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More Programming Pearls: Confessions of a Coder: Confessions of a Coder Paperback – January 1, 1988

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

What do topics ranging from organic chemistry to Napoleon's campaigns have to do with computer programming? This collection of essays demonstrates the many varied aspects of programming, showing how programming can be both a fun and elegant science. Some of the essays cover programming techniques, like how profilers can provide insight into the dynamic behavior of programs, and methods for making data files self-describing. These techniques deal with real programs and they are realistically illustrated, using the C and Awk languages. Bentley also provides the reader with some tricks of the programmer's trade, like a collection of rules of thumb and hints for finding simple solutions to hard problems. These essays also originally appeared in the author's column in Communication of the ACM, and have been substantially revised, incorporating new sections, problems, and reader comments.
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From the Back Cover

What do topics ranging from organic chemistry to Napoleon's campaigns have to do with computer programming? This collection of essays demonstrates the many varied aspects of programming, showing how programming can be both a fun and elegant science.

Some of the essays cover programming techniques, like how profilers can provide insight into the dynamic behavior of programs, and methods for making data files self-describing. These techniques deal with real programs and they are realistically illustrated, using the C and Awk languages. Bentley also provides the reader with some tricks of the programmer's trade, like a collection of rules of thumb and hints for finding simple solutions to hard problems.

These essays also originally appeared in the author's column in Communication of the ACM, and have been substantially revised, incorporating new sections, problems, and reader comments.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Addison-Wesley Professional; First Edition (January 1, 1988)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 218 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0201118890
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0201118896
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.53 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

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Jon Louis Bentley
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2015
    The original Programming Pearls is a fabulous look at algorithms, correctness and performance. This sequel is a little less thematically linked and a little more uneven, but is definitely worth reading by any programmer. If nothing else, you should buy it for the two best chapters: the discussion on profiling which is still cutting-edge, and the discussion on "little languages", which is ahead of its time and I think ahead of our time. There are also other smaller pearls to discover along the way. The apparent straightforwardness and simplicity of Jon Bentley's writing masks some very deep ideas.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2015
    I repurchased this book after my daughter gave my copy away to a friend in Computer Science.
    This is a great book for people who want to think about how to solve problems, and understand that how you solve a problem determines how fast it will be (or not).
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2014
    As advertised
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2011
    Programming Pearls is far superior to this one. However, I still consider this one as much better than the usual programming books (and anyway is pretty short).
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2015
    I just love the way Jon Bentley writes. I don't know what else to say. These two books really teach the basics of solving programming problems. It takes many years to master the basics in practice but these books teach the basics well. I once wrote a blog post (http://www.catonmat.net/blog/three-beautiful-quicksorts/) about Jon Bentley's chapter in Beautiful Code that he based on a chapter on quick sort in Programming Pearls.

    Classic programming book. My favorite author, Jon Bentley, knows how to write clearly and enthusiastically about algorithms and computer science problems. This book is timeless and it teaches you how to reason about problems, break them apart, and efficiently implement the solutions. You'll pass the Google interview if you read and understand this book.

    This book (together with Programming Pearls) shares #3 in my all time Top 100 Favorite Programming, Computer and Science books:

    http://www.catonmat.net/blog/top-100-books-part-one/

    .
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2017
    Someone told me I was quoted in a book on programming when I used to program in C and other languages when I was in HS.

    Wasn't sure if this was me though or another Peter Halpern in programming in the NYC area in the mid-80s. And it definitely sounds like something I would have said.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2017
    The original "Programming Pearls" is, in my opinion, one of the greatest books on software ever written. It is a collection of the best, most timeless articles written during some of the most fascinating years in the history of computers.

    And then there's this book, which is composed of other articles from the same author. By definition they're not the best, because those were already used in another, better book. This one has the leftovers, with such timeless insights as "you should learn to use a word processor" (I imaging Word wasn't big back then) and "graphs are an effective way to display data" (Excel probably wasn't too popular at the time either).

    It's not that this book is bad per se, it's just a long, sad fall from the heights of the first one.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Roberto Correia
    5.0 out of 5 stars The book
    Reviewed in Brazil on January 5, 2022
    One of the books I recommend for anyone who really wants to be a programmer.
  • Parvinder Nijjar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2017
    Put this on your desk at work and people will immediately fear your programming skills.
  • Valentin Kofman
    5.0 out of 5 stars As good as Programming Pearls
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2017
    A must read for the ones who enjoyed the first part.
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    Valentin Kofman
    5.0 out of 5 stars As good as Programming Pearls
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2017
    A must read for the ones who enjoyed the first part.
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