Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 005.1 EAN: 9780596510046 Format: Illustrated ISBN: 0596510047 Label: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 618 Publication Date: June 26, 2007 Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Sales Rank: 12216 Studio: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Product DescriptionHow do the experts solve difficult problems in software development? In this unique and insightful book, leading computer scientists offer case studies that reveal how they found unusual, carefully designed solutions to high-profile projects. You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts to see problems through their eyes. This is not simply another design patterns book, or another software engineering treatise on the right and wrong way to do things. The authors think aloud as they work through their project's architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction, and when it was important to break rules. Beautiful Code is an opportunity for master coders to tell their story. All author royalties will be donated to Amnesty International. tion.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A couple of great essays, a bunch of so so ones.
I must say I was pretty disappointed with this book. I expected so much more. The lead off piece by Brian Kernighan is the best in the book. I hoped that the rest of the book would at least try to be as good, but other than Matz's essay and perhaps Bently's (I can't remember now) they were mostly drek. Several were agonizingly boring, long fluff pieces about something they worked on that read as histories of the work they did on a piece of software. Very little insight into the creative process ... Read More
Rating: - Uneven, Uninteresting
There's a critical need for a book on code aesthetics, elegance and comprehensibility that goes beyond simple style guidelines -- this isn't that book. The contributions are uneven, a few border on the incomprehensible, and most are simply not worth the time. There are no revelations or insights to be had.
Rating: - dont see the point of this book
i regret buying this book. i dont see the beauty of the code nor do i see how many of the contributors think. much of the material described here is accessible else where and probably in a more readable and enjoyable form.
the map reduce article is lame compared to its original version. the authors had to put something in there from google, i felt.
the beautiful concurrency in haskell is overstated.
Rating: - Interesting Code
This book is a mixed box of chocolates. Don't read it expecting a lot of useful ideas on how to improve your code: It's more of a book you read to widen your horizon a bit. Each chapter stands on its own and talks about a different project. Languages include C, Java, Perl, Python, Lisp and others.
Fortunately, most authors don't dwell too much on their definitions of "beautiful" code (a rough consensus appears to be that beautiful code is readable, concise, efficient, and, surprise, does ... Read More
Rating: - Much of this book will be inaccessible due to the choices of languages
Two older books that you should buy instead:
Programming Pearls, by Jon Bentley.
Programmers at Work, by Susan Lammers.
- A couple of great essays, a bunch of so so ones.
- Uneven, Uninteresting
- Interesting Code
