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Title: Java Collections: An Introduction to Abstract Data Types, Data Structures and Algorithms by David A. Watt, Deryck F. Brown, Dave Watt ISBN: 0-471-89978-X Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 13 March, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $55.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.4 (5 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Does not reinvent the wheel
Comment: I've been teaching data structures and algorithms for over 25 years,
and the fundamentals--which every computer science student should
know--haven't changed very much. However, it doesn't follow that
everyone needs to write their own linked lists or hash tables from
scratch, when Java already supplies so much of that. I have looked for
a textbook that balances explanation of the basics with exploration of
the Java Collections Interface, and this is by far the best book to date.
(The similarly-named book by Zukowski has too many errors of fact
in it for my taste.)

Another reviewer said that this book does not cover the Java Collections
API. This is incorrect. The authors develop the ideas behind each data
structure as a suitably abstract data type, and then go on with "...and
here's how the Java Collections API does it." I think the previous
reviewer simply didn't read far enough to get to those parts.

For a tutorial on just the Java Collections API, Sun's online "Trail" is
the best single source, and has the advantage that it is not intermixed
with implementation details. If that were enough, no data structures
textbook would be necessary. However, in real problems, any
predefined generic data structure is likely to be inadequate and will
need to be extended; this is why a good programmer needs to know
the Collections API (so as to avoid reinventing the wheel), but in
addition a good computer scientist needs to know how these data

structures are implemented, so that he/she can go beyond them when
necessary.

The book is somewhat weak on algorithms and would not serve as a
reference on this topic; however, there is plenty of meat here for a first
course on data structures and algorithms.

Rating: 2
Summary: Very misleading title
Comment: If you step into the Java universe bubble, then "Java Collections" means the standard core API with the same name. This book does not cover the standard classes and interfaces that form the Java Collections API, and this is a real shame. I don't like books that feature highly misleading titles, because it hints at a lack of accuracy of the book's content.

Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting approach to ADTs
Comment: I've been reading through a copy of this book, and comparing it to another notable book on the same subject, mainly "Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java" (DSAAJ) by Mark Allen Weiss. Something very noticeable is that Java Collections is a much simpler book to tackle, though I feel that this detracts slightly from its use as a textbook. As a PhD student in Computer Science, I prefer the mathematical detail I found in DSAAJ than the lesser amount of math that Watt and Brown provide in Java Collections. Yet, at the same time, the case studies in Java Collections are a tremendous help in understanding what a given ADT is useful for, which DSAAJ doesn't go into at all. And the detail on what a specific ADT is supposed to do is much better detailed in Java Collections than in DSAAJ. As a TA, I taught a course in Data Structures and Algorithms for Computer Engineering students. The textbook we used for that was Weiss' DSAA book directed towards C++ instead of Java, but for those who know both versions of the book, the two are very similar. If instead of C++ the course was oriented towards Java, I would have chosen this book as a textbook for that course; these students weren't needing the math focus, and they (and I) would have preferred the practical programming knowledge in here.

For the programmer out of college, or the college student that wants an alternate view on ADTs than what DSAAJ provides, this is an excellent book.

Member of the Columbia Java User Group (www.colajug.org)

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