 First edition | |
| Author | Anany Levitin, Maria Levitin |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2011 |
Algorithmic Puzzles is a book of puzzles based on computational thinking. It was written by computer scientists Anany and Maria Levitin, and published in 2011 by Oxford University Press.
The book begins with a "tutorial" introducing classical algorithm design techniques including backtracking, divide-and-conquer algorithms, and dynamic programming, methods for the analysis of algorithms, and their application in example puzzles. [1] [2] The puzzles themselves are grouped into three sets of 50 puzzles, in increasing order of difficulty. A final two chapters provide brief hints and more detailed solutions to the puzzles, [2] with the solutions forming the majority of pages of the book. [3]
Some of the puzzles are well known classics, some are variations of known puzzles making them more algorithmic, and some are new. [4] They include:
The puzzles in the book cover a wide range of difficulty, and in general do not require more than a high school level of mathematical background. [3] William Gasarch notes that grouping the puzzles only by their difficulty and not by their themes is actually an advantage, as it provides readers with fewer clues about their solutions. [1]
Reviewer Narayanan Narayanan recommends the book to any puzzle aficionado, or to anyone who wants to develop their powers of algorithmic thinking. [4] Reviewer Martin Griffiths suggests another group of readers, schoolteachers and university instructors in search of examples to illustrate the power of algorithmic thinking. [3] Gasarch recommends the book to any computer scientist, evaluating it as "a delight". [1]