Discussion summary
Discussions about Donald Knuth's 'The Art of Computer Programming' include opinions on its language choices, historical context, and pricing. Some suggest alternative languages like Pascal or PL-1, while others focus on the educational value of the pseudo-assembly code.
What the discussion says
- Some prefer higher-level languages for clarity.
- The pseudo-assembly language is seen as both valuable and outdated.
- Pricing of the books is considered high by some.
- Knuth's work is seen as timeless by some commenters.
“It could have been written in Pascal, which is simple and clear.”
“The code examples are in pseudo-assembly, which some find valuable.”
Comments
Hacker News
I really like the books listed in the link to American Scientist's book recommendations[0] on that page.
[0]: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/100-or-so-books-th...
by sourdecor
From Future Plans...
> And after Volumes 1--5 are done, God willing, I plan to publish Volume 6 (the theory of context-free languages) and Volume 7 (Compiler techniques), but only if the things I want to say about those topics are still relevant and still haven't been said. Volumes 1--5 represent the central core of computer programming for sequential machines; the subjects of Volumes 6 and 7 are important but more specialized.
by jdnier
I'm sure most of it is above my head, but I purchased the entire set in a mispricing for approximately ~$40 some time ago, and I'm really happy to have it in my library.
by ocd
Receiving one of Don's cheques ("Bank of San Serif" ;-) a few months after pointing out an error has been many a computer scientist's career highlight!
by jll29
After years of dipping into random chapters for reference I read through the first 2.5 volumes sequentially until life got too busy. I plan on gifting the current full set to myself this xmas- but even if you just dip into it like a coffee table book it’s a wonderful read that breaks up tough sections with humor.
by klik99
About $340 for the full set of eBooks.
Also: "Please do not tell me about errors that you find in an eBook, whether it's PDF or not, unless the same errors are present in a printed copy; such mistakes should be reported directly to the publisher."
Glad he thought to mention this, but I suspect his inbox will still be inundated.
I am not a believer, but pray that whichever $DEITY is watching over Donald Knuth allows him a healthy and long life to reach the achievement of finishing volume 7.
by TheChaplain
Latest Knuth preprint: "Fillomino Densities", dated 2026-07-01
From a previous preprint titled "Claude’s Cycle", dated 2026-02-28 [2]:
It seems that I’ll have to revise my opinions about “generative AI” one of these days. What a joy it is to learn not only that my conjecture has a nice solution but also to celebrate this dramatic advance in automatic deduction and creative problem solving. I’ll try to tell the story briefly in this note.
[2] https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/papers/claude-cyc...
by dolmen
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- Hacker News
- I really like the books listed in the link to American Scientist's book recommendations[0] on that page.
[0]: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/100-or-so-books-th...
by sourdecor - From Future Plans...
> And after Volumes 1--5 are done, God willing, I plan to publish Volume 6 (the theory of context-free languages) and Volume 7 (Compiler techniques), but only if the things I want to say about those topics are still relevant and still haven't been said. Volumes 1--5 represent the central core of computer programming for sequential machines; the subjects of Volumes 6 and 7 are important but more specialized.
by jdnier - I'm sure most of it is above my head, but I purchased the entire set in a mispricing for approximately ~$40 some time ago, and I'm really happy to have it in my library.by ocd
- Receiving one of Don's cheques ("Bank of San Serif" ;-) a few months after pointing out an error has been many a computer scientist's career highlight!by jll29
- After years of dipping into random chapters for reference I read through the first 2.5 volumes sequentially until life got too busy. I plan on gifting the current full set to myself this xmas- but even if you just dip into it like a coffee table book it’s a wonderful read that breaks up tough sections with humor.by klik99
- About $340 for the full set of eBooks.
Also: "Please do not tell me about errors that you find in an eBook, whether it's PDF or not, unless the same errors are present in a printed copy; such mistakes should be reported directly to the publisher."
Glad he thought to mention this, but I suspect his inbox will still be inundated.
- I am not a believer, but pray that whichever $DEITY is watching over Donald Knuth allows him a healthy and long life to reach the achievement of finishing volume 7.by TheChaplain
- Latest Knuth preprint: "Fillomino Densities", dated 2026-07-01
From a previous preprint titled "Claude’s Cycle", dated 2026-02-28 [2]:
[1] https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/papers/fillomino-...It seems that I’ll have to revise my opinions about “generative AI” one of these days. What a joy it is to learn not only that my conjecture has a nice solution but also to celebrate this dramatic advance in automatic deduction and creative problem solving. I’ll try to tell the story briefly in this note.[2] https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/papers/claude-cyc...
by dolmen