Rating: 
Summary: Cheaper at the Brick & Mortar
Review: Amazon needs to sell books of real value at a reasonable price
Rating:
Summary: Good book for students
Review: Covers basic data structures well, especially for those with little or no experience. The online resources and coding is helpful, although you have to beware for a few syntax errors in the author's online code (I don't think it was ever compiled). I've only used about half the book, but remember, it's not a book designed to teach Java, it's designed to teach Data Structures, using Java. Having a good teacher would be very helpful as well (if this is used as a textbook). I did not have a good teacher.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for students
Review: Covers basic data structures well, especially for those with little or no experience. The online resources and coding is helpful, although you have to beware for a few syntax errors in the author's online code (I don't think it was ever compiled). I've only used about half the book, but remember, it's not a book designed to teach Java, it's designed to teach Data Structures, using Java. Having a good teacher would be very helpful as well (if this is used as a textbook). I did not have a good teacher.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Bad
Review: Data Structures & Other Objects Using Java is a pretty good introduction to data structures. The author's purpose is not to teach Java itself and there are numerous books which do that. The author does a good job of explaining methods using simple examples and the writing style is pretty clear compared to some books on the subject.There are some problems with the code itself and unfortunately you need to import packages and classes from the author's website in order to run his examples, which is not so good, but that's what data structures is about. Get this book for an intro, but also complement it with a couple of books with more mathematical rigor, like Cormen's monster creation or Schaffer's book. That's what I had to do in my introductory Data Structures course, since the instructor used Schaffer's book for the code.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Bad
Review: Data Structures & Other Objects Using Java is a pretty good introduction to data structures. The author's purpose is not to teach Java itself and there are numerous books which do that. The author does a good job of explaining methods using simple examples and the writing style is pretty clear compared to some books on the subject. There are some problems with the code itself and unfortunately you need to import packages and classes from the author's website in order to run his examples, which is not so good, but that's what data structures is about. Get this book for an intro, but also complement it with a couple of books with more mathematical rigor, like Cormen's monster creation or Schaffer's book. That's what I had to do in my introductory Data Structures course, since the instructor used Schaffer's book for the code.
Rating:
Summary: Not Too Bad
Review: Data Structures & Other Objects Using Java is a pretty good introduction to data structures. The author's purpose is not to teach Java itself and there are numerous books which do that. The author does a good job of explaining methods using simple examples and the writing style is pretty clear compared to some books on the subject. There are some problems with the code itself and unfortunately you need to import packages and classes from the author's website in order to run his examples, which is not so good, but that's what data structures is about. Get this book for an intro, but also complement it with a couple of books with more mathematical rigor, like Cormen's monster creation or Schaffer's book. That's what I had to do in my introductory Data Structures course, since the instructor used Schaffer's book for the code.
Rating:
Summary: Good introductory book
Review: Despite having a professor who criticized Main's approach to almost every topic (seemingly in a bid to sell more of her own book), I enjoyed this book and got much use out of it. Other reviewers here claim the example code was buggy: I rarely type in and compile sample code - I never did for this book - so I cannot comment on any errors. However, the author's website has code for almost every class in the book. I highly encourage you to check it out. I enjoyed his discussion of the topics; he clearly explained the fundamental ideas of the topics covered in the book. One does not need to have example code to write a linked list class if one reads his clear descriptions of it. Same goes for most ideas in the book. The weak point I thought was sorting, and this was more of a weakness of my own than the author's. Two entire chapters are devoted to searching and sorting, but I just wasn't very interested in it. However, it is a useful concept, and you get much analysis of a few common searching & sorting routines. The best strategy to use this book is simply to read it straight through. Only quickly scan his code, to get an idea of one way to implement an idea. Read his explanations a few times until you understand the ideas and can state them in your own words. You don't need to be able to memorize Java-specific implementations of ideas from this book. You should, instead, be able to clearly explain in English the abstract ideas that are taught in this text. Recommended both for class and for learning on your own.
Rating:
Summary: Good introductory book
Review: Despite having a professor who criticized Main's approach to almost every topic (seemingly in a bid to sell more of her own book), I enjoyed this book and got much use out of it. Other reviewers here claim the example code was buggy: I rarely type in and compile sample code - I never did for this book - so I cannot comment on any errors. However, the author's website has code for almost every class in the book. I highly encourage you to check it out. I enjoyed his discussion of the topics; he clearly explained the fundamental ideas of the topics covered in the book. One does not need to have example code to write a linked list class if one reads his clear descriptions of it. Same goes for most ideas in the book. The weak point I thought was sorting, and this was more of a weakness of my own than the author's. Two entire chapters are devoted to searching and sorting, but I just wasn't very interested in it. However, it is a useful concept, and you get much analysis of a few common searching & sorting routines. The best strategy to use this book is simply to read it straight through. Only quickly scan his code, to get an idea of one way to implement an idea. Read his explanations a few times until you understand the ideas and can state them in your own words. You don't need to be able to memorize Java-specific implementations of ideas from this book. You should, instead, be able to clearly explain in English the abstract ideas that are taught in this text. Recommended both for class and for learning on your own.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent textbook, clearly written and few errors
Review: I am using this for a data structures course and as I read through it (I am in Chapter 9 now) I am more and more impressed with it. So far I've found only one glaring Java syntax error (p. 246), which is pretty good considering today's shoddy proofreading. The students like it too. Good job!
Rating: 
Summary: bah, there are better books than this, dude
Review: I have read several books on data structures (3). And in my opinion this is the worst of the lot. I have run into bugs, and if you buy this book you should go to the authors website so he can point them out for you. I had a great deal of trouble with this author's sample code, this is the main reason I did not like this book. Remember to include all his damn packages, when trying to compile his code, of course you have to get them from his website. buy a data structures book by Wiess or standish. Warning: the sample code in this book is overly confusing, and is clearer in other books.
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