Amazon.co.uk Review
Written for readers with at least some Perl programming experience,
Mastering Algorithms in Perl delivers a solid library of algorithms written in Perl for business and mathematical computing. From data structures to cryptography and more advanced mathematical algorithms, this book provides a worthwhile guide to extending Perl's coding capabilities.
The best thing about Master Algorithms in Perl is the scope with which it covers the universe of algorithms, while refraining from getting bogged down in academic detail. Besides providing basic data structures (a lynchpin of books on algorithms), the authors provide dozens of algorithms for sorting, searching and doing mathematical computation of all kinds. While they discuss "Big-O" notation and assume a general familiarity with math, they don't overwhelm the reader. (You can even borrow the code here without a math degree to understand it.) The focus here is on efficient, re-usable Perl subroutines written and compiled by three Perl experts.
Standout chapters include extending Perl's already powerful string processing abilities, game programming and cryptography. Generally, the authors achieve a good mix of advanced and less well-known algorithms, along with the basics. Chances are you won't need to use all the dozen or so sorting algorithms presented here, but the authors include them all, just in case. As a reference and tutorial, readers can pick and choose what they need for real world Perl development.
There hasn't been a book dedicated exclusively to Perl algorithms prior to the publication of this one. In all, Mastering Algorithms in Perl fills a useful niche by compiling a powerful library of Perl algorithms that will be useful for anyone who works with this programming language, whether in business or academic computing. - -Richard Dragan,Amazon.com
Topics covered: Perl data types, Big-O notation, data structures, queues, deques, linked lists, binary trees, sorting and searching algorithms, game and dynamic programming, sets and multisets, matrices, graphs, string matching and parsing, 2-D geometry, number systems, cryptography (including DES and RSA), probability, statistics and numerical analysis. --Amazon.com
Review
'An O'Reilly book, and what a good one it is. And what a fun one too: a book on algorithms for Perl. Yowza! As far as I know, this is a first. But otherwise this standard O'Reilly fare: well written, well edited, well designed (note the wolf on the cover), all you will expect and get from this publisher time and time again. And no, I don't haved shares in O'Reilly!' - Julian Bucknall, Developers Review, June 2000. '...and the authors show every sign of enjoying themselves in writing it. It's a great read, as much for the byways it opens up as for the possibility of using it to attack real-world problems. It marks a sort of coming of age for the language and most people who use Perl as a day to day 'Swiss army chainsaw' will enjoy it.' - Fiachra O Marcaigh, Irish Times, February 21st 2000
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