On Feb 5, 2008, at 5:34 PM, markonlinux / gmail.com wrote:

> 1. Is there a definitive book/web site/resource on this and other
> computer science 'problems'? (Whether Ruby, C, C++, Java, Perl based)

I have this book on my shelf:

http://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Manual-Steve-Skiena/dp/0387948600/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202261989&sr=1-4

In general, it's a poor book to learn algorithms from.  For example, I  
was never able to comprehend its descriptions of dynamic programming  
or simulated annealing.

However, the back half of the book is a reference guide to many famous  
computer problems and it's really great.  It describes common  
variations of the problem and how you might run into it.  It also  
covers common ways to attack it, usually giving more than one  
approach.  This is great for finding a famous problem.

I have yet to run into the perfect book to learn algorithms and data  
structures from.  I've had to use many, many sources.  I really feel  
like their should be a good algorithms book out there, but I just  
haven't found it yet.

A Ruby algorithms book would be really nice to have.  (I have a Perl  
book like that I've used a fair bit.)

James Edward Gray II