Choice Review

Data structures are an essential part of all but the simplest computer programs, and an introduction to data structures usually appears as part of the first-year course in programming, with detailed study given in the second year. Amsbury takes a different approach: his book is designed for a one-semester course in data structures that would follow a one-semester course in programming. Amsbury assumes no mathematics background; this leads to a presentation of structures in terms of diagrams. These diagrams are outstanding, and this presentation certainly suggests that a programming language should have a diagrammatic method for defining and manipulating data structures, rather than using pointers and arrays. Amsbury first gives basic material followed by amplification of various topics. Programs are presented in SUE, a pseudo-programming language, which limits the usefulness of the book as a reference source. There are a number of minor errors in the book. The 17 references cited are very few for a data structures book. For an undergraduate library, better coverage of data structures appears in several programming books, notably D. Cooper and M. Clancy, Oh! Pascal! (CH, Jun '82). Other essential books would be R. Sedgewick, Algorithms (1983), D.E. Knoth, Algorithms (1977) and N. Wirth, Algorithms & Data Structures-Programs (CH, Jun '76).-P. Cull, Oregon State University