Selected Papers on Computer Science
by Donald Knuth · first published 1996
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4HN commenters
2009–2023first – last mentioned
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A collection of speeches and essays on mathematics, algorithms and remembrances.
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Knuth: Selected Papers on Computer Science http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Computer-Science-Language-Inf...
on “Papers Every Programmer Should Read” ↗…traditional aesthetic and literary forms as well as mathematical concepts, to communicate the way that an algorithm works and to convince a reader that the results will be correct.” ― Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Computer Science Notice "human beings", plural; so not just the person who's writing the code.
on “Ask HN: Strategies for working with engineers that are too smart?” ↗(1972), reprinted as Chapter 11 of Selected Papers on Computer Science (https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cs.html) [Changes are usually minor but in this case there's an erratum published in 1976, https://doi.org/10.1145/800127.804066 p 108.] Fun fact: Knuth actually learned…
on “Ancient Babylonian Algorithms” ↗…footsteps of the pioneers who have come up with significant new “mind-benders” as civilization developed. Many years ago I wrote an essay that asked “Are toy problems useful?” [reprinted as Chapter 10 in Selected Papers on Computer Science] in which I discussed at some length my view that students are best served by teachers who present them with well-chosen recreational problems. And I've carried on in the same vein ever since, most recently…
on “A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf] ” ↗