'''''Introduction to Algorithms''''' is a book on computer programming by [[Thomas H. Cormen]], [[Charles E. Leiserson]], [[Ron Rivest|Ronald L. Rivest]], and [[Clifford Stein]]. The book hasis beendescribed widelyby usedits publisher as "the [[textbook]]leading foralgorithms [[algorithm]]stext [[Coursein (education)|courses]]universities atworldwide as well as the manystandard [[universities]]reference for professionals".<ref>{{Cite bookweb |title=Introduction to Algorithms, fourth edition |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books9780262046305/introduction-to-algorithms/ |title=Introduction to Algorithms |series=MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |access-date=18 June 19902024-11-04 |publisherwebsite=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-03141-7 |language=en-US |access-date=2017-07-02}}</ref> andIt is commonly [[Citation|cited]] as a reference for algorithms in published [[Academic publishing#Scholarly paper|papers]], with over 10,000 citations documented on [[CiteSeerX]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/showciting?cid=1910 |title=Introduction to Algorithms—CiteSeerX citation query |access-date=2012-05-15 |work=[[CiteSeerX]] |publisher=The College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State }}</ref> and over 67,000 citations on Google Scholar as of 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=13113538517800069442 |title=Introduction to Algoritms |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=Google Scholar}}</ref> The book sold half a million copies during its first 20 years,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/introduction-to-algorithms-500k-0810.html |title=Milestone for MIT Press's bestseller |author=Larry Hardesty |date=August 10, 2011 |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=August 16, 2011}}</ref> and surpassed a million copies sold in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Q&A: What makes a bestselling textbook? |author=Jane Halpern |date=February 23, 2022 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2022/qa-what-makes-bestselling-textbook-introduction-algorithms-0223 |website=MIT News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> Its fame has led to the common use of the abbreviation "'''CLRS'''" (Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, Stein), or, in the first edition, "'''CLR'''" (Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eternallyconfuzzled.com/tuts/datastructures/jsw_tut_rbtree.aspx |title=Eternally Confuzzled - Red/Black Trees |access-date=2013-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129024312/http://www.eternallyconfuzzled.com/tuts/datastructures/jsw_tut_rbtree.aspx |archive-date=2014-11-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In the preface, the authors write about how the book was written to be comprehensive and useful in both teaching and professional environments. Each chapter focuses on an algorithm, and discusses its design techniques and areas of application. Instead of using a specific programming language, the algorithms are written in [[pseudocode]]. The descriptions focus on the aspects of the algorithm itself, its mathematical properties, and emphasize efficiency.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Introduction to Algorithms |last1=Cormen |last2=Leiserson |last3=Riverst |last4=Stein |publisher=MIT Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-262-03384-8 |edition=3 |___location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=xiii-xiv |chapter=Preface}}</ref>
