9 ms·
That was not implied. A key skill in good programming is choosing tools at the correct level of abstraction for the problem. Here, the higher-level unix tools
by jonahx 8y ago
That was not implied.
A key skill in good programming is choosing tools at the correct level of abstraction for the problem. Here, the higher-level unix tools are clearly the better choice.
Saying "that's cheating" because the high-level tools are themselves written with lower-level tools with many LOC is missing the point.
- darkerside 8y ago> Knuth and McIlroy had very different objectives and placed different constraints on themselves, and so their solutions are not directly comparable. But McIlroy’s solution has become famous. Knuth’s solution is remembered, if at all, as the verbose program that McIlroy responded to. He admits they don't compare, but does it anyway. I shouldn't take offense... but for some reason I do!