Why do we need another book on Data Structures and Algorithms in C++? The short answer is we don't. My bookshelf already contains three such books (some admittedly for C) and a look in any university library will reveal that there are already more than enough books for this topic. However, the publishers obviously feel there is still a need as these books keep appearing.

Whether you buy this book relies on a single question. If you already have a book that considers data structures and algorithms in C++ then I don't see any reason for buying this one. If you don't already have a reference book for this subject (and you want one!) then this is as good as any I've seen.

To its credit, it starts off by looking at OO Programming within the context of C++. The chapter includes a discussion of Abstract Data Types (ADTs) and encapsulation. It also considers inheritance and polymorphism.

The second chapter explains complexity analysis and how to calculate it for a given data structure or algorithm. The remainder of the book devotes one chapter to various types of data structure. These include trees of various types, graphs and hashing. Of course, the old war horses, stacks and queues, are given ample coverage. Some topics, which you might not expect to find, are also covered. For example, data compression and memory management.

In summary, if I was looking for a data structures and algorithms book in C++ this would certainly be worthy of consideration, but I don't see it being suitable for anybody who already has a reference book that covers this area.