Literate Programming

By Donald Ervin Knuth

Book Overview

Literate programming is a programming methodology that combines a programming language with a documentation language, making programs more robust, more portable, and more easily maintained than programs written only in a high-level language. Computer programmers already know both kinds of languages; they need only learn a few conventions about alternating between languages to create programs that are works of literature. A literate programmer is an essayist who writes programs for humans to understand, instead of primarily writing instructions for machines to follow. When programs are written in the recommended style they can be transformed into documents by a document compiler and into efficient code by an algebraic compiler. This anthology of essays from the inventor of literate programming includes Knuth's early papers on related topics such as structured programming, as well as the Computer Journal article that launched literate programming itself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0937073806
• ISBN13: 9780937073803
• Release Date: June 1992
• Publisher: Center for the Study of Language and Informat
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A book of historial value

This book is a collection of articles Prof. Knuth wrote about programming. He promoted a particular programming methodology called "literate programming", which weaves comments into codes and make them more readable and easier to maintain. This book was published in 1992, but Chapter 4, "Literate Programming", was originally...

A fundamentally new view of programming.

This book is the only one that I can say has truly changed my view of software development.The premise of this book matches my experience: technical communication with people is critical, and harder than communicating with the machines. Knuth carries that idea forward by one bold, logical step: in Literate Programming (LP), the main goal is to get technical ideas across to people. Programs are a co-product of the description...

Arguing for an aesthetic appreciation of programming

Writing computer programs is easy, writing programs that are useful is hard and writing programs that are very useful as well as correct sometimes seems impossible. Knuth takes this truism even further and offers up the radical notion that the very best programs are so profound that people will one day read them as one would a piece of classic literature. If the idea of curling up by the fire with a copy of The World's...

Articles related to literate programming.

Excellent analysis of control structures in the classic article "Structured Programming with goto Statements." Invents the literate programming style of program documentation. Convincingly demonstrates the literate programming style with six example programs. Includes an independent program criticism and an error log. Highly recommended.