Dr. Okasaki spent three years at Columbia University as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science, where he taught courses in programming languages and advanced data structures. He has also worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Glasgow, and as a consultant for an Internet startup company, developing a compiler for their agent control language. His primary research interests are programming languages and algorithms. He is especially interested in the combination of these two areas, considering questions of how the details of a programming language affect the implementation and efficiency of algorithms.

Most books on data structures assume an imperative language such as C or C++. However, data structures for these languages do not always translate well to functional languages such as Standard ML, Haskell, or Scheme. This book describes data structures from the point of view of functional languages, with examples, and presents design techniques that allow programmers to develop their own functional data structures. The author includes both classical data structures, such as red-black trees and binomial queues, and a host of new data structures developed exclusively for functional languages. All source code is given in Standard ML and Haskell, and most of the programs are easily adaptable to other functional languages. This handy reference for professional programmers working with functional languages can also be used as a tutorial or for self-study.