Brian Kernighan's new book: D is for Digital | Hacker News Reader

Brian Kernighan's new book: D is for Digital

kernighan.com

116 pointshenry_flower22 comments

In 1978, he co-wrote "The C Programming Language." 34 years later, he's published "D Is For Digital." At this rate, he'll be done with the whole alphabet by the year 2760.

Knuth-esque ..

Am I the only one who thought that Kernighan was yet another D (the programming language) convert upon reading the title?

Yup, I thought D (for the language) and Digital for DigitalMars (for the compiler).

When I read the title my initial though was that this was a new book about D programming language from Digital Mars...

After a cursory glance, it seems a lot like Code by Petzold[1], or at least a similar concept in less detail. I loved that book, and I know most others did as well. I'd love to take a look at it.

[1] http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/

I read both. D is for Digital takes up where Code leaves off. It's an easier read, Code gets harder near the end.

I just starting learning programming in January, and both Code and D is for digital were indispensable for the context they gave me.

Nobody reading HN is in the target audience for this book.

However, we probably have acquaintances and relatives who could benefit.

There are probably more than a few HN'ers who are interested in Dennis Richie's take on these things because of their interest in what he thinks. It is analogous to the reasons HN'ers are interested in PG's thoughts about High School.

Ummm...the book is authored by Brian Kernighan, not dmr. But I can see that the crux of your argument still holds if you substitute Kernighan back.

A book like that can also be useful for understanding what you take for granted.

If Kernighan explains a concept that seems obvious, it's almost certainly because most people haven't a clue about it.

I'm getting it for myself -- Kernighan is a wonderful writer, and I want to see how a master can explain technical concepts gracefully.

In the wake of the ignorance highlighted by SOPA et al this book seems prescient. It sounds like a useful tome to pass on to older, yet intelligent, relatives so they can better understand how and what information they enter or leave on the Internet is collected.

Perfect gift for my girlfriend :)

Yep, I just bought it for my girlfriend's Kindle. We've been talking about how computers work lately - this seems like a great supplement.

I'm sort of curious to read it, too.

Some other neat things by and about Mr. Kernighan linked to on this page. Even though this book focuses on rudimentary concepts, I feel like I have to have it on my shelf.

Thanks! I'm getting the book for myself, as well as for my young nephews/nieces who I'd like to introduce to CS.

Hope to see an updated edition of "The C programming language" for C99.

Sadly that is unlikely now that DMR is dead :(

But another collaboration with Rob Pike on a book about Go is likely.

I had hoped for it as well, but it might never happen.

Now we have already C11, and AFAIK there isn't a single compiler that fully supports C99, let alone C11.

Then we have companies like Microsoft which nowadays care only about C++, and won't improve the C standard support beyond C89 on their compiler.

I think gcc and (maybe) clang have good support for C99:

http://gcc.gnu.org/c99status.html

Good support is not 100%.

Plus not all projects are allowed to use gcc or clang.

Case in point, I worked in a project where the UNIX compilers used had to be the standard vendor ones for Aix, HP-UX and Solaris.

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