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Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

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Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#61

Post by fuzztester »

rramadass wrote: post #58
fuzztester wrote: post #50

Another author and his books in the same category of excellence as Kernighan and his books, is Jon Bentley and his books Programming Pearls and More Programming Pearls. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bentley_(computer_scient...

Also his earlier slim Writing Efficient Programs book. What this teaches you is how to think about efficiency from the top down with an emphasis on Algorithm and Language and hence useful to all programmers. Pair it with modern books on efficiency which deal mainly with compiler-level/OS-level/Processor-level performance techniques by Agner Fog, Fedor Pikus etc. and you get a complete picture.

>Also his earlier slim Writing Efficient Programs book.

Yes, that's a really good one. I own a copy of it, bought years ago, and have read it pretty much cover to cover. Have also applied the guidelines in it, some.

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#63

Post by AnimalMuppet »

fuzztester wrote: post #52

I suggest you add Software Tools in Pascal to your list of books to podcast about. Also by Kernighan. I own a copy of that book and think it is good.

You might get more than you bargained for on that topic.

Kernighan and Plaugher had written "Software Tools" in RATFOR. Then they wrote "Software Tools in Pascal". And then, in direct response to the experience of writing that, Kernighan wrote a paper titled "Why Pascal Is Not My Favorite Programming Language". (Because writing in Pascal should have been way easier than writing in RATFOR, and it wasn't, and Kernighan gave some thought to why it wasn't.)

It's still an interesting read. You can find it online, for example at https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/bwk-on-pas...

Note well: This refers to the original standard version of the language. Extensions like Turbo Pascal fixed many of the problems. (Except that, as he said, there was no portability between the extensions. Even that kind of was fixed by Turbo Pascal becoming the "standard" extensions.)

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#64

Post by rramadass »

mehdix wrote: post #59
rramadass wrote: post #47

This book is foundational; all Programmers (especially beginners) should read it. Like all Kernighan's books, the language is simple, concise and precise focusing on the foundations/essentials with no fluff and all in a little over 200 pages. Understand the principles from the examples shown here and then apply them in your own context. The beauty of K&P's books is that they do not overwhelm you with theory but show…

Can only second you. His style is by far my most favorite among all other technical authors. And thanks for the reminder, time to get another one of his books.

> His style is by far my most favorite among all other technical authors.

All authors should learn from Kernighan's books (co-authored with Plaugher/Ritchie/Pike) on how to write technical books. 90% of all the computer programming books published nowadays are too verbose (why the hell are they so huge?), meandering over inessentials, lack of clarity in language, a paucity of clear and precise examples and overall just a waste of paper. Reading them is more of a chore then enlightening whereas all of Kernighan's books are only a little over 200 pages, dense with knowledge and a pleasure to read.

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#65

Post by Arisaka1 »

rramadass wrote: post #64
mehdix wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can only second you. His style is by far my most favorite among all other technical authors. And thanks for the reminder, time to get another one of his books.

> His style is by far my most favorite among all other technical authors. All authors should learn from Kernighan's books (co-authored with Plaugher/Ritchie/Pike) on how to write technical books. 90% of all the computer programming books published nowadays are too verbose (why the hell are they so huge?), meandering over inessentials, lack of clarity in language, a paucity of clear and precise examples and overall ju…

In discussions with colleagues they blamed the absurd demands of the publishers in terms of hitting specific volumes (in pages), which oddly reminds some past relationships I had with management and sales departments as a developer.

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#67

Post by HumblyTossed »

carterdmorgan wrote: post #11
zombiwoof wrote: post #10

I wish interviewing now was more about knowing the concepts in that book versus leetcode Brian Kernighan prob couldn’t pass a leetcode hard interview in this ridiculous new world

My last interview cycle I interviewed with some big names (Stripe, Square, Shopify, etc.) and was pleased that none of them asked any LeetCode style questions. All pretty practical programming stuff. Stripe had an interview where they had forked the Jackson Java library, introduced a bug, and then asked me to find and fix it. Pretty unique style, but much more applicable to the actual job of programming.

> Stripe had an interview where they had forked the Jackson Java library, introduced a bug, and then asked me to find and fix it.

I think I would actually enjoy an interview like that.

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#68

Post by kaycebasques »

rramadass wrote: post #47

This book is foundational; all Programmers (especially beginners) should read it. Like all Kernighan's books, the language is simple, concise and precise focusing on the foundations/essentials with no fluff and all in a little over 200 pages. Understand the principles from the examples shown here and then apply them in your own context. The beauty of K&P's books is that they do not overwhelm you with theory but show…

Just ordered the true Gang of Four:

* The C Programming Language

* The UNIX Programming Environment

* The Practice of Programming

* The Elements of Programming Style

I've read the C book before and also remember the writing to be excellent. I'm sure I'll pick up lots of programming wisdom but I'm also approaching this as a technical writer, figuring out what exactly makes Kernighan's books so good. I have a hunch that Kernighan has studied writing a lot, or has at least done a lot of "first principles thinking" about writing. The title "The Elements of Programming Style" for example is a reference to one of the most famous books about writing style, "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White (which everyone should read once; it literally fits easily into your back pocket).

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#69

Post by carterdmorgan »

kaycebasques wrote: post #68
rramadass wrote: post #47

This book is foundational; all Programmers (especially beginners) should read it. Like all Kernighan's books, the language is simple, concise and precise focusing on the foundations/essentials with no fluff and all in a little over 200 pages. Understand the principles from the examples shown here and then apply them in your own context. The beauty of K&P's books is that they do not overwhelm you with theory but show…

Just ordered the true Gang of Four: * The C Programming Language * The UNIX Programming Environment * The Practice of Programming * The Elements of Programming Style I've read the C book before and also remember the writing to be excellent. I'm sure I'll pick up lots of programming wisdom but I'm also approaching this as a technical writer, figuring out what exactly makes Kernighan's books so good. I have a hunch tha…

One of the great things about The Practice of Programming is how much it references other non-coding works. You can tell Kernighan draws his knowledge from many sources, not just technical ones.

Re: Brian Kernighan on “The Practice of Programming” [video]

#70

Post by dehrmann »

kaycebasques wrote: post #68
rramadass wrote: post #47

This book is foundational; all Programmers (especially beginners) should read it. Like all Kernighan's books, the language is simple, concise and precise focusing on the foundations/essentials with no fluff and all in a little over 200 pages. Understand the principles from the examples shown here and then apply them in your own context. The beauty of K&P's books is that they do not overwhelm you with theory but show…

Just ordered the true Gang of Four: * The C Programming Language * The UNIX Programming Environment * The Practice of Programming * The Elements of Programming Style I've read the C book before and also remember the writing to be excellent. I'm sure I'll pick up lots of programming wisdom but I'm also approaching this as a technical writer, figuring out what exactly makes Kernighan's books so good. I have a hunch tha…

No idea what your background is, but since you just bought four books, make sure you're spending more time reading and writing code than reading books. Some people fall into the theory trap and don't spend enough time making use of that theory.
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