The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4B: Combinatorial Algorithms

Preface

Begin at the beginning, and do not allow yourself to gratify

a mere idle curiosity by dipping into the book, here and there.

This would very likely lead to your throwing it aside,

with the remark “This is much too hard for me!,”

and thus losing the chance of adding a very large item

to your stock of mental delights.

— LEWIS CARROLL, in Symbolic Logic (1896)

Combinatorial algorithms are the methods that allow us to cope with problems that involve zillions of cases. The explosive growth in the knowledge of such techniques has meant that several volumes are needed to describe them. Thus my original plan to devote Volume 4 of The Art of Computer Programming to combinatorial algorithms has morphed into a plan to prepare Volumes 4A, 4B, and ...