Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!igor!dsb@Rational.COM
From: dsb@Rational.COM (David S. Bakin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Efficiency AND Readability
Message-ID: <343@igor.Rational.COM>
Date: 12 Nov 88 15:56:18 GMT
References: <141@twwells.uucp> <3386@geaclib.UUCP> <8839@smoke.BRL.MIL> <1859@garth.UUCP>
Sender: news@igor.Rational.COM
Reply-To: dsb@Rational.COM (David S. Bakin)
Organization: Rational
Lines: 18
In-reply-to: smryan@garth.UUCP (Steven Ryan)

In article <1859@garth.UUCP>, smryan@garth (Steven Ryan) writes:
>>                                                  There is also debate
>>about whether WEB is really worthwhile; a couple of years ago in the
>>Programming Pearls column in CACM, Knuth contributed a WEB example
>>which Doug McIlroy really tore apart.
>
>He attacked the algorithm, not so much the presentation.

I don't think he attacked the algorithm -- the algorithm was new and totally
elegant.  But in the context of the particular problem it was like going after
a fly with a cannon.  But Bentley (the column editor) defended it on the 
grounds that it was, after all, an example, the problem was simple so the
solution could be published in a monthly column, but a problem that simple
(solved with a Unix 1-liner) wouldn't be a good exposition of WEB.  -- Dave
----------------------------------------------------------
Dave Bakin				    (408) 496-3600
c/o Rational; 3320 Scott Blvd.; Santa Clara, CA 95054-3197
Internet:  dsb@rational.com	 Uucp:  ...!uunet!igor!dsb