Hey there,
I'm working on an algorithms book myself:
http://www.manning.com/bhargava/It is meant to be an easier read than CLRS, so I'm excited to see that Khan Academy is thinking along the same lines! I have been thinking about how to make algorithms easier to understand for the last year, so I have some feedback. Some of it is critical, so first I want to say how much I LOVE that Khan Academy is doing this. I really like the interactive nature of this, and I really like that you have comments. I think that's one advantage of e-books vs traditional books: you can't comment on a paper book. I like the sequencing too (it is very similar to my table of contents, which is cool to see).
What I don't like:
I don't understand why you have four sorting algorithms here. What does insertion sort add over selection sort? I chose to only include selection sort and quicksort in my book. I think once you know those two, you can figure out insertion sort and merge sort if needed. It doesn't add a lot for the reader...I would rather they spend mental effort learning something new.
Similarly, why include big-omega notation? I use a writing principle called "just-in-time" vs "just-in-case". It feels like Big-Omega notation was included "just in case" the reader needs to know it for a later section. I would rather it be taught "just-in-time", i.e. right when the reader needs to know big-omega notation to proceed.
I struggled with the recursion section. My challenge was:
- come up with a real-world example that uses recursion.
- come up with an example where the recursive solution is more elegant than a while loop. Otherwise, why use recursion?
It looks like you had the same challenges. I wish you guys would swap out the factorial example for something that solves a real problem: looking through a directory for a file, for example.
It would be great to see more interactivity in the harder sections too. For example, in "overview of quicksort", I would like to see an animation of the sorting (I am a visual learner).
Overall this is still amazing. Algorithms are such a core topic, and there are no good resources for beginners out there. Very happy to see Khan Academy take this step.
It is meant to be an easier read than CLRS, so I'm excited to see that Khan Academy is thinking along the same lines! I have been thinking about how to make algorithms easier to understand for the last year, so I have some feedback. Some of it is critical, so first I want to say how much I LOVE that Khan Academy is doing this. I really like the interactive nature of this, and I really like that you have comments. I think that's one advantage of e-books vs traditional books: you can't comment on a paper book. I like the sequencing too (it is very similar to my table of contents, which is cool to see).
What I don't like:
I don't understand why you have four sorting algorithms here. What does insertion sort add over selection sort? I chose to only include selection sort and quicksort in my book. I think once you know those two, you can figure out insertion sort and merge sort if needed. It doesn't add a lot for the reader...I would rather they spend mental effort learning something new.
Similarly, why include big-omega notation? I use a writing principle called "just-in-time" vs "just-in-case". It feels like Big-Omega notation was included "just in case" the reader needs to know it for a later section. I would rather it be taught "just-in-time", i.e. right when the reader needs to know big-omega notation to proceed.
I struggled with the recursion section. My challenge was:
- come up with a real-world example that uses recursion.
- come up with an example where the recursive solution is more elegant than a while loop. Otherwise, why use recursion?
It looks like you had the same challenges. I wish you guys would swap out the factorial example for something that solves a real problem: looking through a directory for a file, for example.
It would be great to see more interactivity in the harder sections too. For example, in "overview of quicksort", I would like to see an animation of the sorting (I am a visual learner).
Overall this is still amazing. Algorithms are such a core topic, and there are no good resources for beginners out there. Very happy to see Khan Academy take this step.