Book review: “The Practice of Programming” by Kernighan & Pike
November 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pmTPOP is a typical “how to be a good programmer” book, somewhat similar to Code Complete, with a little bit of Programming Pearls mixed in. What really sets it apart, IMHO, is its authors – the combined rep of Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike is very hard to beat!
I’m saying it’s similar to Code Complete because mostly the same subjects are covered, just in much less length. Programming style, algorithms, interfaces, debugging, testing, portability and other subjects are covered in a light and flowing manner. The advice given is solid, the examples are relevant and interesting and valuable insights are shared. This isn’t the first time the book falls into my hands (I flipped through it a few years ago) and I still found it very interesting.
Any programmer should read at least one book like TPOP. In addition to learning one’s languages and environments, it’s very valuable to read something about the process (or practice) of programming as well. For this purpose, something short and lightweight like TPOP or The Pragmatic Programmer is recommended. Tackling an encyclopedia like Code Complete is a feat for the most hard-core fans of the trade only.
The only criticism of TPOP is that it feels a bit dated, although written only 10 years ago. I think that the age of the authors shows – they are around since the early days of C and Unix, back when Awk was the coolest kid on the block. Sure, they mix some C-ish Java code in for the hype, but the book still feels like something written in the 70s.
All in all though, I do recommend it.
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December 8th, 2009 at 21:06
I have to respectfully disagree with you on your review. I found the book to be merely a collection of hacks for living with a painfully dated language (C) (the Java examples were obviously added as an afterthought to make the book more “cool” for the kids). The authors’ reps. might be a good reason to read a book, but never a good reason to recommend one.
As for Code Complete…I wouldn’t call it an encyclopedia. It reads beautifully; the text is breezy and informal and the author is quick and to-the-point on a nice variety of subjects.
In my opinion, you really can’t compare the two books. Code Complete aims to be a pretty comprehensive study of the mechanics of coding, while Practice of Programming, well…I’m not actually sure *what* that book was intended to accomplish. It’s just a jumble.
December 12th, 2009 at 08:11
@Erik, thanks for the thoughtful comment. It’s always interesting to see how people perceive books differently.
February 8th, 2010 at 16:04
I have only read one of the books and for me it was a tough read working through the examples. I would guess it will simply take more work and years to get into it more. I do thank you for your book comparison and your work.