"start with the very basics of algorithms and data structures" ,"more academic than practical", "something to get my hands dirty with vs mathematical theories" etc seems to me to indicate that you want to write code rather than work with proofs, runtime analysis etc.
Take it from someone who tried this path and failed. In algorithms, the long path is the shortest path.
If I were advising someone on how to go about learning algorithms today, I would ask him to first learn the basics of proofs ("The Hsskell Road to Logic Maths and Programming" by Doets and Van ejck is a good book as is Velleman's "How To Prove It"), then work through (at least) the first three chapters of Knuth et al's "Concrete Mathematics" - to get a handle on recurrences - and then tackle "Introduction to Algorithms" , probably supplemented by Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual".
Avoiding the "academic" parts is (imho) a big mistake. As with compilers, the core of algorithms is "academic" and you can't avoid that (imho).
And once you get your head around proofs etc you may find this aspect a lot of fun. I certainly did.
I have an engineering degree, both undergrad and masters, so I am well versed with proofs. After all the suggestions fellow hackers have put in (including you), I am convinced to pick up "Introduction to Algorithms" and take it from there.
Thank you (all of you). Though I think this was the answer I was looking for.
Comments
"start with the very basics of algorithms and data structures" ,"more academic than practical", "something to get my hands dirty with vs mathematical theories" etc seems to me to indicate that you want to write code rather than work with proofs, runtime analysis etc.
Take it from someone who tried this path and failed. In algorithms, the long path is the shortest path.
If I were advising someone on how to go about learning algorithms today, I would ask him to first learn the basics of proofs ("The Hsskell Road to Logic Maths and Programming" by Doets and Van ejck is a good book as is Velleman's "How To Prove It"), then work through (at least) the first three chapters of Knuth et al's "Concrete Mathematics" - to get a handle on recurrences - and then tackle "Introduction to Algorithms" , probably supplemented by Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual".
Avoiding the "academic" parts is (imho) a big mistake. As with compilers, the core of algorithms is "academic" and you can't avoid that (imho).
And once you get your head around proofs etc you may find this aspect a lot of fun. I certainly did.
my 2 cents. fwiw.
I have an engineering degree, both undergrad and masters, so I am well versed with proofs. After all the suggestions fellow hackers have put in (including you), I am convinced to pick up "Introduction to Algorithms" and take it from there.
Thank you (all of you). Though I think this was the answer I was looking for.