A Discipline of Programming
A Discipline of Programming (Prentice-Hall Series in Automatic Computation) Edward W. Dijkstra, Edsger Wybe Dijkstra,
Publisher: Tandem Library
ISBN: 0613924118
Edition: Hardcover; 1976-03
Summary:
Author Edsger W. Dijkstra introduces A Discipline of Programming with
the statement, "My original idea was to publish a number of beautiful
algorithms in such a way that the reader could appreciate their
beauty." In this classic work, Dijkstra achieves this goal and
accomplishes a great deal more. He begins by considering the
questions, "What is an algorithm?" and "What are we doing when we
program?" These questions lead him to an interesting digression on
the semantics of programming languages, which, in turn, leads to
essays on programming language constructs, scoping of variables, and
array references. Dijkstra then delivers, as promised, a collection
of beautiful algorithms. These algorithms are far ranging, covering
mathematical computations, various kinds of sorting problems, pattern
matching, convex hulls, and more. Because this is an old book, the
algorithms presented are sometimes no longer the best available.
However, the value in reading A Discipline of Programming is to
absorb and understand the way that Dijkstra thought about these
problems, which, in some ways, is more valuable than a thousand
algorithms.
Book Details:
Edition Info: Hardcover; 1976-03
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