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Books : reviews

Brian W. Kernighan, P. J. Plauger.
Software Tools.
Addison Wesley. 1976

(read but not reviewed)

With the same style and clarity that characterized their highly acclaimed book, The Elements of Programming Style, the authors have written Software Tools to teach how to write good programs that make good tools. The programs contained in the book are not artificial, but are actual programs — tools which have proved valuable in the production of other programs.

Modern programming techniques such as structured programming and top-down design are emphasized and applied to every program. The programs are presented in a structured language called Ratfor (“Rational Fortran”) which can be easily understood by anyone familiar with Fortran, PL/l, Algol, PASCAL, or similar languages. (Ratfor translates readily into Fortran or PL/1. One of the tools presented is a preprocessor to translate Ratfor into Fortran). All of the programs are complete and have been tested directly from the text. The programs are available in machine-readable form from Addison-Wesley.

Software Tools is ideal for use in a “software engineering” course, for a second course in programming, or as a supplement in any programming course. All programmers, professional and student, will find the book invaluable as a source of proven, useful programs for reading and study. Numerous exercises are provided to test comprehension and to extend the concepts presented in the text.

Brian W. Kernighan, P. J. Plauger.
The Elements of Programming Style: 2nd edn.
McGraw Hill. 1978

(read but not reviewed)

Brian W. Kernighan, P. J. Plauger.
Software Tools in Pascal.
Addison Wesley. 1981

(read but not reviewed)

With the same style and clarity that characterized their highly acclaimed book, The Elements of Programming Style and Software Tools, the authors have written Software Tools in Pascal to teach how to write good Pascal programs that make good tools. The programs contained in the book are not artificial, but are actual tools which have proved valuable in the production of other programs.

Structured programming and top-down design are emphasized and applied to every program, as are principles of sound design, testing, efficiency and portability. All of the programs are complete and have been tested directly from the text. The programs are available in machine-readable form from Addison-Wesley.

Software Tools in Pascal is ideal for use in a software engineering course, for a second course in programming, or as a supplement in any programming course. All programmers, professional and student, will find the book invaluable as a source of proven, useful programs for reading and study. Numerous exercises are provided to test comprehension and to extend the concepts presented in the book.