Essential Algorithms. A Practical Approach to Computer Algorithms

The essential guide to solving algorithmic and networking problems in commercial computer games, revised and extended Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games, Second Edition is written from the perspective of the computer scientist. Combining algorithmic knowledge and game-related problems, it explores the most common problems encountered in game programing. The first part of the book presents practical algorithms for solving “classical” topics, such as random numbers, procedural generation, tournaments, group formations and game trees. The authors also focus on how to find a path in, create the terrain of, and make decisions in the game world. The second part introduces networking related problems in computer games, focusing on four key questions: how to hide the inherent communication delay, how to best exploit limited network resources, how to cope with cheating and how to measure the on-line game data. Thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded to reflect the many constituent changes occurring in the commercial gaming industry since the original, this Second Edition, like the first, is a timely, comprehensive resource offering deeper algorithmic insight and more extensive coverage of game-specific networking problems than ordinarily encountered in game development books. Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games, Second Edition: Provides algorithmic solutions in pseudo-code format, which emphasises the idea behind the solution, and can easily be written into a programming language of choice Features a section on the Synthetic player, covering decision-making, influence maps, finite-state machines, flocking, fuzzy sets, and probabilistic reasoning and noise generation Contains in-depth treatment of network communication, including dead-reckoning, local perception filters, cheating prevention and on-line metrics Now includes 73 ready-to-use algorithms and 247 illustrative exercises Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games, Second Edition is a must-have resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking computer game related courses, postgraduate researchers in game-related topics, and developers interested in deepening their knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of computer games and in learning new approaches to game design and programming.

Dive into algo trading with step-by-step tutorials and expert insight Machine Trading is a practical guide to building your algorithmic trading business. Written by a recognized trader with major institution expertise, this book provides step-by-step instruction on quantitative trading and the latest technologies available even outside the Wall Street sphere. You'll discover the latest platforms that are becoming increasingly easy to use, gain access to new markets, and learn new quantitative strategies that are applicable to stocks, options, futures, currencies, and even bitcoins. The companion website provides downloadable software codes, and you'll learn to design your own proprietary tools using MATLAB. The author's experiences provide deep insight into both the business and human side of systematic trading and money management, and his evolution from proprietary trader to fund manager contains valuable lessons for investors at any level. Algorithmic trading is booming, and the theories, tools, technologies, and the markets themselves are evolving at a rapid pace. This book gets you up to speed, and walks you through the process of developing your own proprietary trading operation using the latest tools. Utilize the newer, easier algorithmic trading platforms Access markets previously unavailable to systematic traders Adopt new strategies for a variety of instruments Gain expert perspective into the human side of trading The strength of algorithmic trading is its versatility. It can be used in any strategy, including market-making, inter-market spreading, arbitrage, or pure speculation; decision-making and implementation can be augmented at any stage, or may operate completely automatically. Traders looking to step up their strategy need look no further than Machine Trading for clear instruction and expert solutions.

Beginning Algorithms A good understanding of algorithms, and the knowledge of when to apply them, is crucial to producing software that not only works correctly, but also performs efficiently. This is the only book to impart all this essential information-from the basics of algorithms, data structures, and performance characteristics to the specific algorithms used in development and programming tasks. Packed with detailed explanations and instructive examples, the book begins by offering you some fundamental data structures and then goes on to explain various sorting algorithms. You'll then learn efficient practices for storing and searching by way of hashing, trees, sets, and maps. The authors also share tips on optimization techniques and ways to avoid common performance pitfalls. In the end, you'll be prepared to build the algorithms and data structures most commonly encountered in day-to-day software development. What you will learn from this book The basics of algorithms, such as iteration and recursion Elementary data structures such as lists, stacks, and queues Basic and advanced sorting algorithms including insertion sort, quicksort, and shell sort Advanced data structures such as binary trees, ternary trees, and heaps Algorithms for string searching, string matching, hashing, and computational geometry How to use test-driven development techniques to ensure your code works as intended How to dramatically improve the performance of your code with hands-on techniques for profiling and optimization Who this book is for This book is for anyone who develops applications, or is just beginning to do so, and is looking to understand algorithms and data structures. An understanding of computer programming is beneficial. Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

Beginning Algorithms A good understanding of algorithms, and the knowledge of when to apply them, is crucial to producing software that not only works correctly, but also performs efficiently. This is the only book to impart all this essential information-from the basics of algorithms, data structures, and performance characteristics to the specific algorithms used in development and programming tasks. Packed with detailed explanations and instructive examples, the book begins by offering you some fundamental data structures and then goes on to explain various sorting algorithms. You'll then learn efficient practices for storing and searching by way of hashing, trees, sets, and maps. The authors also share tips on optimization techniques and ways to avoid common performance pitfalls. In the end, you'll be prepared to build the algorithms and data structures most commonly encountered in day-to-day software development. What you will learn from this book The basics of algorithms, such as iteration and recursion Elementary data structures such as lists, stacks, and queues Basic and advanced sorting algorithms including insertion sort, quicksort, and shell sort Advanced data structures such as binary trees, ternary trees, and heaps Algorithms for string searching, string matching, hashing, and computational geometry How to use test-driven development techniques to ensure your code works as intended How to dramatically improve the performance of your code with hands-on techniques for profiling and optimization Who this book is for This book is for anyone who develops applications, or is just beginning to do so, and is looking to understand algorithms and data structures. An understanding of computer programming is beneficial. Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

Data Mining Algorithms is a practical, technically-oriented guide to data mining algorithms that covers the most important algorithms for building classification, regression, and clustering models, as well as techniques used for attribute selection and transformation, model quality evaluation, and creating model ensembles. The author presents many of the important topics and methodologies widely used in data mining, whilst demonstrating the internal operation and usage of data mining algorithms using examples in R.

Clinical management algorithms for common and unusual obstetric problems have been developed to help guide practitioners to the best treatment options for patients. In this quick-reference guide, clear diagrams and concise notes show treatment options and evidence for over 80 high-risk obstetric complications, presented in two-page full color spreads to promote quick decision making in time-pressed situations. This new edition includes sections on obesity, late-preterm and early term delivery, and pregnancy termination. As a clinical manual, the book provides guidance to many common and less common obstetric situations in which either the mother or her fetus is at risk. An algorithm for each situation provides obstetric care providers with a step-by-step guide of necessary actions for any given clinical case. Written by internationally renowned experts, Clinical Obstetric Algorithms enables all obstetrics care providers to ensure delivery of a healthy mother and a healthy baby.

The evidence relating to the advances in obstetric practice and research over the past several decades have resulted in significant improvements in maternal and perinatal outcome. The obstetric care provider has the responsibility to be aware of these improvements and implement evidence-based practice when the situation requires. Clinical decisions should, as much as possible, be evidence based. This requires expertise in retrieving, interpreting, and applying the results of scientific studies and in communicating effectively the risks and benefits of different courses of action to patients. The highly-regarded authors have used easy-to-follow management algorithms presented in a highly visual format to assist rapid decision making; with sections covering: Preventative Health Maternal Disorders Infectious Complications Antenatal Complications Intrapartum / Postpartum Complications Featuring best obstetric management guidance, based on graded published evidence and recommendations, this book will enable practicing and trainee obstetrician-gynecologists and nurse midwives to ensure that the primary goals of the delivery of a healthy mother and a healthy baby are met.

Written, reviewed, and edited in a collaborative effort by cardiology fellows and faculty of one of the most prestigious academic centers in the country, this concise volume gives cardiology fellows the book they have long needed. Keeping coverage of the underlying pathophysiology and mechanism of disease to a minimum, the authors focus on the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disorders. Practical and easily accessible at the time of decision making, the book relays important concepts through concise and to-the-point pearls and by utilizing algorithm charts and illustrations.

Explains the theory behind basic computer vision and provides a bridge from the theory to practical implementation using the industry standard OpenCV libraries Computer Vision is a rapidly expanding area and it is becoming progressively easier for developers to make use of this field due to the ready availability of high quality libraries (such as OpenCV 2). This text is intended to facilitate the practical use of computer vision with the goal being to bridge the gap between the theory and the practical implementation of computer vision. The book will explain how to use the relevant OpenCV library routines and will be accompanied by a full working program including the code snippets from the text. This textbook is a heavily illustrated, practical introduction to an exciting field, the applications of which are becoming almost ubiquitous. We are now surrounded by cameras, for example cameras on computers & tablets/ cameras built into our mobile phones/ cameras in games consoles; cameras imaging difficult modalities (such as ultrasound, X-ray, MRI) in hospitals, and surveillance cameras. This book is concerned with helping the next generation of computer developers to make use of all these images in order to develop systems which are more intuitive and interact with us in more intelligent ways. Explains the theory behind basic computer vision and provides a bridge from the theory to practical implementation using the industry standard OpenCV libraries Offers an introduction to computer vision, with enough theory to make clear how the various algorithms work but with an emphasis on practical programming issues Provides enough material for a one semester course in computer vision at senior undergraduate and Masters levels Includes the basics of cameras and images and image processing to remove noise, before moving on to topics such as image histogramming; binary imaging; video processing to detect and model moving objects; geometric operations & camera models; edge detection; features detection; recognition in images Contains a large number of vision application problems to provide students with the opportunity to solve real problems. Images or videos for these problems are provided in the resources associated with this book which include an enhanced eBook

The second edition of this successful machine vision textbook is completely updated, revised and expanded by 15% to reflect the developments of recent years in the fields of image acquisition, machine vision algorithms and applications. The new content includes, but is not limited to, a discussion of new cameras and image acquisition interfaces, 3D sensors and technologies, 3D object recognition and 3D image reconstruction. The authors retain their balanced approach with sufficient coverage of the theory and a strong focus on applications. All examples are based on the latest version of the machine vision software HALCON 13, a trial version of which is available from the authors' website.