This may be heresy...

in reply to Knuth books and programming

But I haven't found the Knuth books to be as useful day to day as I might have liked. They are a bit dated, and I have little patience, or aptitude for mathematical representations. I suspect this may be a failing on my part, but I learn more studying running code than I do abstract descriptions. Professor Knuth's work casts a long shadow over what we do. I have never had the inclination to learn from the original, just as I have not yet acquired the desire to study my Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek. I am satisfied with the translations done by others.

Comment on This may be heresy...

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: This may be heresy... by Dominus (Parson) on Apr 19, 2001 at 21:51 UTC
Says gaudior: I learn more studying running code than I do abstract descriptions. ing running code than I do abstract descriptions. See, this is exactly what I mean when I say that people don't like it because it's too concrete. Criticizing The Art of Computer Programming for not having "running code" is the most unfair thing you can do. Almost every page has running code, or detailed analysis of the running code that appeared nearby. Why doesn't gaudior recognize this? Because the running code is in assembly language, and is full of fussy details about word size and I/O interrupts and memory allocation. Most people I know who didn't like The Art of Computer Programming have not actually bothered to read the code; then they complain that it is too abstract. -- Mark Dominus Perl Paraphernalia	[reply]
RE: This may be heresy... by gaudior (Pilgrim) on Jul 14, 2000 at 20:41 UTC
Oops, I had not intended to post anonymously. I didn't realize I was not logged in.	[reply]

In Section Meditations