No coding. Just thinking.

Q: Which book should I start with?

Either. Algorithms Simplified is about how to solve problems; Computing Simplified is about how machines actually work. They stand alone, and the collection bundles both at the best price.

By Rohith B Vex-Metaex-Amazonex-HubSpot

How machines search, decide, store and run, in everyday analogies and hand-drawn diagrams. No code. Available as full-colour hardcovers or PDFs.

See the books and prices →

Hardcover or PDF · DRM-free · Ships from the USA

30-day money-back guarantee14-day money-back guarantee

Secure checkout by Shopify

Try a live lesson first →

One of the most engaging and thoughtfully designed learning resources I’ve come across.

The author breaks down complex concepts using real-world analogies and simple, intuitive explanations. The writing is fluid and almost story-like, which keeps the reader engaged while building a strong conceptual foundation. The interactive companions turn passive reading into an active learning experience.

As an educator, I strongly appreciate resources that promote true understanding over rote learning, and this collection does exactly that.

Shaila Principal, Oakridge International School

Get it

One book, the other, or the whole shelf.

Each book comes with its interactive companion: the demos you can try further down, downloadable and yours to tinker with offline.

Every hardcover includes the PDF free. Printed and shipped in the USA: made to order, full colour throughout, and dispatched in 3 to 8 working days. Postage is worked out for your address at checkout, where you pick the service.

DRM-free PDF, yours on any device. The download link is shown the moment you pay, and emailed to you as well.

Algorithms Simplified

Single print book (163 pages) + free PDFSingle PDF (163 pages) + 14 live demos

Search, sort, solve

How to search, sort and break hard problems into easy ones, over graphs and tables.

The full Algorithms Simplified book, 163 pages
Interactive companion: 14 live demos, a real app you keep and run offline
DRM-free PDF only, yours on any device
Full-colour hardcover, plus the PDF free

Algorithms Simplified as a full-colour hardcover

$49.99+ US shippingHardcover + interactive companion

Get Algorithms Simplified →

Includes the PDF free

$29.99PDF + interactive companion

Get Algorithms Simplified →

Best value · most popular

Complete collection

Both print books (501 pages) + free PDFsBoth PDFs (501 pages) + 35 live demos

Both books, both interactive companions

How to solve a problem, and how the machine that runs it works. Read either first.

Algorithms Simplified + Computing Simplified, 501 pages
Both interactive companions: 35 live demos, real apps you keep and run offline
DRM-free PDFs only, yours on any device
Two full-colour hardcovers, plus both PDFs free

Both hardcover bundles separately $124.98 · save $24.99

Both bundles separately $79.98 · save $9.99

Algorithms Simplified and Computing Simplified as full-colour hardcovers

$99.99+ US shippingTwo hardcovers + both interactive companions

Get the Collection →

Includes both PDFs free

Algorithms Simplified and Computing Simplified on tablets

$69.99Both PDFs + both interactive companions

Get the Collection →

Computing Simplified

Single print book (338 pages) + free PDFSingle PDF (338 pages) + 21 live demos

How it all works

What really happens when you type a web address, send a message, or two people spend from one account.

The full Computing Simplified book, 338 pages
Interactive companion: 21 live demos, a real app you keep and run offline
DRM-free PDF only, yours on any device
Full-colour hardcover, plus the PDF free

Computing Simplified as a full-colour hardcover

$74.99+ US shippingHardcover + interactive companion

Get Computing Simplified →

Includes the PDF free

$49.99PDF + interactive companion

Get Computing Simplified →

30-day money-back guarantee14-day money-back guarantee

Secure checkout by Shopify · PDF downloads instantly

The series

Two books. No code. Just the ideas.

For decades, computer scientists have quietly solved the same problems you face every day: how to break something hard into pieces you can actually do, how to find one thing among millions, how a pile of yes-or-no switches becomes a working program. These two books hand you those ideas in plain language.

The usual take

Computer science gets taught as code and proofs, walled off behind a programming background most people never have the time to get.

The idea here

Start from how a problem is shaped and how machines actually work, using everyday analogies (a recipe, a phone book, a nightclub bouncer) and clear, hand-drawn diagrams. No code required.

Breadth, then depth

Algorithms Simplified is how to solve: search, sort, divide and conquer. Computing Simplified is how it all runs: bits, memory, the network, and many things happening at once. Read either first; together they are the whole picture.

Algorithms Simplified

163 pages · 4 parts · illustrated

Problem-solving, computation and complexity, data structures, and the classic algorithms, by intuition.

Fundamentals of Problem-Solving
1.1What is a “problem”?
1.2Types of real-world problems
1.3Data Structures: the building blocks
1.4Solving problems with the State Space formulation
1.5Navigating Through State Space as Graph Traversal
1.6The structure of problem decomposition
1.7What is a solution?
1.8Conclusion
Computation and Complexity
2.1What is an algorithm?
2.2What is a program? (barebones)
2.3What is a process?
2.4What is complexity?
2.5What is a Turing Machine?
2.6Conclusion
Fundamental Data Structures and their Algorithms
3.1Introduction
3.2Undirected Graphs
3.3General Directed Graphs
3.4Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs)
3.5Linked Lists
3.6Weighted Graphs
3.7Arrays
3.8Dictionaries
3.9Sets
3.10Conclusion
From Theory to Practice
4.1Binary Search: Finding Information Quickly
4.2Exponential Growth: Efficient Replication
4.3Optimization Problems: Maximizing or Minimizing
4.4Divide and Conquer: Breaking Down Complex Tasks
4.5Greedy Algorithms: Making the Best Immediate Choice
4.6Sorting: Organizing Information
4.7Dynamic Programming: Minimizing Repeated Work
4.8Topological Sorting: Handling Dependencies
4.9Monte Carlo Method: Using Randomness to Solve Problems
4.10Conclusion

Computing Simplified

338 pages · 6 parts · richly illustrated

What a computer really is: bits, storage, processes, concurrency, networks, and the graph underneath it all.

Part I: Computation meets the world
1Your inbox follows you everywhere
2What happens when you type a web address
3How we tell a machine what to do
Part II: Ways of seeing
4Finding one in a million
5Everything is a yes or no
6There is no free lunch
Part III: The recurring shapes
7Locks that no key can open
8How it learns what you like
9Don’t call us, we’ll call you
10Never do the same work twice
Part IV: The shape of everything that runs
11The graph underneath
12Two people, one bank balance
Part V: Systems in the wild
13Everything fails
14Sent in an instant
15The fastest route
Part VI: Back to the edge
16From a key press to a glowing screen
17The whole picture

A taste

Real pages. Read before you buy.

Actual pages from each book, not a marketing summary. If the approach lands for you, the rest is more of the same.

Sample page 1 of 3 — Algorithms Simplified · 163 pages Chapter 4.9 · Estimating π by throwing pebbles

Sample page 2 of 3 — Algorithms Simplified · 163 pages Chapter 4.9 · Estimating π by throwing pebbles

Live demos

Play with the ideas, one from each book.

Pulled straight from the interactive companions: press play, pause, and step through.

Algorithms SimplifiedQuicksort vs Mergesort

SPEED

Computing SimplifiedThe call stack

The author

I'm Rohith, a software engineer with over a decade building production systems. Four years at Meta, on Workplace's billing and monetization. A senior role at HubSpot before that, and backend services at Amazon. Most recently I founded Topolog, and shipped a typed planning language end to end.

I wrote Algorithms Simplified, then Computing Simplified. They are the books I wish I'd had: the why behind each idea, distilled, with a diagram wherever a diagram is faster. No programming background needed. They also work as a refresher if you're prepping interviews.

Author

Rohith B V

Previously

Meta · Amazon · HubSpot

Studied

IIIT Hyderabad · B.Tech CSE

Books

Algorithms & Computing Simplified

Questions

Before you buy

Do I need to know how to code?

No. There's no programming or advanced maths required. It's built on everyday analogies and hand-drawn diagrams, written for anyone curious about how these ideas work.

What format is it, and what can I read it on?

Both physical and digital. The PDF is DRM-free: read it on your phone, tablet, computer or e-reader, and it's yours to keep forever. Every hardcover is printed in full colour throughout and includes the PDF free, claimed from your receipt after checkout.

How do I get it after I pay?

The PDF is instant. Checkout is handled by Shopify, and your download link is shown right after payment and emailed to you. Hardcovers are printed to order and usually dispatched in 3 to 8 working days. Postage is added at checkout and you choose the service, from economy up to next-day tracked.

I’m in the US. Where does it ship from?

From inside the US. Bookvault prints your order at their US facility and posts it domestically rather than sending it across an ocean, and we ship anywhere. Postage is worked out for your address at checkout. Prices are in US dollars and your card is charged in dollars. PDFs and interactive companions download anywhere and carry no postage at all.

What's in the interactive companion?

Each book has its own: downloadable HTML animations you open offline and play, pause and step through. Algorithms covers sorting, binary search, dynamic programming and graph traversal; Computing covers characters as bits, a queue absorbing a spike, one core juggling many tasks, and how a flood finds the shortest route.

Which book should I start with?

Either. Algorithms Simplified is about how to solve problems; Computing Simplified is about how machines actually work. They stand alone, and the collection bundles both at the best price.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Email rohith@rohith.co.uk for a full refund, no hard feelings. For PDFs that is within 14 days of your purchase. For hardcovers it is 30 days from purchase, a longer window because it has to reach you first.

Who is it for?

Anyone curious about the ideas behind algorithms and computing, no background needed. It also works as a sharp refresher if you're an engineer prepping interviews.

Ready to see how it all works?

Two books, no code, just the ideas. Start building real intuition today, in algorithms, in computing, or in both.

See the books and prices →

30-day money-back guarantee14-day money-back guarantee

Secure checkout by Shopify