Comments on: Book review: “The Practice of Programming” by Kernighan & Pike http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2009/11/30/book-review-the-practice-of-programming-by-kernighan-pike/ Eli Bendersky's personal website Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:32:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Lindsay http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2009/11/30/book-review-the-practice-of-programming-by-kernighan-pike/comment-page-1/#comment-261181 Lindsay Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:04:18 +0000 http://eli.thegreenplace.net/?p=2000#comment-261181 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. 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.

]]> By: eliben http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2009/11/30/book-review-the-practice-of-programming-by-kernighan-pike/comment-page-1/#comment-235123 eliben Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:11:34 +0000 http://eli.thegreenplace.net/?p=2000#comment-235123 @Erik, thanks for the thoughtful comment. It's always interesting to see how people perceive books differently. @Erik, thanks for the thoughtful comment. It’s always interesting to see how people perceive books differently.

]]> By: Erik Knowles http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2009/11/30/book-review-the-practice-of-programming-by-kernighan-pike/comment-page-1/#comment-233691 Erik Knowles Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:06:16 +0000 http://eli.thegreenplace.net/?p=2000#comment-233691 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. 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.

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