''Introduction to Algorithms'' is a book on computer programming by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and

Clifford Stein Clifford Seth Stein (born December 14, 1965), a computer scientist, is a professor of industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia University in New York, NY, where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Computer Scien ...

. The book is described by its publisher as "the leading algorithms text in universities worldwide as well as the standard reference for professionals". It is commonly cited as a reference for algorithms in published papers, with over 10,000 citations documented on

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, and over 70,000 citations on Google Scholar as of 2024. The book sold half a million copies during its first 20 years, and surpassed a million copies sold in 2022. 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). 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 In computer science, pseudocode is a description of the steps in an algorithm using a mix of conventions of programming languages (like assignment operator, conditional operator, loop) with informal, usually self-explanatory, notation of actio ...

. The descriptions focus on the aspects of the algorithm itself, its mathematical properties, and emphasize efficiency.

Editions

The first edition of the textbook did not include Stein as an author, and thus the book became known by the initialism CLR. It included two chapters ("Arithmetic Circuits" & "Algorithms for Parallel Computers") that were dropped in the second edition. After the addition of the fourth author in the second edition, many began to refer to the book as "CLRS". This first edition of the book was also known as "The Big White Book (of Algorithms)." With the second edition, the predominant color of the cover changed to green, causing the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

to be shortened to just "The Big Book (of Algorithms)." The third edition was published in August 2009. The fourth edition was published in April 2022, which has colors added to improve visual presentations.

Cover design

The mobile depicted on the cover, ''Big Red'' (1959) by

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

, can be found at the

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Publication history

* * 12 printings up to 2009, errata: * 1320 pp., 5 printings up to 2016, errata: * 1312 pp., errata:

Reviews

* * * *

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262046305/introduction-to-algorithms on

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...