WELCOME ON THE PAGES OF THE LEDA TUTORIAL!

On these pages you find Joachim Ziegler's tutorial on LEDA, the Library of Efficient Data Types and Algorithms.

What is LEDA?

LEDA is a C++ Library of Efficient Data Types and Algorithms. LEDA was developed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik since the end of the eighties.

Besides the basic data types and algorithms covered in every book on algorithms LEDA offers the professional developer implementations of highly sophisticated algorithmic constituents for graph and network problems, geometrical computations, combinatorial optimizations, and many other problem domains.

LEDA is the algorithmic standard library in industrial application development and in academic research. LEDA is not only used for the rapid design of algorithmic prototypes, but also for the implementation of highly efficient end applications.

Whom does this Tutorial address?

Even though there are more than 5000 registered LEDA users worldwide, there has been no tutorial for LEDA until today. Such an introductory work was requested by many users again and again. There indeed is a 1000-sided Compendium on LEDA (LEDA, A Platform for Combinatorial and Geometric Computing), written by the creators of LEDA themselves; this book, however, is not aimed at beginners but describes the structure of the LEDA system in its entirety in full detail, and therefore rather suits readers with deep knowledge in algorithm design and implementation.

This tutorial wants to close this gap now. It addresses practical programmers with average experience in design and implementation of efficient algorithms. In general, these programmers want to saddle themselves with as little theory as possible to reach presentable programs as fast as possible. This is exactly what this tutorial wants to impart.