue joints (the slick cover releases most wood glues), and as an end book because it holds a bookend in place. Wouldn't recommend it as an intro text.

Answer 4

Google Code University offers a page on Algorithms that points to some slides offered by Stanford and Princeton.

Answer 5

Erik Öjebo posted a great answer to a nearly identical question, asked shortly after yours.

Quoting his answer:

MIT has a course on algorithms in their Open Courseware Program with video, audio and PDF lectures.

• Lecture Notes
• Course home page

There is also an online course, also with video lectures, at ArsDigita University.

• Lectures
• Course home page

At University of Florida there is the course Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, and just as the above it has video lectures available online.

• Lectures
• Course home page

At freescienceonline.blogspot.com you can find a whole lot of video lectures on algorithms, as well as a lot of other interesting videos.

Answer 6

If you prefer to look and listen rather than to read I can recommend the MIT course "Introduction to Algorithms". You can watch it free here: http://academicearth.org/courses/introduction-to-algorithms

I found it very good and pedagogical even though I don't have enough knowledge of the math involved.