Programming on Purpose

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

• rramadass · Apr 14, 2026 · Recommends

  …not as complicated and relatively easier to understand than GNU libc and libstdc++. Of course i have both the books which explain the implementation. 3) His other set of interesting books are the 3-vol Programming on Purpose; a series of essays on various topics. The 1st is on Software Design, the 2nd is on Software People and the 3rd is on Software Technology. They also contain lots of nuggets of wisdom which are still relevant…

  on “The Journal of C Language Translation” ↗
• gashaw · Jan 11, 2020 · Recommends

  Programming on Purpose - Essays on Software Design, by P.J Plauger

  on “Ask HN: You can only recommend 1 Tech book – name it” ↗
• binomial · Nov 28, 2010 · Recommends

  …Program Development Peter Norvig, Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming Chris Okasaki, Purely Functional Data Structures Richard O'Keefe, The Craft of Prolog P. J. Plauger, Programming on Purpose I. (and II and III) P. J. Plauger, The Standard C Library Jef Raskin, The Humane Interface Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach Toby Segaran, Programming…

  on “Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?” ↗
• scruple · Nov 22, 2021 · Recommends

  I think these meet the criteria... P. J. Plauger's "Programming on Purpose" series of essays. Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki. I would put both of these alongside Bentley's "Programming Pearls" books which I saw mentioned in another comment.

  on “Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?” ↗
• myg204 · Dec 28, 2013 · Recommends

  …nice list. I have read maybe 30% of the books listed, and I agree, they do contain great and subtle insights. Definitely books that I like to pick up again and again. I'd add those 2 to the list: (i) "Programming on Purpose: Essays on Software Design" by P.J. Plauger, and (ii) the two "Programming Pearls"/"More Programming Pearls" by Jon Bentley.

  on “Some books with crunchy code” ↗
• cafard · Aug 13, 2015 · Recommends

  …thought highly of the programmers because he knew he couldn't program, and thought little of the rest of us. This was good incentive to learn programming, but otherwise annoying. One of P.J. Plauger's "Programming on Purpose" books has a very good essay on the importance of tech support.

  on “How the Glorification of Software Developers Compromises Tech Companies” ↗
• rramadass · Jan 20, 2020 · Recommends

  …the way viewpoints one truly grows. Some books from my collection which i have not seen mentioned here (in no particular order or categorization); * The Natural History of Nonsense by Bergan Evans * Programming on Purpose, Essays on Software Design by P. J. Plauger * Management: A Political Activity by Ted Stephenson * The Energy of Life: The Science of What Makes Our Minds and Bodies Work by Guy Brown * Patterns for…

  on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗
• 95014_refugee · Nov 19, 2022 · Recommends

  …while you are trying to find yourself, may help you find a thread, or a style, or a philosophy that resonates with (or delightfully challenges) you. With that said, I am a big, big fan of Plauger's 'Programming on Purpose' books. Nothing is perfect, but he does a remarkably good job of laying out basic principles - building blocks - that can help you go from programming intuitively ("cowboy style") to making software in…

  on “Ask HN: Greybeard cowboy coder looking for advice on being more professional” ↗
• cafard · Jul 19, 2012 · Mentions

  There was an essay by P.J. Plauger, I suppose collected into one of his "Programming on Purpose" volumes, talking about somebody he had worked with who was told to show off computers (then very new) to some biologists. He wrote a simple program that new how to generate itself to output (punched…

  on “If You Are Hit By Two Atomic Bombs, Should You Have Kids?” ↗