Learning Algorithms Through Programming and Puzzle Solving

About This Book
Programming Challenges
Interactive Algorithmic Puzzles
What Lies Ahead
Meet the Authors
Meet Our Online Co-Instructors
Acknowledgments
Algorithms and Complexity
	What Is an Algorithm?
	Pseudocode
	Problem Versus Problem Instance
	Correct Versus Incorrect Algorithms
	Fast Versus Slow Algorithms
	Big-O Notation
Algorithm Design Techniques
	Exhaustive Search Algorithms
	Branch-and-Bound Algorithms
	Greedy Algorithms
	Dynamic Programming Algorithms
	Recursive Algorithms
	Divide-and-Conquer Algorithms
	Randomized Algorithms
Programming Challenges
	Sum of Two Digits
	Maximum Pairwise Product
		Naive Algorithm
		Fast Algorithm
		Testing and Debugging
		Can You Tell Me What Error Have I Made?
		Stress Testing
		Even Faster Algorithm
		A More Compact Algorithm
	Solving a Programming Challenge in Five Easy Steps
		Reading Problem Statement
		Designing an Algorithm
		Implementing an Algorithm
		Testing and Debugging
		Submitting to the Grading System
Good Programming Practices
	Language Independent
		Code Format
		Code Structure
		Names and Comments
		Debugging
		Integers and Floating Point Numbers
		Strings
		Ranges
	C++ Specific
		Code Format
		Code Structure
		Types and Constants
		Classes
		Containers
		Integers and Floating Point Numbers
	Python Specific
		General
		Code Structure
		Functions
		Strings
		Classes
		Exceptions
Algorithmic Warm Up
	Fibonacci Number
	Last Digit of Fibonacci Number
	Greatest Common Divisor
	Least Common Multiple
	Fibonacci Number Again
	Last Digit of the Sum of Fibonacci Numbers
		Solution 1: Pisano Period
		Solution 2: Fast Matrix Exponentiation
		Python Code
	Last Digit of the Sum of Fibonacci Numbers Again
	Last Digit of the Sum of Squares of Fibonacci Numbers
Greedy Algorithms
	Money Change
		Solution: Use Largest Denomination First
		Python Code
	Maximum Value of the Loot
	Car Fueling
	Maximum Advertisement Revenue
	Collecting Signatures
		Solution: Cover Segments with Minimum Right End First
		Python Code
	Maximum Number of Prizes
	Maximum Salary
Divide-and-Conquer
	Binary Search
	Majority Element
	Improving QuickSort
	Number of Inversions
	Organizing a Lottery
		Solution 1: Sorting All Points
		Solution 2: Binary Search
		Python Code
	Closest Points
Dynamic Programming
	Money Change Again
	Primitive Calculator
	Edit Distance
	Longest Common Subsequence of Two Sequences
	Longest Common Subsequence of Three Sequences
	Maximum Amount of Gold
		Solution 1: Analyzing the Structure of a Solution
		Solution 2: Analyzing All Subsets of Bars
		Solution 3: Memoization
		Python Code
	Partitioning Souvenirs
	Maximum Value of an Arithmetic Expression
Appendix
	Compiler Flags
	Frequently Asked Questions