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Programming style

Published:01 January 1974Publication History
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Abstract

Programs written with good style are easier to read and understand, and typically smaller and more efficient than those written badly, regardless of the language used. Yet most programmers have never been taught programming style—as proof we need only look at their programs.

In this paper we will discuss several principles of programming style, illustrating our points by criticizing and rewriting some real programs. The examples are all taken verbatim from programming textbooks, and the revisions have all been tested.

References

  1. 1 Kernighan, Brian W., Plauger, P. J. The Elements of Programming Style. McGraw-Hill, 1974. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

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  1. Programming style

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      • Published in

        cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
        ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 6, Issue 1
        Proceedings of the 4th SIGCSE symposium on Computer science education
        February 1974
        195 pages
        ISSN:0097-8418
        DOI:10.1145/953057
        Issue’s Table of Contents
        • cover image ACM Conferences
          SIGCSE '74: Proceedings of the fourth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
          January 1974
          194 pages
          ISBN:9781450374835
          DOI:10.1145/800183

        Copyright © 1974 ACM

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        Association for Computing Machinery

        New York, NY, United States

        Publication History

        • Published: 1 January 1974

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