Advanced Topics in Java: Core Concepts in Data Structures

Java is one of the most widely used programming languages today. It was first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. Over the years, its popularity has grown to the point where it plays an important role in most of our lives. From laptops to data centers, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere! There are tons of applications and heaps of websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. And, of course, Java is used to power what has become the world's most dominant mobile platform, Android.

Advanced Topics In Java teaches the algorithms and concepts that any budding software developer should know. You'll delve into topics such as sorting, searching, merging, recursion, random numbers and simulation, among others. You will increase the range of problems you can solve when you learn how to create and manipulate versatile and popular data structures such as binary trees and hash tables.

This book assumes you have a working knowledge of basic programming concepts such as variables, constants, assignment, selection (if..else) and looping (while, for). It also assumes you are comfortable with writing functions and working with arrays. If you study this book carefully and do the exercises conscientiously, you would become a better and more agile software developer, more prepared to code today's applications - no matter the language.

What you’ll learn

• What are and how to use some advanced algorithms, implemented in Java
• How to create, manipulate and use linked lists, stacks and queues
• How to use random numbers to program games and simulations
• How to work with files, binary trees and hash tables
• Sophisticated sorting methods such as heapsort, quicksort and mergesort
• How to implement all of the above in Java

Who this book is for

This book is for those with a working knowledge of basic software development topic concepts, such as variables, constants, assignment, selection (if..else) and looping (while, for). It also assumes you are comfortable with writing functions and working with arrays.

About the Author

Dr. Noel Kalicharan is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. For more than 30 years, he has taught programming courses to people at all levels. He has been teaching programming, among other things, at the University since 1976. In 1988, he developed and hosted a 26-programme television series entitled Computers - Bit by Bit. Among other things, this series taught programming to the general public. He is always looking for innovative ways to teach logical thinking skills which go hand in hand with programming skills. His efforts resulted in two games - BrainStorm! and Not Just Luck - which won him the Prime Minister's Award for Invention and Innovation in 2000 and 2002. He is a Computer Science author for Cambridge University Press which published his international successes, Introduction to Computer Studies and C By Example. The C book is ranked among the best in the world for learning the C programming language. It has received glowing reviews from readers as far away as Australia, Canada, India and Scotland. This book is written in a more leisurely style. Born in Lengua Village, Princes Town, Trinidad, he received his primary education at the Lengua Presbyterian School and his secondary education at Naparima College. He is a graduate of The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, the University of British Columbia, Canada and The University of the West Indies, Trinidad.