From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 29420 invoked from network); 2 Feb 2022 07:48:15 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 2 Feb 2022 07:48:15 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 3326C9D6EC; Wed, 2 Feb 2022 17:48:12 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 270CC9B9F3; Wed, 2 Feb 2022 17:47:41 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id EF4579B9F3; Wed, 2 Feb 2022 17:47:37 +1000 (AEST) Received: from freefriends.org (freefriends.org [96.88.95.60]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 04BB39B95E for ; Wed, 2 Feb 2022 17:47:34 +1000 (AEST) X-Envelope-From: arnold@skeeve.com Received: from freefriends.org (freefriends.org [96.88.95.60]) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 2127lVe6005670 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NOT); Wed, 2 Feb 2022 00:47:32 -0700 Received: (from arnold@localhost) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) id 2127lTTh005669; Wed, 2 Feb 2022 00:47:29 -0700 From: arnold@skeeve.com Message-Id: <202202020747.2127lTTh005669@freefriends.org> X-Authentication-Warning: frenzy.freefriends.org: arnold set sender to arnold@skeeve.com using -f Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:47:29 -0700 To: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org, ralph@inputplus.co.uk References: <202202011537.211FbYSe017204@freefriends.org> <20220201155225.5A9541FB21@orac.inputplus.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <20220201155225.5A9541FB21@orac.inputplus.co.uk> User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.5 7/5/10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] ratfor vibe X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Ralph Corderoy wrote: > Hi Arnold, > > > In ~ 1981, Kernighan and Plauger rewrote the tools in Pascal and redid > > the book to go with it. This is > > https://www.amazon.com/Software-Tools-Pascal-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0201103427/ > > which I also recommend getting a copy of. > > I agree the original Software Tools is a must read, but having done so, > why would I suffer working through the hurdles put in place by Pascal > compared to Ratfor? I never bothered so your recommendation makes me > wonder what I missed. I did read Kernighan's ‘not my favourite’ > and took from that I wouldn't enjoy the Pascal book given I'd read > the original. > > -- > Cheers, Ralph. As others mentioned, recursion and real data structures make code easier to read. They also refined the text some. But in general, I think the principle of "ANYTHING written by Brian Kernighan is worth reading, at least once" applies, even in this case. FWIW, Brian has told me more than once that he wishes they'd done "Software Tools In C" instead of in Pascal, and that the Pascal book was a failure to read the market correctly. Long ago, I once dreamed that I found "Software Tools In C" in a bookstore; the cover had green lettering instead of the red and blue used in the real books. I was sorta disappointed when I woke up... :-) HTH, Arnold