Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!paralogics!shaw
From: shaw@paralogics.UUCP (Guy Shaw)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Wanted: advice on a good C textbook
Summary: Puzzle books and style guides serve different purposes
Message-ID: <241@paralogics.UUCP>
Date: 23 Jul 89 19:52:39 GMT
References: <2790@ssc-vax.UUCP> <5005@ficc.uu.net> <1900@prune.bbn.com> <5091@ficc.uu.net>
Organization: Paralogics; Santa Monica, CA
Lines: 68

In article <1900@prune.bbn.com> rsalz@bbn.com (Rich Salz) writes:

>Ick.  I highly disrecommend this book.  It teaches you to debug code that
>only a psychopath would write, and warps you into looking for things that
>are almost never there.

AND

In article <5091@ficc.uu.net>, walker@ficc.uu.net (Walker Mangum) writes:

> I presume that those of you who argue that exposure to bad code causes 
> one to create bad code work alone, or only with other perfect programmers.
> 
> Anyway, I still *highly* recommed _The C Puzzle Book_.  I don't think 
> that bad coding style (and, I agree, it's in there) is contagious from
> mere exposure.  I didn't recommend using any of the styles in the book,
> and I don't give a crap what standard the puzzles do or don't conform
> to.  The point is, if you can answer the puzzles correctly, you MUST
> possess a good working knowledge of C.

I also recommend _The C Puzzle Book_.  Yes, I admit it.  I have gotten
a lot of flak about that over the years, especially from Pascal and Ada
advocates who believe that the mere possibility of such a book is reason
to condemn the C language.  The other major category of criticism is not
directed at C itself, but at the corrupting influence this book might have
on impressionable, young programmers' minds.  (Hmmm.  Banning books is too
extreme; perhaps, technical book stores should have adults-only sections
for books like these.)

The concern that this book teaches bad programming reminds me of the book,
_How to Lie with Statistics_ by Darrell Huff.  In the introduction, he writes:

  "This book is sort of a primer in ways to use statistics to deceive.
  It may seem altogether too much like a manual for swindlers.
  Perhaps I can justify it in the manner of the retired burglar
  whose reminiscences amounted to a graduate course in how to pick
  a lock and muffle a footfall: The crooks already know these tricks;
  honest men must learn them in self-defense."

Just because I recommend this book does not mean that I recommend it
as a primer or a style guide.  Puzzle books, primers, style guides,
and reference books all serve different purposes, and should be used
by different people at different stages of learning and to address
different problems.

It never once occurred to me that someone would pick up _The C Puzzle Book_
and think, "Gee, maybe I can pick up some programming style hints."

I, occasionally, do crossword puzzles, and I don't worry about the influence
that they may have on my writing style.  At least so far,
I  D
   E
H  L
A  E
V  T   A
EXPERIENCED
N  R   Y
T  I  E
   O  F
   U  F
   SIDE
      C
      T
      S.
--
Guy Shaw
Paralogics
uunet!paralogics!shaw