Preface

Algorithms are everywhere and have many applications within computer science and beyond. We must look through at computer science through the lens that algorithms provide us, as algorithms are central to computer science as a whole. Because problems that can be solved by algorithms are rarely clear and cleanly packaged, the “algorithmic enterprise” has two major tasks: getting to the mathematical core of the problem and identifying the appropriate algorithm design techniques. Throughout the book, we will explore the motivations of algorithms, how to properly design an algorithm, and how to recognize the appropriate design principles for different problems. The goal of the textbook is to show students how to create to a clean algorithmically-solvable problem from a complex issue, and, hence, how to make the algorithms used to solve this problem as efficient as possible.