In his book Bentley assumes little more than a working knowledge of C, but it's in no way a guide to C. Rather, it approaches programming in the same way William Morris approached design--as a creative act founded on knowledge of the craft. From the first essay, Bentley emphasises the importance of accurately defining the problem in arriving at a fast, robust and efficient solution. He gives a number of examples that show how real understanding can reduce programming time, increase accuracy and reduce bugs.

The essays are divided into three alliteratively named sections: Preliminaries, Performance and Product. The first section covers writing a program that's correct for the programmer and the client. The second addresses efficiency, code tuning and performance. The last is a little unfocussed, albeit still interesting: it covers sorts, searches and heaps among other subjects. Take note, though: the solutions in the appendices are, in true C fashion, pointers to solutions. Programming Pearls is such a delight, you're likely to find yourself reading it in the bath. --Steve Patient

Book Description
Written in a quick and lively style, this book is packed with good advice and is a valuable read for programmers at any level. Each chapter discusses a problem the programmer will face every day, and suggests methods around it. The philosophy underlying the book is creativity. The author encourages the programmer to think creatively and to find new ways around old problems. This approach is still fresh and welcomed by many software groups.

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