Introduction to Algorithms

{{Short description|Book on computer programming, used as textbook for algorithms courses}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Introduction to Algorithms

| image = Clrs4.jpeg

| caption = Cover of the fourth edition

| author = Thomas H. Cormen
Charles E. Leiserson
Ronald L. Rivest
Clifford Stein

| country = United States

| language = English

| subject = Computer algorithms

| publisher = MIT Press

| pub_date = 1990 (first edition)

| pages = 1312

| isbn = 978-0-262-04630-5

}}

Introduction to Algorithms is a book on computer programming by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein. The book is described by its publisher as "the leading algorithms text in universities worldwide as well as the standard reference for professionals".{{Cite web |title=Introduction to Algorithms, fourth edition |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262046305/introduction-to-algorithms |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=MIT Press |language=en-US}} It is commonly cited as a reference for algorithms in published papers, with over 10,000 citations documented on CiteSeerX,{{cite web |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/showciting?cid=1910 |title=Introduction to Algorithms—CiteSeerX citation query |access-date=2012-05-15 |work=CiteSeerX |publisher=The College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819003324/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/showciting?cid=1910 |archive-date=2022-08-19 |url-status=dead }} and over 70,000 citations on Google Scholar as of 2024.{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=V5FJ6pIAAAAJ&citation_for_view=V5FJ6pIAAAAJ:u5HHmVD_uO8C |title=Introduction to Algorithms |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Google Scholar}} The book sold half a million copies during its first 20 years,{{cite news |url=https://news.mit.edu/2011/introduction-to-algorithms-500k-0810 |title=Milestone for MIT Press's bestseller |author=Larry Hardesty |date=August 10, 2011 |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=2024-11-26}} and surpassed a million copies sold in 2022.{{cite web |title=Q&A: What makes a bestselling textbook? |author=Jane Halpern |date=February 23, 2022 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2022/qa-what-makes-bestselling-textbook-introduction-algorithms-0223 |website=MIT News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=26 November 2023}} Its fame has led to the common use of the abbreviation "CLRS" (Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, Stein), or, in the first edition, "CLR" (Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest).{{cite web |url=http://eternallyconfuzzled.com/tuts/datastructures/jsw_tut_rbtree.aspx |title=Eternally Confuzzled - Red/Black Trees |access-date=2013-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210154825/http://eternallyconfuzzled.com/tuts/datastructures/jsw_tut_rbtree.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-10 |url-status=dead}}

In the preface, the authors write about how the book was written to be comprehensive and useful in both teaching and professional environments. Each chapter focuses on an algorithm, and discusses its design techniques and areas of application. Instead of using a specific programming language, the algorithms are written in pseudocode. The descriptions focus on the aspects of the algorithm itself, its mathematical properties, and emphasize efficiency.{{Cite book |title=Introduction to Algorithms |last1=Cormen |last2=Leiserson |last3=Riverst |last4=Stein |publisher=MIT Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-262-03384-8 |edition=3 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=xiii-xiv |chapter=Preface}}