Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java

Mark Allen Weiss's "Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java, 3rd Edition" is a good reading if you're already familiar with Java and a few other programming languages, and want to start learning about data structures in a structured fashion. The text is easy to read and understand, and is accompanied by a good plenty of examples. Even if Java is not your primary language, the author reviews basic Java programming in the first few chapters in a way that you can learn/remember most of the important features of Java."Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java, 3rd Edition" is a good reading and I advise it to people who want to learn about data structures. Nevertheless, it could be a better reading. Weiss is also the author of similar book for C++, and it appears that he has simply ported the C++ examples of that book to "Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java". Therefore, some of the examples don't follow a good coding style or are not compliant with the traditions in Java programming. The author also skips the proofs of some theorems in the interest of space, but it would be a better idea to provide them as an appendix at the end of the book.

$600 for a used version this book, really? That's what I just read right before I clicked to write this review. This book, if used, is likely chosen to teach you about java and how to write certain programs in java. It is really no different than if you were to write programs in C or any other language. Now java is a very big language, so this book does not actually teach you more than the basics of java. I can't say much about this book, since I almost never opened this book for the semester I rented it. Likely, you will just end up searching alternative code on Google or something like that. Use this book only if you are really into Java and want to look smart. I personally would just stick to TutorialsPoint, Wikipedia, and StackOverflow.

His examples are trying to hard to be "tricky" and "clever," however the information give is pretty top notch. It's a good buy, but you might have to get better examples off the internets.

Book was a required textbook for a class. I hardly ever used it, and when I did, I never felt enlightened beyond what I got from asking the professor.

Good

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I much liked this book. The text is very dry, and is not at all fun to read. I was going to try to read it for fun during the summer, but stopped shortly after a few pages. The author's writing style isn't intriguing either. It honestly bugged me how it was written and structured. It's hard to believe that this was published, considering it includes words like "irregardless," which isn't a proper word (ir being a negative, this becomes a double negative, "without without regard"). Luckily, I've been programming long enough that I only needed to refer to it once or twice (and the book didn't help when I did so).

great book to learn some data structures

The book is helpful and I would recommend buying it for your classes, but if you do be prepared to wait at least 2 and a half weeks for your book to ship. The seller seems to be in no hurry to get the book to you in a timely manner. I would have bought it somewhere else if I had known this. Buy it from a bookstore instead, the slight price difference is not worth the ridiculous wait.