The design and analysis of efficient data structures has long been recognized as a key component of the Computer Science curriculum. Goodrich and Tomassia's approach to this classic topic is based on the object-oriented paradigm as the framework of choice for the design of data structures. For each ADT presented in the text, the authors provide an associated Java interface. Concrete data structures realizing the ADTs are provided as Java classes implementing the interfaces.

The Java code implementing fundamental data structures in this book is organized in a single Java package, net.datastructures. This package forms a coherent library of data structures and algorithms in Java specifically designed for educational purposes in a way that is complimentary with the Java Collections Framework.