---
title: The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms
authors:
- Alfred V. Aho
- John E. Hopcroft
- Jeffrey D. Ullman
year: 1974
venue: Addison-Wesley
arxiv: null
doi: null
source: "https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/design-and-analysis-of-computer-algorithms-the/P200000003488/9780201000290"
topics:
- textbook
- algorithms
- aho-hopcroft-ullman
seed_rank: 799
seed_batch: perfects-algorithms-2026-08-13
reviewed: 2026-08-13
pool: maths-foundations
relevance_score: 8
lineage: algorithms-and-complexity
cites:
- title: Introduction to Algorithms
  url: "https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262046305/introduction-to-algorithms/"
  year: 1990
  arxiv: null
  doi: null
- title: "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation"
  url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Automata_Theory,_Languages,_and_Computation"
  year: 1979
  arxiv: null
  doi: null
see:
- "797-introduction-to-algorithms"
- "738-introduction-to-automata-theory-languages-and-computation"
---

# The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms

## One-sentence takeaway

Aho–Hopcroft–Ullman 1974 (ISBN 0-201-00029-6) is the first comprehensive algorithms textbook, standardizing asymptotic analysis and a graph/combinatorial core that later books still follow.

## Why it matters here

AHU is the historical canon behind CLRS and Hopcroft–Ullman automata: the lineage card for how Anoptic/ano algorithm writing inherited “lists, stacks, trees, graphs, and $O$-notation” as a single course.

## Key ideas

- Introduces the basic data structures and programming techniques used in efficient algorithms — lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs.
- Treats design paradigms (divide-and-conquer, greedy, DP-adjacent techniques) and NP-completeness in one volume.
- Companion spirit to the later Hopcroft–Ullman automata text; many proofs in the algorithms literature still point here.
- One card for the book; Pearson still catalogs the 1974 first edition.

## Caveats

## Links

- Pearson catalog: https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/design-and-analysis-of-computer-algorithms-the/P200000003488/9780201000290