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Challenge: Python Algorithm Books

2019-07-30

Since I took the first programming course not focusing entirely on teaching the language in question, I've been interested in algorithms. Solving a problem in different ways and comparing the solutions and the execution times of them have always appealed to me. Sadly, my daily work does not include very much of such. This, both the interest and the lack of exposure at work, is, I'm sure, something that I'm sharing with a large percentage of working programmers.

Some time ago I bought the book Classic Computer Science Problems in Python. It describes some interesting computer science problems and algorithms for how to solve them. I then saw some books that I thought looked interesting at a Manning.com sales. One of them was Grokking Algorithms, which it an introductory book to algorithms with examples in Python.

Mostly to persuade myself that I should by by the book, I started to think about reading a number of Python algorithm books, write a short comparison about them them and publish that on the blog. I already have Python Algorithms by Magnus Lie Hetland, so if I bought Grokking Algorithms I would have three books on the topic. That could work.

Then I found a Algorithms and Data Structures in Action on the same Manning sales...so now I have four Python algorithm books.

Well, the code examples on Algorithms and Data Structures in Action is actually in pseudo code, but that's close enough to count as Python ;)

So what I'll do is the following:

  1. Read all four books (and try to do all exercises in them).
  2. Write the usual book review after having read each book.
  3. Write a comparison of them after I've read all four.
Simple enough.

I suspect it will take some time to accomplish the feat however. The exercises in the books may not be east to solve. Also, Algorithms and Data Structures in Action is in MEAP, so I won't be able to end my small blog entry series until that book is finished, which it is supposed to be in September 2020.

Another thing that I will try to do is not buying any more books until I'm finished with these ones (and of course the other ones that I'm reading right now (Python Workbook MEAP and Cloud Native Patterns)). This might be even harder than solving the exercises in the algorithm books... ;)