0.1 About This Book¶
This project aims to create an open-source, free, beginner-friendly introductory tutorial on data structures and algorithms.
- The entire book uses animated illustrations, with clear and easy-to-understand content and a smooth learning curve, guiding beginners through the landscape of data structures and algorithms.
- The source code can be run with one click, helping readers improve their programming skills through practice and understand how algorithms work and the underlying implementation of data structures.
- We encourage readers to learn from each other, and everyone is welcome to ask questions and share insights in the comments section, making progress together through discussion and exchange.
0.1.1 Target Audience¶
If you are an algorithm beginner who has never studied algorithms, or if you already have some problem-solving experience but only a hazy understanding of data structures and algorithms, then this book is tailor-made for you!
If you have already accumulated a certain amount of problem-solving experience and are familiar with most question types, this book can help you review and organize your algorithm knowledge system, and the repository's source code can be used as a "problem-solving toolkit" or "algorithm dictionary."
If you are an algorithm "expert," we look forward to receiving your valuable suggestions, or joining us as a contributor.
Prerequisites
You need basic programming knowledge in at least one language and the ability to read and write simple code.
0.1.2 Content Structure¶
The main content of this book is shown in Figure 0-1.
- Complexity analysis: Evaluation dimensions and methods for data structures and algorithms. Methods for calculating time complexity and space complexity, common types, examples, etc.
- Data structures: Classification methods for basic data types and data structures. Definitions, advantages and disadvantages, common operations, common types, typical applications, implementation methods, and more for data structures such as arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, trees, heaps, and graphs.
- Algorithms: The definition, advantages and disadvantages, efficiency, application scenarios, problem-solving steps, and example problems of algorithms such as searching, sorting, divide and conquer, backtracking, dynamic programming, and greedy algorithms.
Figure 0-1 Main content of this book
0.1.3 Acknowledgements¶
This book has been continuously improved through the joint efforts of many contributors in the open-source community. Thanks to every contributor who invested time and effort, they are (in the order automatically generated by GitHub): krahets, coderonion, Gonglja, nuomi1, Reanon, justin-tse, hpstory, danielsss, curtishd, night-cruise, S-N-O-R-L-A-X, rongyi, msk397, gvenusleo, khoaxuantu, rivertwilight, K3v123, gyt95, zhuoqinyue, yuelinxin, Zuoxun, mingXta, Phoenix0415, FangYuan33, GN-Yu, longsizhuo, pengchzn, QiLOL, Cathay-Chen, guowei-gong, xBLACKICEx, IsChristina, JoseHung, qualifier1024, hello-ikun, magentaqin, Guanngxu, thomasq0, sunshinesDL, L-Super, Transmigration-zhou, WSL0809, Slone123c, lhxsm, yuan0221, what-is-me, theNefelibatas, Shyam-Chen, sangxiaai, longranger2, codeberg-user, xiongsp, JeffersonHuang, prinpal, seven1240, Wonderdch, malone6, xiaomiusa87, gaofer, bluebean-cloud, a16su, SamJin98, hongyun-robot, nanlei, XiaChuerwu, yd-j, iron-irax, mgisr, steventimes, junminhong, heshuyue, danny900714, Nigh, Dr-XYZ, MolDuM, XC-Zero, reeswell, PXG-XPG, NI-SW, Horbin-Magician, Enlightenus, YangXuanyi, xjr7670, beatrix-chan, DullSword, qq909244296, iStig, boloboloda, hts0000, gledfish, fbigm, echo1937, jiaxianhua, wenjianmin, keshida, kilikilikid, lclc6, lwbaptx, linyejoe2, liuxjerry, szu17dmy, dshlstarr, Yucao-cy, coderlef, czruby, bongbongbakudan, beintentional, ZongYangL, ZhongYuuu, ZhongGuanbin, hezhizhen, linzeyan, ZJKung, JTCPOWI, KawaiiAsh, luluxia, xb534, ztkuaikuai, yw-1021, ElaBosak233, baagod, zhouLion, yishangzhang, yi427, yanedie, yabo083, weibk, wangwang105, th1nk3r-ing, tao363, 4yDX3906, syd168, sslmj2020, smilelsb, siqyka, selear, sdshaoda, Xi-Row, popozhu, nuquist19, noobcodemaker, XiaoK29, chadyi, lyl625760, lucaswangdev, llql1211, 0130w, shanghai-Jerry, EJackYang, Javesun99, eltociear, lipusheng, KNChiu, BlindTerran, ShiMaRing, lovelock, FreddieLi, FloranceYeh, fanchenggang, gltianwen, goerll, nedchu, curly210102, CuB3y0nd, KraHsu, CarrotDLaw, youshaoXG, bubble9um, Asashishi, Asa0oo0o0o, fanenr, eagleanurag, akshiterate, 52coder, foursevenlove, KorsChen, hopkings2008, yang-le, realwujing, Evilrabbit520, Umer-Jahangir, Turing-1024-Lee, Suremotoo, paoxiaomooo, Chieko-Seren, Senrian, Allen-Scai, 19santosh99, ymmmas, Risuntsy, Richard-Zhang1019, RafaelCaso, qingpeng9802, primexiao, Urbaner3, codetypess, nidhoggfgg, MwumLi, CreatorMetaSky, martinx, ZnYang2018, hugtyftg, logan-qiu, psychelzh, Kunchen-Luo, Keynman, and KeiichiKasai.
The code review work for this book was completed by coderonion, curtishd, Gonglja, gvenusleo, hpstory, justin-tse, khoaxuantu, krahets, night-cruise, nuomi1, Reanon and rongyi (in alphabetical order). Thanks to them for the time and effort they put in; they helped keep the code consistent and standardized across the different language versions.
The English version of this book was reviewed by yuelinxin, K3v123, magentaqin, QiLOL, Phoenix0415, SamJin98, yanedie, RafaelCaso, pengchzn and thomasq0; the Japanese version was reviewed by eltociear; the Russian version was reviewed by И. А. Шевкун and Yuyan Huang; and the Traditional Chinese version was reviewed by Shyam-Chen and Dr-XYZ. Thanks to their contributions, this book is able to serve a broader readership, and we are deeply grateful to them.
The ePub ebook generation tool for this book was developed by zhongfq. We thank him for his contribution, which provides readers with a more flexible way to read.
During the creation of this book, I received help from many people.
- Thanks to my mentor at the company, Dr. Li Xi, who encouraged me to "take action quickly" during a conversation, strengthening my determination to write this book;
- Thanks to my girlfriend Bubble, the first reader of this book, who provided many valuable suggestions from the perspective of an algorithm beginner, making this book more approachable for beginners;
- Thanks to Tengbao, Qibao, and Feibao for coming up with a creative name for this book, evoking everyone's fond memories of writing their first line of code "Hello World!";
- Thanks to Xiaoquan for providing professional help in intellectual property rights, which played an important role in the improvement of this open-source book;
- Thanks to Sutong for designing the beautiful cover and logo for this book, and for patiently revising them many times at my perfectionist insistence;
- Thanks to @squidfunk for the typesetting suggestions, as well as for developing the open-source documentation theme Material-for-MkDocs.
During the writing process, I read many textbooks and articles on data structures and algorithms. These works served as excellent models for this book and helped ensure the accuracy and quality of its content. I would like to thank all the teachers and predecessors for their outstanding contributions!
This book advocates a hands-on approach to learning, and in this respect I was deeply inspired by Dive into Deep Learning. I highly recommend this excellent work to all readers.
Heartfelt thanks to my parents. It is your support and encouragement that gave me the opportunity to pursue this enjoyable project.