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Programming Pearls
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The first edition of Programming Pearls was one of the most influential books I read early in my career, and many of the insights I first encountered in that book stayed with me long after I read it. Jon has done a wonderful job of updating the material. I am very impressed at how fresh the new examples seem. - Steve McConnell When programmers list their favorite books, Jo
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Paperback, Second Edition, 239 pages
Published
September 27th 1999
by Addison-Wesley Professional
(first published 1986)
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So much of what passes for revelation becomes obsolete. What was originally mistaken for truth turns out to be mere utility; the moment passes and we are left at best with a corroded praxis, an inept relic to clutter the museum of our fancy. Contrary to many of its genre, this book has endured because it reminds us of the fundamental challenge of software development: identifying the problem, translating it to mathematically sound abstraction, and then choosing the most apt solution. The second
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Indeed Programming Pearls!
Short Summary
Part I: Preliminaries
Column 1: Cracking The Oyster (defining the problem correctly)
Principles: Defining the right problem is critical Problem: How do I sort a large file?
The programmer wanted to sort a large file with limited memory but the critical piece of information was that the numbers are in a specific range (7 digits only) and so the solution was to use a bit vector.
Column 2: AHA! Algorithms (designing the algorithm for the problem)
Principles: Sorti ...more
Short Summary
Part I: Preliminaries
Column 1: Cracking The Oyster (defining the problem correctly)
Principles: Defining the right problem is critical Problem: How do I sort a large file?
The programmer wanted to sort a large file with limited memory but the critical piece of information was that the numbers are in a specific range (7 digits only) and so the solution was to use a bit vector.
Column 2: AHA! Algorithms (designing the algorithm for the problem)
Principles: Sorti ...more
With the exception of some painfully out of date examples, this book is probably the best practical programming/algorithms book I've read.
The examples aren't untrue, they're just not intuitive to a modern reader. It's nothing that ruins the book, but examples have things that seem slightly silly today like "big" computers with just a meg or two of memory available. Or the practice problem that asks you how you send an image from one place to another. (I first took that to mean I needed to implem ...more
The examples aren't untrue, they're just not intuitive to a modern reader. It's nothing that ruins the book, but examples have things that seem slightly silly today like "big" computers with just a meg or two of memory available. Or the practice problem that asks you how you send an image from one place to another. (I first took that to mean I needed to implem ...more
A good selection of interesting algorithms explained without the terseness that some other books can get into. I felt it is a bit antiquated with all the algorithms written in low level C. I'm not sure that some of the optimizations the author is proposing (manual loop unrolling, moving assignment out of a loop, etc) are still relevant due to the advances in compilers that can do such optimizations automatically while leaving the source code untainted by 'optimizations'. Nevertheless, there is a
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There should be more programming books like this. It's like an algorithms and data structures text book, but written in such a way that it's actually pleasant to read. The writing is great, the examples are clear, and the book challenges you to solve things incrementally rather than giving you the answer right away.
With most other professions, novices spend a lot of time studying the work of those who came before them: e.g. physicists read physics papers, artists imitate master artists, histori ...more
With most other professions, novices spend a lot of time studying the work of those who came before them: e.g. physicists read physics papers, artists imitate master artists, histori ...more
_Programming Pearls_ is a gem. The "pearls" are short essays on a particular topic of programming, grouped together by theme: algorithms, data structures, correctness, implementation, performance, code tuning, etc. The essays are concise and focused, with plenty of code examples. Some of the topics may strike today's programmer as quaintly academic exercies. ("Surely nobody writes Quick Sort anymore!") But the lessons that Bentley extracts from them are always valuable.
The second edition has bee ...more
The second edition has bee ...more
Unlike most other books on programming, this one focuses on fundamental and generic problems, not the easy things, toy problems or technical things.
The book teaches through a thorough discussion of solutions of several problems coming from several domains (algorithms, data structures, probability theory, ...). Some of the things - binary search being the most obvious example - look easy, but the sad truth is that many people can't write a correct implementation, not even speaking about effectivi ...more
The book teaches through a thorough discussion of solutions of several problems coming from several domains (algorithms, data structures, probability theory, ...). Some of the things - binary search being the most obvious example - look easy, but the sad truth is that many people can't write a correct implementation, not even speaking about effectivi ...more
Finished the book while preparing for programming interviews. Great delivery of valuable advice in practical use of algorithms. Will recommend it to anyone interested in programming at the cost of being obnoxious.
I'm going to complete all of the exercises in this book one day, at which point I will probably no longer be able to carry on conversation with humans.
Great way to push yourself, with some good narrative context (i.e. not just a bunch of lifeless problems to solve).
A classic that I will have no qualms about recommending to bootcamp grads and interviewees refreshing for algorithms.
A good look at some ways to write efficient code. It discusses various algorithms and techniques that can increase performance or reduce memory requirements. One of the problems with the book is that, being an older book, some of the content is less relevant today. You can get most of the algorithms as part of any programming language library, though the book does provide you the information to understand the trade-offs. A better font for the book and C++-style examples (at least for me) would a
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...and this book certainly deserves a place among them.
Targeted to experienced programmers, Programming Pearls reminds how important it is to think hard before approaching any problem, and to strive for elegance and efficiency.
Even years after its publication date, this book is full of insightful advice about programming as an art.
It is the best proof that programming languages may become obsolete, but good ideas never get old.
AFter reading this book, you would start to think in terms bit and bytes.
Super helpful to review data structures, algorithms and problem solving.
An interesting blast from the past. I think the big principles outlined in this book still apply today, but the examples are outdated. I read the first edition, not sure about the second. The principles are nicely summarised at the end of each chapter, following which some practice problems are provided. The author uses so many different languages it gets a little confusing at times though. So, what I took away from this book was not the technicalities, but rather key ideas that make one a bette
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It's not exactly an algorithm book.
It's not an introductory book either.
It's like a mechanical book on classical algorithms from very low level programming point of view.
It goes into details of how to build basic data structures with c code and c++ template, therefore, this book obviously needs basic c knowledge, but anyone who have already code in c most likely have read other algorithm textbooks, and almost certainly have already known all the stuff this book presented, that's awkward, isn't i ...more
It's not an introductory book either.
It's like a mechanical book on classical algorithms from very low level programming point of view.
It goes into details of how to build basic data structures with c code and c++ template, therefore, this book obviously needs basic c knowledge, but anyone who have already code in c most likely have read other algorithm textbooks, and almost certainly have already known all the stuff this book presented, that's awkward, isn't i ...more
I really like the way this book presents everything as a story. It has a bit of an old-world charm to it, given that a lot of war stories are from bell-labs and so on, and in a time where programming languages weren't as advanced as today. But the way it approaches algorithm design is timeless and inspiring. Also a perfectly sized book to read on commutes.
Feb 18, 2020
Josh Houghtelin
added it
I skimmed quite a bit of this. It's not the first time I read the book but I like to reference it from time to time to remind myself to think deeper than the package I'm using implement a solution for any given problem. I feel like this book would be especially good for folks that write searching and sorting functions a lot. ^_^
this book is probably the best algorithmic book I have ever read.
A must read although it is a bit old.
Lots of good stories about famous coders stuffed with interesting problems which I'll try to solve when I re-read it.
A bit outdated
Jon L. Bentley is king.
First two chapters were great prep for interviews.
A tough read, but I think worth it. Looking forward to backing this one up with similar works in the future.
I'm sure it's good, but I had a hard time getting anything out of it. I picked up a few "pearls" here and there, but overall it was hard to get through.
The book was elegantly written that also helped me create a habit of pursuing elegant solutions not only in programming but other aspects of life as well.
An older book on programming, but the lessons still hold true. Learning and knowing how to problem solve will always trump running to an algorithms text book and picking what looks right.
Lots of fun for programmers, and even though it's not necessarily very a la mode wrt current fashions, there's a lot of fabulous stuff in here.
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