Parameterized complexity theory is a recent branch of computational complexity theory that provides a framework for a refined analysis of hard algorithmic problems. The central notion of the theory, fixed-parameter tractability, has led to the development of various new algorithmic techniques and a whole new theory of intractability.

This book is a state-of-the-art introduction into both algorithmic techniques for fixed-parameter tractability and the structural theory of parameterized complexity classes, and it presents detailed proofs of recent advanced results that have not appeared in book form before. Several chapters each are devoted to intractability, algorithmic techniques for designing fixed-parameter tractable algorithms, and bounded fixed-parameter tractability and subexponential time complexity. The treatment is comprehensive, and the reader is supported with exercises, notes, a detailed index, and some background on complexity theory and logic.