Ask HN: Is TAOCP helpful in real life reasoning?
I was thinking of pursuing the difficult task of going through TAOCP cover to cover. Is it helpful in real life CS/software reasoning or is it just academic stimuli?
4 comments
It is an amazing book by the standards of books in general.
That's a reasonable reason to read it.
It's at the foundation of computer science.
Thats a reasonable reason to read it.
It's really fucking challenging.
that's an adult reason to try to read it.
And the reason, people don't.
Good luck.
And because Knuth has been writing it for more than sixty years and because Knuth is almost certainly more expert than you and because TAOCP is full of things that Knuth found difficult it is unreasonable to expect to read it cover to cover for any adult definition of "read" in any reasonable amount of time.
That's a reasonable reason to read it.
It's at the foundation of computer science.
Thats a reasonable reason to read it.
It's really fucking challenging.
that's an adult reason to try to read it.
And the reason, people don't.
Good luck.
And because Knuth has been writing it for more than sixty years and because Knuth is almost certainly more expert than you and because TAOCP is full of things that Knuth found difficult it is unreasonable to expect to read it cover to cover for any adult definition of "read" in any reasonable amount of time.
Are there any specific sections I should focus on reading? Or just see what seems interesting and go with that?
The other day I read the chapter about linear search possibly the most basic topics and found a new way to write loops. It’s a treasure trove.
It is all potentially interesting and as a long term project what is uninteresting today, might be interesting later as your knowledge and interests change.
There is no quiz next Tuesday and no grade at the end of the quarter. Give yourself permission to not understand, to not treat it like work, and to come and go as suits you.
There is no quiz next Tuesday and no grade at the end of the quarter. Give yourself permission to not understand, to not treat it like work, and to come and go as suits you.