A discipline of programming. Edsger W. Dijkstra

A discipline of programming


A.discipline.of.programming.pdf
ISBN: 013215871X,9780132158718 | 232 pages | 6 Mb


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A discipline of programming Edsger W. Dijkstra
Publisher: Prentice Hall, Inc.




It's important to remember that all programming languages require a discipline that most of us don't have. The technology itself would be useless if human creativity is not included in its application. It matters because ultimately writing code is about discipline and details. Python has an identity crisis sometimes. Does it really matter what the code looks like? But it by no means suggests that in order to be a great designer you must also be a great programmer. Programming languages are intolerant of error in grammar or syntax. Instead, game design has emerged as its own distinct discipline. It starts with the premise, from Guido's prior work on ABC, to make a simple but easy to understand language. Dijkstra's 1976 book, A Discipline of Programming, explains a design process which is very clearly the origin of both TDD and Design by Contract. Somewhere in the middle are the true software engineers, who approach computer programming in a disciplined and rigourous knowledge-based manner, similar to that of engineers in other fields. That's not accidental — I think that, even in as fast-moving a discipline as programming, it takes time for a book to establish itself as a classic; and the really good books are timeless. The short answer is an emphatic 'yes'. If you are feeling scholarly, Edsger W. 'The Pragmatic Programmer' isn't about a particular language or development environment, but it teach programmers how to think about programming as a discipline.