Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by username90 2755 days ago
How do programming books prove correctness of the algorithms taught? Hand waving. It is very frustrating to read for me, mathematical texts are a lot better at proving things.
1 comments

In mathematics as well as in programming, there are rigorous and less rigorous texts. Compare “Linear Algebra for Dummies” with “Principia Mathematica”, for example. I haven’t read the first or more than a page or so of the second, but I think you’ll find the latter more rigorous.

Similarly, in programming, “Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours” is wildly different from “the Art of Computer Programming” (a series of books that you may like reading)