Data Structures in C

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

Can anyone recommend a good comprehensive book or reference on data structures and their implementations in the C programming language? I don't really need an introductory work, as I have one for C++ - but I'm looking for a more advanced and comprehensive work.

[mdh]

Data structures as in... things defined using ''struct''?
Can you be a bit more specific in terms of what information you're looking for?

[JMJ_coder]

Originally Posted by mdh

Data structures as in... things defined using ''struct''?
Can you be a bit more specific in terms of what information you're looking for?

Examples: linked lists, binary search trees, stacks, queues, etc.

[TerryP]

Well, it might sound stupid, but I learned how to implement such things using Wikipedia, GCC, and GDB lol. Lists, Stacks, and Queues are all similar enough that if you figure out how to implement one, the others should fall into place quick enough. Tree structures on the other hand can be a bit tricky at first. The main difference from C++ implementations, you won't find OO syntax used even though some C programs are written in an object oriented style. That, and there is no STL... lol.


For books, I have never read it but [http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565924536/]Mastering Algorithms with C[/url] from O'Reilly might be a good buy.

[anemos]

Originally Posted by TerryP

Lists, Stacks, and Queues are all similar enough that if you figure out how to implement one, the others should fall into place quick enough.

I don't think that data structures are very similar to each other in the way that each one is used into different cases. Data structures can be divided into two major categories, static (stack, queue, even an array is a data structure) and dynamic (linked-lists, trees, graphs) although someone can implement them statically (adjacency matrices for graphs etc). To my knowledge there are not many books that are language-centric because such a topic can be only "seen" algorithmicaly.

The difficult thing for someone when working with complex data structures is to design effective-efficient-reusable-as_fast_as_possible algorithms. The actual implementation/code is the easy part.

A book that I am aware of as great but haven't read it yet is Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs but i think that the algorithms are presented into pseudocode.

You can also have a look at /usr/include/sys/queue.h

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by JMJ_coder

Can anyone recommend a good comprehensive book or reference on data structures and their implementations in the C programming language?

It sounds like you are wanting something akin to Numerical Recipes:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

However, note that good books on data structures will be language agnostic (as they should be...). If you are wanting meaty, comprehensive, & dense, Cormen's Introduction to Algorithms is perhaps the best:

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-A...5736157&sr=1-1

Note that Cormen, et. al. approaches both algorithms & the data structures needed to implement such algorithms from a traditional mathematical standpoint. As such, this book is frequently used in graduate-level coursework. It is also a timeless text, much in the same manner as Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Computer-P...5736409&sr=1-1

[JMJ_coder]

Originally Posted by ocicat

It sounds like you are wanting something akin to Numerical Recipes:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

However, note that good books on data structures will be language agnostic (as they should be...). If you are wanting meaty, comprehensive, & dense, Cormen's Introduction to Algorithms is perhaps the best:

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-A...5736157&sr=1-1

Note that Cormen, et. al. approaches both algorithms & the data structures needed to implement such algorithms from a traditional mathematical standpoint. As such, this book is frequently used in graduate-level coursework. It is also a timeless text, much in the same manner as Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Computer-P...5736409&sr=1-1

Thanks. I actually want both. I want the nitty-gritty meat and potatoes of algorithms and data structures, but I also want some examples of possible implementations in various languages (looking at C right now). I could probably get examples online. But, the books I was looking at are all language specific - of course, I wasn't looking at $100+ books. Those last two look impressive, but are far outside of my current book budget. I'll have to put them on my wish list. The book from O'Reilly's and even the Numerical Recipes are a little closer to what I can afford right now - or I can save up for a bit. Decisions, decisions.

[drl]

Hi.

I see the items below on my bookshelf. I like the Sessions book because it was short enough to read quickly. Because these are old, you probably could get them from the used-book sources at Amazon.

I also listed the Icon book. Easily available and free, Icon has a number of facilities to help build structures. It handles most of the details, so that you can concentrate on the big picture; later you can dig into details of an implementation of an algorithm in a lower-level language.

Best wishes ... cheers, drl

Title: Data Structures and Program Design in C
Author: Robert L. Kruse, Bruce P. Leung, Clovis L. Tondo
Date: January 1991
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0137256493
Pages: 576
Categories: programming, design, software
Comments: 2.5 stars, 34 reviews (Amazon, 2008.11)

Title: Reliable Data Structures in C
Author: Thomas Plum
Date: 1985
Publisher: Plum Hall
ISBN: 091153704X
Pages: about 300
Categories: programming, design, software
Comments: 5 stars, 1 review (Amazon, 2008.11)

Title: Reusable Data Structures for C
Author: Roger Sessions
Date: January 1989
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0137790341
Pages: 166
Categories: programming, design, software
Comments: 0 reviews at Amazon

Title: The Icon Programming Language
Author: Ralph E. Griswold, Madge T. Griswold
Edition: Third
Date: June 24, 2000
Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
ISBN: 1573980013
Pages: 386
Categories: programming, text processing
Comments: 5 stars, 3 reviews (Amazon, 2008.11)

[anemos]

Have a look at http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/ismr/data/index.htm.
I know it's not exactly what you're lookin for but... you can see some interesting book references.

Does anyone recognize the author?

[J65nko]

Although I don't program in C, I own and can recommend "Algorithms in C" (paperback) by Robert Sedgewick. A new 2008 edition is about to be published.

Re: "Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs"

This is a book by Niklaus Wirth, the architect of Pascal and Modula. The code in the book is not pseudo code but Pascal. I bought this about 25 years ago because it had an example of balancing AVL trees.