the impression i have--i'm not sure where i got it from, could even be from the first book itself--is the art of computer programming's mission is to be a usefu

the impression i have--i'm not sure where i got it from, could even be from the first book itself--is the art of computer programming's mission is to be a useful resource if, a thousand years from now, computer science finds itself starting from scratch. contemporaries can learn from it, but by even just buying copies you increase the odds that the books can be recovered and used in that hypothetical situation.