[Tutor] Lists... [book recommendation for Programming Pearls]

[Daniel Yoo]

On Fri, 1 Jun 2001, Michael Schmitt wrote:

> So is the book programming language independent?  Will I get anything
> out of it if I don't know C and only Python?

It uses a bit of C, C++, and pseudocode, but the ideas are very
transferable to Python.  The focus of the book is conceptual. Here's part
of his Preface:


"""The columns in this book are about a more glamorous aspect of the
profession: programming pearls whose origins lie beyond solid engineering,
in the realm of insight and creativity.  Just as natural pearls grow from
grains of sand that have irritated oysters, these programming pearls have
grown from real problems that have irritated real programmers.  The
programs are fun, and they teach important programming techniques and
fundamental design principles.

Most of these essays originally appeared in my "Programming Pearls" column
in Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery.  They were
collected, revised, and published as the first edition of this book in
1986.  Twelve of the thirteen pieces in the first edition have been edited
substantially for this edition, and three new columns hav ebeen added.

The only backgorund the book assumes is programming experience in a
high-level language.  Advanced techniques (such as templates in C++) show
up now and then, but the reader unfamiliar with such topics will be able
to skip to the next section with impunity.

Although each column may be read by itself, there is a logical grouping to
the complete set.  columns 1 through 5 form Part I of the book.  They
review programming fundamentals: problem definition, algorithms, data
structures and program verification and testing.  Part II is built around
the theme of efficiency, which is sometimes important in itself and is
always a fine springboard into interesting programming problems.  Part III
applies those techniques to several substantial problems in sorting,
searching and strings."""


Whew!  Anyway, I recommend taking a look at it in your local bookstore,
and see if it's useful for you.  It's one of the books I really wish
someone had recommended to me years ago, so that's why I'm recommending it
now.  *grin*

Hope this helps!