I really recommend Generatingfunctionology by Herbert Wilf <a href="https://www.math.upenn.edu/~wilf/gfologyLinked2.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.math.upenn.edu/~wilf/gfologyLinked2.pdf</a>
I'm just a hobby programmer, but I've been looking to learn discrete math so I can get in to algorithms. Is this a good book? I've seen a lot of people recommend Epp's <i>Discrete Mathematics with Applications</i>. I've kind of been holding off the topic until I really hit a wall and discover what/how much I need to learn. Any advice would be great.
This is a great introduction to discrete math. I found it valuable for deciding what topics to invest more study into. Good survey of discrete math.<p>I'm about 70% through this book. I've done every exercise and have meticulously journaled about each concept as I encounter them into my Zettelkasten.<p>Best part: you can read it online and then determine if you want the physical book (which I prefer for math).
The book I used in college is super good, still have a copy on hand.<p>Discrete and combinatorial mathematics by Ralph Grimaldi<p><a href="https://g.co/kgs/1Yx3N4" rel="nofollow">https://g.co/kgs/1Yx3N4</a>
This is amazing. It works perfectly on mobile. The fact that it explains the concepts, and then has quizes right inline to test and reinforce knowledge is awesome. And, it is free.<p>Wow.
Nice book with very clear explanations (sometimes a little too elementary).<p>However, I found the chapter on generating functions a little frustrating: it gives a very good explanation of what they are, tells you they're super useful, and gives no example of an actual problem where they're used.
This book seems truly well written. Even though the material is familiar to me, I liked the chapter on generating functions for its stepwise treatment. The online exercises are wonderful too.
This is a fantastic resource. I've long lamented the difficulty of finding textbooks. Since colleges buy them back every semester to control demand, it's actually hard to find something that should be cheap and common. It's tragic.<p>Good to see they're at least here online, though it's also shameful that I didn't find this on Google when I searched for it a year or so ago. Tried to buy a calculus textbook to teach a friend - only overpriced latest editions by and large were available.