| Details | | Publication Date: | 1992-04-01 | | Series: | Csli Lecture Notes | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 368 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 28.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
Literate programming is a programming methodology that combines a programming language with a documentation language, making programs more robust, more portable, and more easily maintained than programs written only in a high-level language. Computer scientists already know both kinds of languages; they need only learn a few conventions about alternating between languages to create programs that are works of literature. A literate programmer is an essayist who writes programs for humans to understand, instead of primarily writing instructions for machines to follow. When programs are written in a recommended style they can be transformed into documents by a document compiler and into efficient code by an algebraic compiler.This anthology of essays from the inventor of literate programming includes Knuth's early papers on related topics such as structured programming, as well as the Computer Journal article that launched literate programming. Many examples are given, including excerpts from the programs for TEX and METAFONT. The final essay is an example of CWEB, a system for literate programming in C and related languages.
Industry Reviews
If programming is an art, then Donald Knuth is Michaelangelo. Knuth feels that computer programs and books about computer programming should be interesting, entertaining, and literate. Thirteen of Knuth's most interesting essays are collected here, including the Computer Journal article that launched literate programming. Although most of the examples are in either Pascal or ALGOL 60, C programmers and others will still benefit from the material. The last essay describes CWEB, a system for literate programming in C and related languages. Highly recommended for all programmers and would-be programmers. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
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