Vikram Chandra Is a Novelist Who’s Obsessed with Writing Computer Code

Has anyone else read this? I gave up about 2/3 of the way through, partly because it was a memoir about someone I never got interested in and partly because it felt like a collection of essays.

Having said that the introductory chapters which describe how computers work are good for someone who doesn't know much about that.

Sacred Games is now on the reading list.

I shall have a look at Geek Sublime at a bookshop and decide then.

Quote about an earlier book from another interview...

"Sometimes even you can look at something you wrote six months back and be baffled. So the programmer’s job becomes that of, “a person should understand, by looking at a particular section of code exactly what it’s trying to do and exactly how it’s doing it”. One step beyond is that if you can do something elegant rather than a jugaadu solution. Often that also leads to better functionality."

http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/5tzbaP50JGO5bAfqZBPOzI/Code...

I might have to look more into this guy, speaking as a software developer who's taking a break from editing his novel in vim.

Good for him.

According to the Amazon preview, he quotes Paul Graham on the first page.

We must all go buy a copy now.

Also Butler Lampson, Don Knuth, and Greg Wilson.

On the other hand, the (only, currently) review has:

"I'm not sure who the audience for this book is, perhaps those interested in the philosophy of computing, if there is such a thing, but its certainly not a book I would recommend to the casual reader, despite enjoying it myself."

I've read a few things that seem to be of similar ilk---Abstracting Craft, Leonardo's Laptop, and Hackers and Painters come to mind---and I'm a little sceptical that it has anything truly mind-expanding to say.