I choose to read this book on PHP 7 Data Structures and Algorithms written by Mizanur Rahman because I wanted to get a better idea about computer science topics like algorithms and thought it would be good to learn with a programming language I’m familiar with. However, the book also helped me gain a better knowledge for instance on how arrays in PHP work. A lot of data structures can actually be implemented with PHP arrays thanks to their flexibility although in many cases one is better served with classes found in the Standard PHP Library (SPL).
I especially liked the chapter on “Applying Recursive Algorithms” as it came with a number on practical examples on how to for instance create a menu using a recursive function.
It was interesting to read about the different kind of sorting algorithms and exploring search options. The author does compare the performance gains between different algorithms, but I was missing examples on when to use which.
I now have a basic understanding of what linked lists, heaps, graphs, trees and other data structures are and using various algorithms for faster sorting, etc. The book went into quite some detail, so I skipped a lot of it, but if necessary I’ll know where I can find the code.
On the whole, this is a good book for PHP developers who want to learn more about computer science topics or who already know about them, but want to get some idea how to best implement them with PHP. At some point I’ll probably grab another, more general, book to deepen my knowledge about data structures and algorithms though.
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