Questions for Donald Knuth
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Questions for Donald Knuth
1–10 of 61 posts
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#2Awesome Read.
Picking out a line:
"For simplicity, let me say that people like me are "geeks," and that geeks comprise about 2% of the world's population."
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#3I love the fact that Donald Knuth, one of the most knowledgable minds about computer science, hasn't had an email address since 1990. He used to have one for fifteen years (between 1975 - 1990) but it killed his productivity so he no longer uses it.
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#4I was surprised to hear that the hardest program he had to write was a simulator for MMIX. This seems to have the scoop: http://mmix.cs.hm.edu/doc/mmix-pipe.pdf
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#5I love the fact that Donald Knuth, one of the most knowledgable minds about computer science, hasn't had an email address since 1990. He used to have one for fifteen years (between 1975 - 1990) but it killed his productivity so he no longer uses it. http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/email.html
I don't think that says much about email itself. He has a secretary to deal with his paper mail. There's no reason a secretary-curated email inbox wouldn't be similar.
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#6I love the fact that Donald Knuth, one of the most knowledgable minds about computer science, hasn't had an email address since 1990. He used to have one for fifteen years (between 1975 - 1990) but it killed his productivity so he no longer uses it. http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/email.html
I don't think that says much about email itself. He has a secretary to deal with his paper mail. There's no reason a secretary-curated email inbox wouldn't be similar.
from http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/email.html
> My secretary prints out all messages addressed to taocp@cs.stanford.edu or knuth-bug@cs.stanford.edu, so that I can reply with written comments when I have a chance.
He just does not USE email himself.
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#7"I did write a compiler manual in 1958, which by chance was actually used as the textbook for one of my classes in 1959(!)"
How many people in the world could claim something similar?
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#8I was surprised to hear that the hardest program he had to write was a simulator for MMIX. This seems to have the scoop: http://mmix.cs.hm.edu/doc/mmix-pipe.pdf
I like that he explains it using car analogies.
> Instructions that have completed execution and have not yet been committed are analogous to cars that have gone through our hypothetical repair shop and are waiting for their owners to pick them up. However, all analogies break down, and the world of automobiles does not have a natural counterpart for the notion of speculative execution. That notion corresponds roughly to situations in which people are led to believe that their cars need a new piece of equipment, but they suddenly change their mind once they see the price tag, and they insist on having the equipment removed even after it has been partially or completely installed.
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#9"I did write a compiler manual in 1958, which by chance was actually used as the textbook for one of my classes in 1959(!)" How many people in the world could claim something similar?
Wow.
Re: Questions for Donald Knuth
#10"So who were the geeks of the early 19th century?"
This question made me pause and ask another question: Who are the geeks of the early 21st century, specifically, 2014? I fear in my heart that software development is becoming less and less of a "geek" hideout over time.
I did, however, go to Maker Faire last weekend. It was a geek wonderland. There were so many cool projects on display and a huge emphasis on getting you started. It shocks me when I hear people say how "commercialized" and "mainstream" it's gotten -- for me, it seems like the hardware market is just starting to open up to some really cool innovation, and there's a huge community of people doing it right in their backyard.
A more long-term question might be: what's going to be the next "geek" hideout after hardware?