Would a professional, self taught programmer benefit from reading an algorithms book?

Posted by user65483 on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by user65483
Published on 2012-09-18T15:21:50Z Indexed on 2012/09/18 15:53 UTC
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algorithms

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self-improvement

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self-teaching

I'm a 100% self taught, professional programmer (I've worked at a few web startups and made a few independent games). I've read quite a few of the "essential" books (Clean Code, The Pragmatic Programmer, Code Complete, SICP, K&R).

I'm considering reading Introduction to Algorithms. I've asked a few colleagues if reading it will improve my programming skills, and I got very mixed answers. A few said yes, a few said no, and a one said "only if you spend a lot of time implementing these algorithms" (I don't).

So, I figured I'd ask Stack Exchange.

Is it worth the time to read about algorithms if you're a professional programmer who seldom needs to use complex algorithms?

For what it's worth, I have a strong mathematical background (have a 2 year degree in Mathematics; took Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Calc I-III).

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