Ask the Author: Jonathan Eaton
Answered Questions (5)
Jonathan Eaton
I joined a chess club for young men in communist East Berlin in 1979. After our first meeting the entire chess club disappeared. Always wondered what happened to those guys.
Jonathan Eaton
Good question . . . honestly, I don't remember. A link must have shown up in my feed--maybe a mutual friend?
Jonathan Eaton
Ha! I wondered who would read my list of “influences” and know who Kernighan and Ritchie were. Now I know. To answer to your question:
First, for the non-software developers who might read this, BASIC and C are two very different computer programming languages. Writing a BASIC program is like taking a bus (in a city with darn good public transportation): Advantages: You can get where you want to go without having to know anything about stoplights or one-way streets or speed-limits, etc. Disadvantages: you don’t get to pick the route, or exactly when you are going to arrive. Writing a C program is like driving a car. Advantages: You get to pick the route (presumably the shortest, or quickest, or most scenic), and can determine (more-or-less) when you’re going to leave and when you’re going to get there. Disadvantages: You _do_ have to understand traffic signals and other rules of the road, and perhaps, most importantly, you have to keep an eye on the gas and temperature gauges.
In short, C is a more technical, less human-friendly, language than BASIC, and requires a better understanding of fundamental concepts of computers and information processing. You would think, then, that a manual for the C programming language would also be less human-friendly. But what struck me about Kernighan and Ritchie’s classic “The C Programming Language” was that it was clearly written with the humanity of software developers in mind. It is not simply a list of keywords and a grammar definition. It includes examples of usage, and comments on how those code snippets might be improved or revised for different purposes—but more importantly, it addresses the reader as though he/she were human. Take, for example, the operation of _while_ and _for_ loops: The manual could have described a particular circumstance as follows:
“if the ‘while’ or ‘for’ loop test fails when first encountered, the body of the loop will never be executed, and execution will proceed with the next statement outside the loop”
But, instead, the manual says: “One of the nice things about ‘while’ and ‘for’ is that they test at the top of the loop, before proceeding with the body. If there is nothing to do, nothing is done.”
Simply by using the word “nice”, K&R let the reader know that _they_ know they are addressing a human being, not some mindless programming automaton. In other words, K&R’s “The C Programming Language” is human-friendly interface on an inhuman/human-unfriendly construct.
Now, about the influence of K&R on “The Prairie Martian” . . .
First, for the non-software developers who might read this, BASIC and C are two very different computer programming languages. Writing a BASIC program is like taking a bus (in a city with darn good public transportation): Advantages: You can get where you want to go without having to know anything about stoplights or one-way streets or speed-limits, etc. Disadvantages: you don’t get to pick the route, or exactly when you are going to arrive. Writing a C program is like driving a car. Advantages: You get to pick the route (presumably the shortest, or quickest, or most scenic), and can determine (more-or-less) when you’re going to leave and when you’re going to get there. Disadvantages: You _do_ have to understand traffic signals and other rules of the road, and perhaps, most importantly, you have to keep an eye on the gas and temperature gauges.
In short, C is a more technical, less human-friendly, language than BASIC, and requires a better understanding of fundamental concepts of computers and information processing. You would think, then, that a manual for the C programming language would also be less human-friendly. But what struck me about Kernighan and Ritchie’s classic “The C Programming Language” was that it was clearly written with the humanity of software developers in mind. It is not simply a list of keywords and a grammar definition. It includes examples of usage, and comments on how those code snippets might be improved or revised for different purposes—but more importantly, it addresses the reader as though he/she were human. Take, for example, the operation of _while_ and _for_ loops: The manual could have described a particular circumstance as follows:
“if the ‘while’ or ‘for’ loop test fails when first encountered, the body of the loop will never be executed, and execution will proceed with the next statement outside the loop”
But, instead, the manual says: “One of the nice things about ‘while’ and ‘for’ is that they test at the top of the loop, before proceeding with the body. If there is nothing to do, nothing is done.”
Simply by using the word “nice”, K&R let the reader know that _they_ know they are addressing a human being, not some mindless programming automaton. In other words, K&R’s “The C Programming Language” is human-friendly interface on an inhuman/human-unfriendly construct.
Now, about the influence of K&R on “The Prairie Martian” . . .
Jonathan Eaton
I confess I have not--but looks interesting. A quick bit of research indicates that at the time I generally focus on (1870-1900) these were social gymnastics clubs. The concept came from Germany, and of course, there were plenty of German immigrants in Texas at that time. I wish I could post a picture here (I can't, can I?). I found an nice sketch of a ladder-assisted human-pyramid in 19th century turnverein contest. Well, here's a link: https://books.google.com/books?id=PO3...
Thanks for my new word o' the day!
Thanks for my new word o' the day!
Jonathan Eaton
The Banshee's Dagger (A Two-Sentence Horror Story)
Warmed by the old woman's blood, the ancient text once again appeared on the blade: "Thy death alone shall free thee from the banshee’s dagger." Some might have considered that a curse--I thought of it more as a licensing agreement.
Warmed by the old woman's blood, the ancient text once again appeared on the blade: "Thy death alone shall free thee from the banshee’s dagger." Some might have considered that a curse--I thought of it more as a licensing agreement.
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