TITLE: My Jacket Blurb for "Exercises in Programming Style"
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: July 02, 2014  4:31 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
On Monday, my copy of Crista Lopes's new book,
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Exercises-Programming-Style-Cristina-Videira/dp/1482227371">
   Exercises in Programming Style</A>,
arrived.  After blogging about the book
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2013-05.html#e2013-05-21T15_05_10.htm">
   last year</A>,
Crista asked me to review some early chapters.  After I did
that, the publisher graciously offered me a courtesy copy.
I'm glad it did!  The book goes well beyond Crista's
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2013-10.html#e2013-10-07T12_07_34.htm">
   talk at StrangeLoop</A>
last fall, with thirty three styles grouped loosely into
nine categories.  Each chapter includes historical notes and
a reading list for going deeper.  Readers of this blog know
that I often like to go deeper.

I haven't had a chance to study any of the chapters deeply
yet, so I don't have a detailed review.  For now, let me
share the blurb I wrote for the back cover.  It gives a sense
of why I was so excited by the chapters I reviewed last summer
and by Crista's talk last fall:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
It is difficult to appreciate a programming style until you
see it in action.  Cristina's book does something amazing:
it shows us dozens of styles in action on the same program.
The program itself is simple.  The result, though, is a
deeper understanding of how thinking differently about a
problem gives rise to very different programs.  This book
not only introduced me to several new styles of thinking;
it also taught me something new about the styles I already
know well and use every day.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

The best way to appreciate a style is to use it yourself.  I
think Crista's book opens the door for many programmers to
do just that with many styles most of us don't use very often.

As for the blurb itself: it sounds a little stilted as I read
it now, but I stand by the sentiment.  It is very cool to see
my blurb and name along side blurbs from James Noble and Grady
Booch, two people whose work I respect so much.  Very cool.
Leave it to James to sum up his thoughts in a sentence!

While you are waiting for your copy of Crista's book to arrive,
check out her recent blog entry on
<A HREF="http://tagide.com/blog/2014/02/the-evolution-of-cs-papers/">
   the evolution of CS papers</A>
in publication over the last 50+ years.  It presents a lot of
great information, with some nice images of pages from a few
classics.  It's worth a read.
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