Ebook: Elements of Programming

I wanted to find a book that would give a very formal and mathematical perspective on computer programming and that is what I got. I found this book very difficult to read. The concepts were often foreign, abstract and often described in a very terse manor. However, after reading and re-reading sections of the book it started to slowly make sense. Once I started understanding a little bit it made more and more sense and I really started to appreciate what the book was doing.

I have never come across problem solving presented in this manor before. The algorithms initially appear quite cryptic but once I read and desk-checked the algorithms they came across as quite clever - who would have thought there was so much to be said about 'power algorithm'. I would recommend this book to anyone who is up for a challenge - who can appreciate code that doesn't have an immediate application to business application development. It is certainly not an easy read and is suited to mathematically minded programmer.

That being said, I do have some complaints. Sometimes the book comes across as overly terse, they give one explanation that's it. It could have used diagrams to better communicate an idea. It lacks an explicit overarching theme and direction.

There is one warning I will give to the prospectus buyer: "The book does not have worked examples, solutions to the exercises, nor does it give proofs for all of the lemmas." This is not a real problem but it breaks the flow of the book as you have to stop and convince yourself that the information presented is correct.

All and all it is a stimulating, interesting and challenging book.