Saturday, March 16, 2013

Robert Sedgewick Knows More About Algorithms Than You Do

I've been spending a lot of time staring at this man's face over the past few weeks. This is Robert Sedgewick, a professor of Computer Science at Princeton and, in an act of remarkable generosity, the instructor of a course on algorithms that is currently available for free on Coursera. As someone who makes his living as a programmer but who did not actually study computer science in college, this has been a huge help to me. I know, you're all shocked to learn that I don't earn enormous amounts of money selling my drawings. My (sometimes painfully slow) efforts to work through the lectures and exercises really have given me a much deeper understanding of some really fascinating and important topics. Thanks a lot, Bob. May I call you Bob? How about if I promise to buy you a beer if you're ever in Seattle?