Robert Sedgewick - Algorithms in C, Parts 1-4

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THIRD EDITION

PARTS 14
FUNDAMENTALS
DATA STRUCTURES
SORTING
SEARCHING

Robert Sedgewick

Princeton University

An imprint of Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Reading, Massachusetts Harlow, England Menlo Park, California
Berkeley, California Don Mills, Ontario Sydney Bonn Amsterdam
Tokyo Mexico City

Publishing Partner: Peter S. Gordon
Associate Editor: Deborah Lafferty
Cover Designer: Andre Kuzniarek
Production Editor: Amy Willcutt
Copy Editor: Lyn Dupre

The programs and applications presented in this book have been included for their instructional value. They have been tested with care, but are not guaranteed for any particular purpose. The publisher neither offers any warranties or representations, nor accepts any liabilities with respect to the programs or applications.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sedgewick, Robert, 1946
Algorithms in C / Robert Sedgewick. 3d ed.
720 p. 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1, pts. 14. Fundamentals, data structures,
sorting, searching.
ISBN 0-201-31452-5
1. C (Computer program language) 2. Computer algorithms.
I. Title.
QA76.73.C15S43 1998
005.133dc21 97-23418
CIP

Reproduced by Addison-Wesley from camera-ready copy supplied by the author.

Copyright 1998 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.

Reprinted with corrections, January 1999.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 CRW 010099897

This book is intended to survey the most important computer algorithms in use today, and to teach fundamental techniques to the growing number of people in need of knowing them. It can be used as a textbook for a second, third, or fourth course in computer science, after students have acquired basic programming skills and familiarity with computer systems, but before they have taken specialized courses in advanced areas of computer science or computer applications. The book also may be useful for self-study or as a reference for people engaged in the development of computer systems or applications programs, since it contains implementations of useful algorithms and detailed information on these algorithms performance characteristics. The broad perspective taken makes the book an appropriate introduction to the field.

I have completely rewritten the text for this new edition, and I have added more than a thousand new exercises, more than a hundred new figures, and dozens of new programs. I have also added detailed commentary on all the figures and programs. This new material provides both coverage of new topics and fuller explanations of many of the classic algorithms. A new emphasis on abstract data types throughout the book makes the programs more broadly useful and relevant in modern object-oriented programming environments. People who have read old editions of the book will find a wealth of new information throughout; all readers will find a wealth of pedagogical material that provides effective access to essential concepts.

Due to the large amount of new material, we have split the new edition into two volumes (each about the size of the old edition) of which this is the first. This volume covers fundamental concepts, data structures, sorting algorithms, and searching algorithms; the second volume covers advanced algorithms and applications, building on the basic abstractions and methods developed here. Nearly all the material on fundamentals and data structures in this edition is new.

This book is not just for programmers and computer-science students. Nearly everyone who uses a computer wants it to run faster or to solve larger problems. The algorithms in this book represent a body of knowledge developed over the last 50 years that has become indispensible in the efficient use of the computer, for a broad variety of applications. From N-body simulation problems in physics to genetic-sequencing problems in molecular biology, the basic methods described here have become essential in scientific research; and from database systems to Internet search engines, they have become essential parts of modern software systems. As the scope of computer applications becomes more widespread, so grows the impact of many of the basic methods covered here. The goal of this book is to serve as a resource for students and professionals interested in knowing and making intelligent use of these fundamental algorithms as basic tools for whatever computer application they might undertake.