Online Algorithms

This textbook provides a rigorous introduction to online algorithms for graduate and senior undergraduate students. In-depth coverage of most of the important topics is presented with special emphasis on elegant analysis. A wide range of solved examples and practice exercises are included, allowing hands-on exposure to the basic concepts.

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Online algorithms are a rich area of research with widespread applications in scheduling, combinatorial optimization, and resource allocation problems. This lucid textbook provides an easy but rigorous introduction to online algorithms for graduate and senior undergraduate students. In-depth coverage of most of the important topics is presented with special emphasis on elegant analysis. The book starts with classical online paradigms like the ski-rental, paging, list-accessing, bin packing, where performance of online algorithms is studied under the worst-case input and moves on to newer paradigms like 'beyond worst case', where online algorithms are augmented with predictions using machine learning algorithms. The book goes on to cover multiple applied problems such as routing in communication networks, server provisioning in cloud systems, communication with energy harvested from renewable sources, and sub-modular partitioning. Finally, a wide range of solved examples and practice exercises are included, allowing hands-on exposure to the concepts.