

Ask HN: How many of you have read The Art of Programming ? - ideamonk

I was just wondering what views the fellow hackers have about the 3 volumes of famous work of D.E. Knuth... my prof says Its a must read for every CS major... is it ?
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michael_dorfman
I agree with your Prof (for strong values of "CS".)

It's not a work of Software Engineering, and it's certainly not "must-read"
for programmers who stick to writing simple apps in existing frameworks or
high level languages.

However, if you are interested in the discipline of Computer Science, it's
essential.

(And don't limit yourself to the first 3 volumes-- there's about 500 pages of
Volume 4 out now, which contains some great stuff.)

If you're on the fence, I'd strongly recommend watching some of Knuth's
"Computer Musings" videos (which are available on iTunes, or via the Stanford
web site.) I especially liked the one on "Sideways Heaps"...

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ideamonk
Hey thats very enlightening... thanks

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yan
I haven't read it, but it sits on my bookshelf as a reference.

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ideamonk
and do you really refer it once a month?

