Computing Patterns in Strings

Rating:
Summary: Computing Pattern in Strings by B. Smyth
Review: Computing Patterns in Strings by B. Smyth is a very useful book. String algorithms is a separate discipline in Europe (France, UK, Italy etc.) and in many other places in the world. However, in North America, this is not the case and the research and the results are scattered among many disciplines and many books. Thus most significant books on the topics concerning string algorithms are not of North American provenance. Smyth's book provide the reader with a comprehensive up-to-date overview of the discipline, rather than covering a few topics. The author exhibits a witty and readable style and, except for a few errors one always has to expect in a book covering so many algorithms and a well-founded reader can easily spot and disregard, the book is an excellent introduction to the discipline. I can highly recommend it to anyone seriously considering extending his/her knowledge of computer science. I certainly enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Computing Pattern in Strings by B. Smyth
Review: If you are looking for a dry, obscure, pedantic monograph that uses cryptic hieroglyphics to describe algorithms, well, friend, this text is for you! On the other hand, if you are looking for a practical text that can be read by non-Math majors, move on. THERE IS ZERO USEABLE MATERIAL that I was able to glean from the book, and I've been programming commercial search engines and parsers for 9 years.

I have no doubt that the author knows what he's talking about, but the information is, for all practical purposes, encrypted and I don't have the keys.

And the quotes from dead Romans and literary figures that are on most pages are just pretentious, distracting, and annoying.

I'd love to get my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious, Pedantic, Obscure
Review: If you are looking for a dry, obscure, pedantic monograph that uses cryptic hieroglyphics to describe algorithms, well, friend, this text is for you! On the other hand, if you are looking for a practical text that can be read by non-Math majors, move on. THERE IS ZERO USEABLE MATERIAL that I was able to glean from the book, and I've been programming commercial search engines and parsers for 9 years.

I have no doubt that the author knows what he's talking about, but the information is, for all practical purposes, encrypted and I don't have the keys.

And the quotes from dead Romans and literary figures that are on most pages are just pretentious, distracting, and annoying.

I'd love to get my money back.