Elements of Programming by Alexander Stepanov and Paul McJones gives a very engaging introduction to applying basic abstract algebra to algorithm design.
Quirky computing books
61–70 of 121 posts
Re: Quirky computing books
#62Leo Brodie, Starting FORTH (First Edition): available as a free PDF from FORTH Inc. here - https://www.forth.com/starting-forth/ One of my favorite books ever.
I was just going to comment on this book; one of my favorites as well. The follow on book "Thinking Forth" was similarly mind opening. http://thinking-forth.sourceforge.net/
Re: Quirky computing books
#63Writing Interactive Compilers and Interpreters by Peter John Brown (1979) is quirky in the sense that he paid unusual attention to the literary quality of his prose.
Among his admonitions for writing user manuals is this:
Read. Books on overall style are a matter of personal taste. Our own favourite is Strunk (1959). As examples of good writing on technical matters, we especially like the works of D. E. Knuth and of M. V. Wilkes, and also the book "Software Tools" (Kernighan and Plauger, 1976). Perhaps the most pleasant of all writing on technical matters is in the field of gardening, not computing; read "The Small Garden" by Lucas Phillips (1952) and not only your turnips but also you writing will improve.
Re: Quirky computing books
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, LoL was an interesting experience. I could write shorter Python versions of most of the lisp code in the book, but it was an enjoyable introduction.
If I recall correctly, the common lisp community doesn't like nor recommend the book at all. I remember going through the first 6 chapters and often going on the CommonLisp channel on free node to ask questions and eventually found out it was either wrong or misleading in many of the fundamentals. I tried to keep going through it but eventually gave up and picked the much better practical common lisp.
To be fair, I had similar experiences with 4-5 other lisp books I read. For the kinds of uses I have, I think Python is just more convenient. If I actually needed to write some compiler or grammar processing app or something like that, I'd bet Lisp could win, but I don't have those needs at present. It was a great learning experience though.
Re: Quirky computing books
#65I liked the "C for Dummies" book because it was intentionally whimsical to an extent. It was a bit too insubstantial (could have done a lot more about pointers and complex data structures) but I give them credit for starting with a "Goodbye, Cruel World" programme instead of "Hello World".
Re: Quirky computing books
#66> Functional Programming: Application and Implementation by Peter Henderson
seconding this recommendation from the OP. I sold my copy ~20 years ago but remember it as quite good.
Re: Quirky computing books
#67In the 80s or early 90s I read a surprisingly deep Logo programming book whose title/authors I forget. Not Turtle Geometry, but similar in coming from MIT Lisp/Scheme/AI people. One of the projects near the end was a kind of basic proof assistant. There was some discussion of OOP. It was written to go with some particular microcomputer Logo system.
Does this ring a bell for anyone? Maayybe this book? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262510693/
(Search engines have become awful for a quirky search like this.)
Re: Quirky computing books
#68Mr. Bunny's Big Cup o' Java, by Carlton Egremont III. I don't know if Carlton Egremont III is a real person, but this book, at the time, tweaked all the noses.
A most excellent book, as was Mr. Bunny's Guide to ActiveX.
Re: Quirky computing books
#69Let Over Lambda The Little Schemer series Land of Lisp Why’s Poignant Guide to Ruby
> Let Over Lambda
While it is written in an adolescent confrontational style that doesn’t help the author’s cause, it is otherwise a very thorough introduction to Lisp macro programming. The last chapter is about writing a Forth compiler in Lisp. Great stuff.
Re: Quirky computing books
#70I quite liked The Network Revolution: Confessions of a Computer Scientist (1982), by Jacques Vallee. Readable for free here: https://books.google.com/books?id=6f8VqnZaPQwC
The best part of that is the names-changed depiction of Engelbart’s SRI org, est craziness and all.