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I thought Knuts Literate Programming book (https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html) was extremely

by tephra 5y ago

I thought Knuts Literate Programming book (https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html) was extremely interesting, the paper "the errors of TeX" which is a part of it is one of the more interesting papers I've read. Joe Armstrong used to recommend Algorithms + Data structures = Programs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithms_%2B_Data_Structures_%3D_Programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithms_%2B_Data_Structures...) but I haven't read it. Okay I know you said no to the little schemer but you technically didn't mention The Reasoned Schemer which is just amazingly fun to go through and wrap your head around (https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/reasoned-schemer-second-edition https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/reasoned-schemer-second-editi...). Also see Will Byrds latest strangeloop keynote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AffW-7ika0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AffW-7ika0E

eatonphil 5y ago
> I thought Knuts Literate Programming book (https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html) was extremely interesting, the paper "the errors of TeX" which is a part of it is one of the more interesting papers I've read. I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? Or maybe I really do just need to suck it up and read these books. I know it's not the same exact book but I took his style to be to generate encyclopedic tomes rather than interesting reading. > Algorithms + Data structures = Programs Oo a Wirth book. Those are always good. > I know you said no to the little schemer but you technically didn't mention The Reasoned Schemer Man you're cutting it close there!
- tephra 5y ago
  > I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? Or maybe I really do just need to suck it up and read these books. I know it's not the same exact book but I took his style to be to generate encyclopedic tomes rather than interesting reading. Of the Knuth I've read (which includes [a tiny] _some_ of AoCP, lets not kid ourselves) I think he is a very good writer with great sense of humour between the academicness of some of his writing. Take the Surreal Numbers book for example.
  - eatonphil 5y ago
    You've convinced me. I'll have to go for some of his books. Worst case I've got some intelligence-signaling paperweights.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  > I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? That's a very bad assumption in this case. The contents of TAOCP are very well edited, just massive in scope and it's one man putting it all together. However, those aren't his only books. Concrete Mathematics is a completed text that expands on, in particular, the math in Chapter 1 of TAOCP. Literate Programming is a collection of papers on topics in programming, and is the first of eight such books. If you want interesting but mildly impractical, check out his Computers & Typesetting [0] which includes two books which are actually literate programs. [0] https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/abcde.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/abcde.html
  - eatonphil 5y ago
    Thanks for the suggestions!
  - JackFr 5y ago
    Just read his introduction to generating pseudo-random numbers or his sketch of a proof of Benfords law in Seminumerical Algorithms. Excellent stuff. For moderately impractical, look at tape sorting in Sorting and Searching.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- zvr 5y ago
  > I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff You're missing out on some of the best writing on any topic! Not all Knuth's books are the same: The Art of Computer Programming (TAOCP) is his mangum opus, an ever-expanding encyclopedic knowledge fire-hose of various computer science topics. But the series of books that are simply "collected papers" makes it easy to focus on something much narrower. For impractical, you may want to start from Selected Papers on Fun and Games. And then he has books like Surreal Numbers, which is written as a story of a couple discovering mathematical notation and deriving a whole system...
pmdulaney 5y ago
Donald Ervin Knuth's original book on TeX is a fascinating case study in how a computer science genius approached the task of typesetting algorithmically. What is easy to overlook is the beauty of the mental models he makes explicit; e.g., boxes, glue.
- tephra 5y ago
  The whole Computers and Typesetting volume series is worth at least thumbing through at least once in life.

by tephra 5y ago

eatonphil 5y ago

> I thought Knuts Literate Programming book (https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html) was extremely interesting, the paper "the errors of TeX" which is a part of it is one of the more interesting papers I've read. I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? Or maybe I really do just need to suck it up and read these books. I know it's not the same exact book but I took his style to be to generate encyclopedic tomes rather than interesting reading. > Algorithms + Data structures = Programs Oo a Wirth book. Those are always good. > I know you said no to the little schemer but you technically didn't mention The Reasoned Schemer Man you're cutting it close there!

tephra 5y ago
> I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? Or maybe I really do just need to suck it up and read these books. I know it's not the same exact book but I took his style to be to generate encyclopedic tomes rather than interesting reading. Of the Knuth I've read (which includes [a tiny] _some_ of AoCP, lets not kid ourselves) I think he is a very good writer with great sense of humour between the academicness of some of his writing. Take the Surreal Numbers book for example.
- eatonphil 5y ago
  You've convinced me. I'll have to go for some of his books. Worst case I've got some intelligence-signaling paperweights.
Jtsummers 5y ago
> I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? That's a very bad assumption in this case. The contents of TAOCP are very well edited, just massive in scope and it's one man putting it all together. However, those aren't his only books. Concrete Mathematics is a completed text that expands on, in particular, the math in Chapter 1 of TAOCP. Literate Programming is a collection of papers on topics in programming, and is the first of eight such books. If you want interesting but mildly impractical, check out his Computers & Typesetting [0] which includes two books which are actually literate programs. [0] https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/abcde.html https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/abcde.html
- eatonphil 5y ago
  Thanks for the suggestions!
- JackFr 5y ago
  Just read his introduction to generating pseudo-random numbers or his sketch of a proof of Benfords law in Seminumerical Algorithms. Excellent stuff. For moderately impractical, look at tape sorting in Sorting and Searching.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
zvr 5y ago
> I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff You're missing out on some of the best writing on any topic! Not all Knuth's books are the same: The Art of Computer Programming (TAOCP) is his mangum opus, an ever-expanding encyclopedic knowledge fire-hose of various computer science topics. But the series of books that are simply "collected papers" makes it easy to focus on something much narrower. For impractical, you may want to start from Selected Papers on Fun and Games. And then he has books like Surreal Numbers, which is written as a story of a couple discovering mathematical notation and deriving a whole system...

pmdulaney 5y ago

Donald Ervin Knuth's original book on TeX is a fascinating case study in how a computer science genius approached the task of typesetting algorithmically. What is easy to overlook is the beauty of the mental models he makes explicit; e.g., boxes, glue.

tephra 5y ago
The whole Computers and Typesetting volume series is worth at least thumbing through at least once in life.