Functional Data Structures and Algorithms
Functional Data Structures and Algorithms by Tobias Nipkowby Tobias Nipkow
Shares rank 25 of 28 computer science textbooks by recommenders
Recommended for learning functional data structures and algorithms with a proof assistant, but critics say its runtime analysis is informal and not checked.
Recommended for learning functional data structures and algorithms with a proof assistant, but critics say its runtime analysis is informal and not checked.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Runtime behaviour not proven
“That does not help you much if you want to know how many seconds this will run.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Functional Data Structures and Algorithms: a Proof Assistant Approach” “this book unfortunately only proves correctness directly and not runtime”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Functional Data Structures and Algorithms: a Proof Assistant Approach” “This approach doesn't do that. The translation from the actual executing code to the representation used for runtime analysis is done entirely informally and not checked at all by Isabelle.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Functional Data Structures and Algorithms: a Proof Assistant Approach” Runtime analysis done informally
“This approach doesn't do that. The translation from the actual executing code to the representation used for runtime analysis is done entirely informally and not checked at all by Isabelle.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Functional Data Structures and Algorithms: a Proof Assistant Approach” “the book is treating Isabelle definitions as runnable code”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Functional Data Structures and Algorithms: a Proof Assistant Approach”
Other computer science textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other computer science textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 55 | 5 | 92% | 12 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Computer Programmingby Donald E. Knuth | 28 | 6 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 12 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Quantum Computation and Quantum Informationby Nielsen and Chuang | 12 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Functional Data Structures and Algorithmsby Tobias NipkowThis page | 2 | 2 | 50% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the book is treating Isabelle definitions as runnable code”
“That does not help you much if you want to know how many seconds this will run.”
“This approach doesn't do that. The translation from the actual executing code to the representation used for runtime analysis is done entirely informally and not checked at all by Isabelle.”
“this book unfortunately only proves correctness directly and not runtime”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.