3 ms·

Basic CS Reading List – M. Douglas McIlroy (2010)

62 points by kercker 10y ago

platz 10y ago
Are you sure this list is "Basic"? for example "Gedanken Experiments Concerning Flows at High Reynolds Number"? This list seems more like a set of specialized studies for an 'elective' topic course.
- nograpes 10y ago
  They aren't real books. This is a joke.
  - fao_ 10y ago
    The one by EWD appears to be real https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340... Edit: Ok, I admit it's not a book...
    - abecedarius 10y ago
      The joke in this case is that it's the only one of these titles that's real. (Probably the only.)
    - codemac 10y ago
      And it's humorous to include because of the irony of the title.
- abecedarius 10y ago
  I'll explain that one. In the 1970s Burge wrote a book "Recursive Programming Techniques" explaining cool things you can do with functional programming -- yes, a lot of that stuff goes back that far. Reynolds invented a functional language called Gedanken -- the paper was iirc 1972. (I don't remember if Burge used Gedanken in his book, or if it was just similar notation, both inspired by Landin. I think it was the latter and you couldn't actually run any of the code in the book.) The pun is about fluid mechanics and 'control flow'.
snake_plissken 10y ago
Briefing for a Recursive Descent into Hell - Benoit Mandelbrot Brilliant!
abecedarius 10y ago
These are hilarious. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying some of them zipped right past me. E.g. "The Fellowship of Bacchus - P. Naur" - ???
- gavinpc 10y ago
  Accordingly, I guess that "Trajan" (a real "Roman Emperor") is an interpolation of ACM Turing alum Robert Endre Tarjan, the developer of several important algorithms and data structures.
kwhitefoot 10y ago
Hilarious. "The Fellowship of Bacchus - P. Naur" is especially amusing as Backus and Naur were reputed to not get on.
timtadh 10y ago
My favorite is you have all these pun titles and then: > The Humble Programmer - E. W. Dijkstra Which is actually the title of that essay by Dijkstra! http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EW... I guess this guy really doesn't think much of that essay?
- jacobolus 10y ago
  I assume the joke is about Dijkstra and “humble”. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11796926 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11796926

62 points by kercker 10y ago

platz 10y ago

Are you sure this list is "Basic"? for example "Gedanken Experiments Concerning Flows at High Reynolds Number"? This list seems more like a set of specialized studies for an 'elective' topic course.

nograpes 10y ago
They aren't real books. This is a joke.
- fao_ 10y ago
  The one by EWD appears to be real https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340... Edit: Ok, I admit it's not a book...
  - abecedarius 10y ago
    The joke in this case is that it's the only one of these titles that's real. (Probably the only.)
  - codemac 10y ago
    And it's humorous to include because of the irony of the title.
abecedarius 10y ago
I'll explain that one. In the 1970s Burge wrote a book "Recursive Programming Techniques" explaining cool things you can do with functional programming -- yes, a lot of that stuff goes back that far. Reynolds invented a functional language called Gedanken -- the paper was iirc 1972. (I don't remember if Burge used Gedanken in his book, or if it was just similar notation, both inspired by Landin. I think it was the latter and you couldn't actually run any of the code in the book.) The pun is about fluid mechanics and 'control flow'.

snake_plissken 10y ago

Briefing for a Recursive Descent into Hell - Benoit Mandelbrot Brilliant!

abecedarius 10y ago

These are hilarious. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying some of them zipped right past me. E.g. "The Fellowship of Bacchus - P. Naur" - ???

gavinpc 10y ago
Accordingly, I guess that "Trajan" (a real "Roman Emperor") is an interpolation of ACM Turing alum Robert Endre Tarjan, the developer of several important algorithms and data structures.

kwhitefoot 10y ago

Hilarious. "The Fellowship of Bacchus - P. Naur" is especially amusing as Backus and Naur were reputed to not get on.

timtadh 10y ago

My favorite is you have all these pun titles and then: > The Humble Programmer - E. W. Dijkstra Which is actually the title of that essay by Dijkstra! http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EWD340.html http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EW... I guess this guy really doesn't think much of that essay?

jacobolus 10y ago
I assume the joke is about Dijkstra and “humble”. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11796926 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11796926