Google Tech Talks
August 9, 2007
ABSTRACT
This talk describes three of the most beautiful pieces of code that I have ever written: three different implementations of Hoare's classic Quicksort algorithm. The first implementation is a bare-bones function in about a dozen lines of C. The second implementation starts by instrumenting the first program to measure its run time; a dozen systematic code transformations proceed to make it more and more powerful yet more and more simple, until it finally disappears in a puff of mathematical smoke. It therefore becomes the most beautiful program I never wrote. The third program is an industrial-strength C library Qsort function that I built with Doug McIlroy. A theme running through all three implementations is the power of elegance and simplicity. (This talk expands my Chapter 3 in Beautiful Code, edited by Oram and Wilson and published by O'Reilly in July, 2007.)Google Tech Talks
August 9, 2007
ABSTRACT
This talk describes three of the most beautiful pieces of code that I have ever written: th...all »Google Tech Talks
August 9, 2007
ABSTRACT
This talk describes three of the most beautiful pieces of code that I have ever written: three different implementations of Hoare's classic Quicksort algorithm. The first implementation is a bare-bones function in about a dozen lines of C. The second implementation starts by instrumenting the first program to measure its run time; a dozen systematic code transformations proceed to make it more and more powerful yet more and more simple, until it finally disappears in a puff of mathematical smoke. It therefore becomes the most beautiful program I never wrote. The third program is an industrial-strength C library Qsort function that I built with Doug McIlroy. A theme running through all three implementations is the power of elegance and simplicity. (This talk expands my Chapter 3 in Beautiful Code, edited by Oram and Wilson and published by O'Reilly in July, 2007.)«
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