Rating: 
Summary: Avoid this disaster at all costs!
Review: Don't be fooled by any of the positive and semi-positive reviews above, this book is half-baked, poorly detailed and in a number of exercises it is simply flat out wrong!How I wish I could contact the authors directly. While I'm sure they meant well, the result is pedestrian at best. The prose reads fairly well and the diagrams are well-printed and attractive but once you dive in and start trying to work through the many exercises... you'll soon realize the authors didn't give you adequate information to complete them. It is not uncommon for an exercise to refer to a method about which the authors have only described in 2-3 short sentences... and worse yet, the exercises frequently ask you to construct solutions based on a combination of methods; which would be great but nowhere in the book will you find even a single example to guide you along. The publisher's web site does provide a download file of the source-code but you'll soon find that the code is so flawed it won't even compile or build (even using the compilers the authors reference). Books says based on C yet much of the code is C++. Do yourself and your students a favor. Avoid this book at all costs. You'd enjoy using this book as much as a mechanic would enjoy a flawed and incomplete service manual. Lest you think I a hyper-skilled software engineer, please note that my review is based on my experience as a computer science student (undergraduate) with a 3.4 GPA.
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo-Code? Not!!!
Review: I had to buy this book for a computer science course. Thankfully I got a refund on it when I tested out of the course two weeks later. For those who are forced to learn the contents of this book, here is what to expect, as I read the entire book. Since I was already very familiar with most concepts ( ie. actually programmed them ), I have to say that no book has made me more confused or angry than this one. Ideas that are simple are obscured with inappropriate examples / wordings, so I actually had to read many paragraphs TWICE, to get the point of the author. Even the pictures are far from refined, and the presentation is quite amateur. There were several times I just wanted to throw the book at the wall in disgust. As a first (and unbelievable) example, from page 2 you are given the "Commandments" of good Pseudocode. One such rule is never to use identifiers such as 'i' or 'j', as they should instead be given an 'english' name such as 'student'. On page 6, we have the first code example, where they proceed to use 'i' and 'j' within the code. Then they explain that, oh yes, 'i' and 'j' is actually a loop tradition in C++! So we're already confused! By page 6. Now, the beautiful thing is that you can read this for yourself right now, with Amazon's page excerpts. This sets the level of presentation for the rest of the book. My apologies to those who may like this book, but please take time to explore other books before this one. Programming is far easier than is explained in this book. At this level of programming development, a bad experience can be most discouraging. And this book is very, very bad.
Rating:
Summary: Do not pay for this book
Review: I had to buy this book for a computer science course. Thankfully I got a refund on it when I tested out of the course two weeks later. For those who are forced to learn the contents of this book, here is what to expect, as I read the entire book. Since I was already very familiar with most concepts ( ie. actually programmed them ), I have to say that no book has made me more confused or angry than this one. Ideas that are simple are obscured with inappropriate examples / wordings, so I actually had to read many paragraphs TWICE, to get the point of the author. Even the pictures are far from refined, and the presentation is quite amateur. There were several times I just wanted to throw the book at the wall in disgust. As a first (and unbelievable) example, from page 2 you are given the "Commandments" of good Pseudocode. One such rule is never to use identifiers such as 'i' or 'j', as they should instead be given an 'english' name such as 'student'. On page 6, we have the first code example, where they proceed to use 'i' and 'j' within the code. Then they explain that, oh yes, 'i' and 'j' is actually a loop tradition in C++! So we're already confused! By page 6. Now, the beautiful thing is that you can read this for yourself right now, with Amazon's page excerpts. This sets the level of presentation for the rest of the book. My apologies to those who may like this book, but please take time to explore other books before this one. Programming is far easier than is explained in this book. At this level of programming development, a bad experience can be most discouraging. And this book is very, very bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Searching and found it.
Review: I have been searching for a beginning data structures text that was not so bound-up in one particular language. This has what we were looking for. Lots of diagrams and a simple, generalized pseudocode for the algorithms which can then be easily translated by the student into any lanaguage of their choice. There are, at the end of each chapter, small, running C++ programs, but the algorithmic examples can be read by anyone who knows one modern, programming language. Nice book. I am ordering it for my two classes for next semester.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I know how to program in Java and I have basic knowledge of C/C++.
I need to get up to speed on data structures and algorithms w/o
going through mathematical "reasons" why a certain data structure and
algorithm is more efficient than another. I needed to know the whats
and hows. This book gave me exactly that. I was able to convert the book's pseudocode into C code without
peeking at the author's actual implementation. This is how easy the
book is to understand (given you know what pointers and dynamic memory
allocation are and how to use them). I'm not sure what the other readers are complaining about. This isn't
a book about software engineering (and the author implicitly implied
it each time he said such topics are outside the scope of the book).
Another reader wanted more examples. There are times when I want
hand-holding myself but only in specific topics such as game programming.
This is a book on data structures and algorithms not data structures and algorithms used in encryption, compression, file management, etc. By the way, I'm referring to the previous edition (in C).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I know how to program in Java and I have basic knowledge of C/C++.
I need to get up to speed on data structures and algorithms w/o
going through mathematical "reasons" why a certain data structure and
algorithm is more efficient than another. I needed to know the whats
and hows. This book gave me exactly that. I was able to convert the book's pseudocode into C code without
peeking at the author's actual implementation. This is how easy the
book is to understand (given you know what pointers and dynamic memory
allocation are and how to use them). I'm not sure what the other readers are complaining about. This isn't
a book about software engineering (and the author implicitly implied
it each time he said such topics are outside the scope of the book).
Another reader wanted more examples. There are times when I want
hand-holding myself but only in specific topics such as game programming.
This is a book on data structures and algorithms not data structures and algorithms used in encryption, compression, file management, etc. By the way, I'm referring to the previous edition (in C).
Rating:
Summary: truly best
Review: I've taken a data structure course with this book long time ago. However(like all other Gilberg, Forouzan books), the book remains one of my favorites, combining concepts, graphics, and algorithms in the most efficient and helpful manner you are unlikely to find anywhere else. Now regarding somewhat negative comments made by previous posters as I have to disagree with them to say the least. The purpose of the book(and the subject in general), is not to teach you a certain programming language, although you might enhance your knowledge in the process. It is to teach you concepts of data organization and manipulation theory that can be implemented in C, C++, Java and so on.
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo-Code? Not!!!
Review: In order to understand the book, one must understand the author. Gilberg is the type of professor that concerns himself more with flowcharts and whether students staple assignments properly. The book was originally riddled with algorithmic mistakes that were not obvious because, guess what? You cannot compile pseudo-code. The author seems to come from the school of thought that places importance on theory over practice. Is it no surprise that the C++ portions (from the helper site) are no more than converted C code with couts? In today's market, you have to write code, not pseudo-code. You have to compete in a global market. This fossilized notion of pseudo-code not only hides the fact that possibly the lazy professors couldn't write code to save their lives, but also is a disservice to students who WANT to not only learn data structures in the context of MODERN engineering practices, but also want to know how to IMPLEMENT data structures - be it C++, C#, Java - as well. I'll wrap up with a final word for students and professors:
- Professors: Please don't torture your students with this book.
- Students: If your professor uses this book... Run!!
Rating: 
Summary: Trivial, unpragmatic, and incomplete
Review: Looking back to the first few semesters of computer science I've had so far, while they did teach me the fundamentals and mainstream paradigms in use in languages today, they definately lacked a pragmatic, real-world approach to programming, in favor of condescending, trivial examples. As a result, I've had to re-learn the languages that I use now in order to really apply them on the job (I'm a student/CM script kiddie at a VoIP co. right now). This book uses this entry-level mentality, and it's definately a bad thing. A data structures book SHOULD, in my ever so humble opinion, be geared toward actual application. The techniques described in this book may leave you wondering how they're useful, if you were at my experience level at the time i was taking the class that used this book. The class was funnily enough called 'advanced' programming with data structures. Anyway, after dropping that class I went on to teach myself C. I started with 'The C programming language', and have now moved on to 'Mastering Algorithms in C'. Both are great resources for learning real programming, and the K & R book is renouned for its elegance. I don't know if there are any books on C++ that are as good as those two, but I'd assume that it might be a good idea to read Blarney Stroustrup's (sp??) book if you're really interested in C++. In a nutshell, this book tries to teach with an entry-level rhetoric while covering an intermediate topic. My advice is: the first entry level programming book should be the ONLY entry level programming book you get. Trivial and Contrived examples and excercises may be a necessary stepping stone to bigger and better things, but it should be kept to a minimum! p.s. real men program with gcc on unix
Rating:
Summary: Very well written Data Structures text!
Review: This is an incredibly rich Data Structure text presented in a easy to read and straightforward manner. The text layout is appealing to the eye with lots of supporting pictures, diagrams, tables, Pseudocode algorithms, and program code. The Pseudocode is general for any language yet closely relates to C. The program code is in C. The Pseudo code logic covers all data structures very well. ~J Franzmeier
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