Strange Code

Strengthen your overall coding skills by exploring the wonderful, wild, and often weird world of esoteric languages (esolangs). Strange Code starts with a dive into the underlying history of programming, covering the early computer-science concepts, like Turing machines and Turing completeness, that led to the languages we use today. It then explores the realm of “atypical” programming languages, introducing you to the out-of-the-box thinking that comes from these unusual approaches to coding. Later chapters address the even more unusual esolangs, nearly all of which are like nothing you’ve ever seen. Finally, author Ron Kneusel helps you develop and use two entirely new programming languages. You may not apply these languages in your day job, but this one-of-a-kind book will motivate you to think differently about what it means to express thought through code, while discovering the far-flung boundaries of programming. You’ll learn: How to program with pictures using Piet How to write two-dimensional programs in Befunge How to implement machine-learning algorithms using the text pattern matching language SNOBOL How to decipher Brainfuck code like [->-[>+”]>[[-+]+>+”]““]/liliHow to design and create two original programming languages Learning to think in these languages will make you a better, more confident programmer.

"A great book with deep insights into the bridge between programming and the human mind." - Mike Taylor, CGI Your brain responds in a predictable way when it encounters new or difficult tasks. This unique book teaches you concrete techniques rooted in cognitive science that will improve the way you learn and think about code. In The Programmer’s Brain: What every programmer needs to know about cognition you will learn: Fast and effective ways to master new programming languages Speed reading skills to quickly comprehend new code Techniques to unravel the meaning of complex code Ways to learn new syntax and keep it memorized Writing code that is easy for others to read Picking the right names for your variables Making your codebase more understandable to newcomers Onboarding new developers to your team Learn how to optimize your brain’s natural cognitive processes to read code more easily, write code faster, and pick up new languages in much less time. This book will help you through the confusion you feel when faced with strange and complex code, and explain a codebase in ways that can make a new team member productive in days! Foreword by Jon Skeet. About the technology Take advantage of your brain’s natural processes to be a better programmer. Techniques based in cognitive science make it possible to learn new languages faster, improve productivity, reduce the need for code rewrites, and more. This unique book will help you achieve these gains. About the book The Programmer’s Brain unlocks the way we think about code. It offers scientifically sound techniques that can radically improve the way you master new technology, comprehend code, and memorize syntax. You’ll learn how to benefit from productive struggle and turn confusion into a learning tool. Along the way, you’ll discover how to create study resources as you become an expert at teaching yourself and bringing new colleagues up to speed. What's inside Understand how your brain sees code Speed reading skills to learn code quickly Techniques to unravel complex code Tips for making codebases understandable About the reader For programmers who have experience working in more than one language. About the author Dr. Felienne Hermans is an associate professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She has spent the last decade researching programming, how to learn and how to teach it. Table of Contents PART 1 ON READING CODE BETTER 1 Decoding your confusion while coding 2 Speed reading for code 3 How to learn programming syntax quickly 4 How to read complex code PART 2 ON THINKING ABOUT CODE 5 Reaching a deeper understanding of code 6 Getting better at solving programming problems 7 Misconceptions: Bugs in thinking PART 3 ON WRITING BETTER CODE 8 How to get better at naming things 9 Avoiding bad code and cognitive load: Two frameworks 10 Getting better at solving complex problems PART 4 ON COLLABORATING ON CODE 11 The act of writing code 12 Designing and improving larger systems 13 How to onboard new developers

Strengthen your overall coding skills by exploring the wonderful, wild, and often weird world of esoteric languages (esolangs). Strange Code starts with a dive into the underlying history of programming, covering the early computer-science concepts, like Turing machines and Turing completeness, that led to the languages we use today. It then explores the realm of “atypical” programming languages, introducing you to the out-of-the-box thinking that comes from these unusual approaches to coding. Later chapters address the even more unusual esolangs, nearly all of which are like nothing you’ve ever seen. Finally, author Ron Kneusel helps you develop and use two entirely new programming languages. You may not apply these languages in your day job, but this one-of-a-kind book will motivate you to think differently about what it means to express thought through code, while discovering the far-flung boundaries of programming. You’ll learn: How to program with pictures using Piet How to write two-dimensional programs in Befunge How to implement machine-learning algorithms using the text pattern matching language SNOBOL How to decipher Brainfuck code like [->-[>+”]>[[-+]+>+”]““]/liliHow to design and create two original programming languages Learning to think in these languages will make you a better, more confident programmer.

How do the experts solve difficult problems in software development? In this unique and insightful book, leading computer scientists offer case studies that reveal how they found unusual, carefully designed solutions to high-profile projects. You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts to see problems through their eyes. This is not simply another design patterns book, or another software engineering treatise on the right and wrong way to do things. The authors think aloud as they work through their project's architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction, and when it was important to break rules. This book contains 33 chapters contributed by Brian Kernighan, KarlFogel, Jon Bentley, Tim Bray, Elliotte Rusty Harold, Michael Feathers,Alberto Savoia, Charles Petzold, Douglas Crockford, Henry S. Warren,Jr., Ashish Gulhati, Lincoln Stein, Jim Kent, Jack Dongarra and PiotrLuszczek, Adam Kolawa, Greg Kroah-Hartman, Diomidis Spinellis, AndrewKuchling, Travis E. Oliphant, Ronald Mak, Rogerio Atem de Carvalho andRafael Monnerat, Bryan Cantrill, Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, SimonPeyton Jones, Kent Dybvig, William Otte and Douglas C. Schmidt, AndrewPatzer, Andreas Zeller, Yukihiro Matsumoto, Arun Mehta, TV Raman,Laura Wingerd and Christopher Seiwald, and Brian Hayes. Beautiful Code is an opportunity for master coders to tell their story. All author royalties will be donated to Amnesty International.

A collection of four all-new strange stories from the sleepy town of Gravity Falls in one original graphic novel. Written by Alex Hirsch. Illustrated by Asaf Hanuka, Dana Terrace, Ian Worrel, Jacob Chabot, Jim Campbell, Joe Pitt, Kyle Smeallie, Meredith Gran, Mike Holmes, Priscilla Tang, Serina Hernandez, Stephanie Ramirez, and Valerie Halla.

How does mathematics enable us to send pictures from space back to Earth? Where does the bell-shaped curve come from? Why do you need only 23 people in a room for a 50/50 chance of two of them sharing the same birthday? In Strange Curves, Counting Rabbits, and Other Mathematical Explorations, Keith Ball highlights how ideas, mostly from pure math, can answer these questions and many more. Drawing on areas of mathematics from probability theory, number theory, and geometry, he explores a wide range of concepts, some more light-hearted, others central to the development of the field and used daily by mathematicians, physicists, and engineers. Each of the book's ten chapters begins by outlining key concepts and goes on to discuss, with the minimum of technical detail, the principles that underlie them. Each includes puzzles and problems of varying difficulty. While the chapters are self-contained, they also reveal the links between seemingly unrelated topics. For example, the problem of how to design codes for satellite communication gives rise to the same idea of uncertainty as the problem of screening blood samples for disease. Accessible to anyone familiar with basic calculus, this book is a treasure trove of ideas that will entertain, amuse, and bemuse students, teachers, and math lovers of all ages.

Untie the string and unwrap the brown paper to reveal . . . Journal 3 Limited Edition! This 288-page book contains all of the content of the regular edition, plus all-new top-secret black light pages on real parchment; a cover with leather texture and shiny metallic pieces; a magnifying glass; a tassel bookmark; and removable photos and notes. This $150 limited edition will also include a signed note from the creator of Gravity Falls and co-writer of Journal 3, Alex Hirsch himself.

Part road-trip comedy and part social science experiment, a scientist and a journalist travel the globe to discover the secret behind what makes things funny, questioning countless experts, including Louis C.K., along the way.

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is an art book tracing Ditko's life and career, his unparalleled stylistic innovations, his strict adherence to his own (and Randian) principles, with lush displays of obscure and popular art from the thousands of pages of comics he's drawn over the last 55 years.

From Loch Ness to Bigfoot, this book gives essential background information on the events and the people involved, discusses the impact of particular myths and beliefs, and provides updates on the latest investigations being undertaken in an attempt to find answers to these baffling phenomena.