[Tutor] how to read a program

[Alan Gauld]

"Anthony Parks" <abstractpoetry at gmail.com> wrote

> "what are particularly great programs to *read*. not like great 
> software,
> but great source code. somewhat like treating source code as a 
> literature,
> what are the classics?

I don't know anything specific in Python but one of the greatest
pieces of programming code ever is Donald Knuth's TeX program,
upon which LaTeX is built.

For a long time (maybe still) Knuth offered cash rewards for anyone
who could find a bug in TeX... a few were found but not many.

There is a good write up on TeX on wikipedia explaining many of
the important new concepts it introduced, most important in this
context being the idea ogf literate programming - programs 
specifically
designed to be easy to read...

HTH,

-- 
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld