Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries

The OCC code snippets and Don Libes commentary should be a required reading in any programming class. Unfortunately It is hard to find. This book was an relevation, the gems in it proved that language (C/C++/Java) has nothing to do with beatiful ideas and the genius of programmers like Larry Wall (past winners of OCC) and the algorithms that make a program. Read this book, and you will never have to join a 'C vs C++ vs Java' discussions, you will be too busy writing beautiful program, in the tradition of Stallman, Knuth and Wall. Programs should be beautiful like Poetry.

If you liked the ``butt ugly fish book'' from Peter van der Linden, you'll love Libes! Like _Expert C Programming_, this is an immensely readable book complete with humor and occasional drama. Don't let the ``Obfuscated'' part of the title fool you. The book doesn't dwell excessively on the IOCC nor is it oblique. Libes does an excellent job of turning obfuscation (and mystery) into clarity. It's great _recreational_ reading for C linguists...with recreational meant in the ``re-create'' sense of the word. Hey Don -- how 'bout an update so you can merit a 10 rating?!?

This book is not only about obfuscated C, as seen in the Obfuscted C Code Contest, although that is certainly a big part of the book. Libes also covers a lot of other ground, that will be a big help in your day-to-day programming. But that isn't all: Libes actually makes all this hardcore C stuff fun! I burst out laughing many times while reading the book, which (you may have discovered) doesn't happen often, when reading books on programming. This book is for anyone who thinks that C-programming will one day be recognized as the artform it truly is!