[afterz]

What is a good book for learning about this subject? Knuth's? Any other recommendations?

[randliu]

I'd suggest Algorithm Design by Kleinberg and Tardos: http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Jon-Kleinberg/dp/0321... , it's more readable than either CLRS or Dasgupta/Papadimitriou/Vazirani.

[1331]

_Introduction to Algorithms_ (aka "CLRS") http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-Third-Thomas-C...

[awa]

CLRS is the classic textbook for Algorithms... For some topics Klienberg and Tardos is good, I will suggest to read the CLRS text and keep K&T for topics you want to read more on, also the K&T problems are much harder (usually) than CLRS.

[jsolson]

Last I checked, Georgia Tech was using:

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~vazirani/algorithms.html

for their intro algorithms class. I TA'd a semester with this book, and while it definitely has its warts it is much more compact and readable than CLRS.

[samdk]

I'll second Intro to Algorithms, which has been mentioned. It's what I used in my algorithms class and it's quite comprehensive. (It will also take you a while to get through.)

I've also heard The Algorithm Design Manual recommended, although I haven't read it and don't own a copy. http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steven-Skiena/...

[rw]

Also check out the (now free) Problems on Algorithms: http://www.eng.unt.edu/ian/books/free/license.html