what are you reading?

[tufty]

Andrew Appel's "Compiling with Continuations"

Hardcore functional programming nerdery.

[PFVA]

Something you guys probably all read in school but i didn't, A Tale of Two Cities, by Dickens.

Love the irony of his descriptions.

[funkstar]

Andrew Appel's "Compiling with Continuations"

How do you find it? It's on my shelf (rescued from a library dumping), and I have some compiler work to do at some point over the next year. I would like to know if it's worth looking at.

I had the problem with Appel's "Modern Compiler Implementation in ML" that it's just a reskin of "Modern Compiler Implementation in C/Java". As such, the implementation code snippets are ML, but the techniques and algorithms are all presented as sequential pseudo-code. He doesn't actually exploit that he's implementing in a functional language.

[limb_clock]

some dude bought me a copy of Hardcore Zen, so i am reading that now.

[tufty]

Andrew Appel's "Compiling with Continuations"

How do you find it? It's on my shelf (rescued from a library dumping), and I have some compiler work to do at some point over the next year. I would like to know if it's worth looking at.

I had the problem with Appel's "Modern Compiler Implementation in ML" that it's just a reskin of "Modern Compiler Implementation in C/Java". As such, the implementation code snippets are ML, but the techniques and algorithms are all presented as sequential pseudo-code. He doesn't actually exploit that he's implementing in a functional language.

Like most functional programming texts, it's a pretty hard read. I have a tendency to develop lambda-calculus-blindness after a few pages :)

Be aware that a significant part of it has been superceded (at least in "fashion" terms) by other techniques, you probably want a copy of (at least) Felleisen's "Beyond Continuations" and - umm - loads of other stuff.

That said, it's still very useful, and a helluva good text. Reading it through again has cleared up a lot of things in my mind (not to mention my compiler), to be honest.

[The ghost of raids past]

Peter F Hamilton - The Great North Road.

I always like his books and this one is no exception, a really interesting weave of a murder in Newcastle and the exploration of an alien planet linked to Newcastle by a portal.

[Lord Summerisle]

Just finished Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. It's about stamps, death, LSD, the feeling you have when everyone else is in on the secret but you, a secret postal system, probate, and The Fab Four. What a remarkable imagination.

The first time I've made it through a Pynchon book in one go. Been plugging away at Mason & Dixon on and off for a few years now.

[Mat]

Oh fuck yes.

I recently finished "Existence" by David Brin, another post-human / singularity / contact sci-fi novel which was pretty cool, although towards the end it became increasingly obvious that it was one book made from a collection of previously published separate stories, confirmed as such in the afterword. As such, it suffered a similar feeling of disjointedness to that which I experienced when reading Charles Stross' brilliant yet flawed "Accelerando".

I then did some of my "I should really read this to broaden my horizons" reading and read Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", which was short and powerful, although I can also see why a modern audience enjoys taking the piss out of his rather direct prose.

But what has got me REALLY excited is that Jeff Noon, one of my favourite authors, appears to have snuck out a new novel in August.
I have just taken delivery of "Channel Skin"on my Kindle, and can't wait to get started.
Squeeeeeeeee.
It'll be a breath of fresh air to get back to some Noon, who plays with words so joyously and has no truck with the restraints of simple reality.
"Vurt", "Nymphomation" and "Needle in the Groove" are some of my favourite novels ever, bursting with sheer inventiveness and I can't wait to see what adventures Mr. Noon has in store for me now.

[IronGiant]

I got a ding from Amazon today about a Terry Pratchett book "Wyrd Sisters" that will soon be released.

That is just the same old book isn't it? See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0552 ... 091_nrn_lm

Yup, just a re-issue.

(how's that for a late reply? )

[rowan]

1Q84 by Murakami, about half way through the first book & enjoying it so far but maybe a bit too much sex

[merman]

Danny Wallace - Charlotte Street.

His first novel, but finding it strangely personal - not only for the situation (guy sees his ex is moving on with her life) but also the mentions of gaming.

[F-ZeroOne]

Currently reading "Total Recall", Arnies biography. It does tend to read a bit like his movie dialogue - very direct. Theres also a single-minded purpose to his life so far that is juts a touch frightening, its no wonder he was able to play an emotionless killing machine so well.

There is some interesting nuggets in it, though - did you know that he once drove tanks for the Austrian army? [1]

[1] If you're wondering how he fit into one, they were M47s - which like all American tanks of the time were three times bigger than they needed to be and four times as likely to blow up as other tanks.

[VNVObit]

Finished Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow. Enjoyable read and the main reason I bought the humble bundle books.

Now on to Reamde by Neal Stephenson which I picked up at christmas for 99p (Amazon deal actually one of many I picked up)

switches from thriller to MMO company story a fair bit but has kept my attention (something that Cryptonomicon lost quite quickly)

[merman]

Dave Gorman vs the Rest of the World - I like board & card games, and this was a lot of fun. Dave posted a message on Twitter asking people if they wanted a game, and then he travelled around the UK trying out different things. If you like any of his previous work this is worth reading.

[F-ZeroOne]

1Q84 by Murakami, about half way through the first book & enjoying it so far but maybe a bit too much sex

I read that a little while ago - not my usual choice, but it was a present - and it once again reinforced my view that the standard way to avoid being tainted with the dreaded "Sci-Fi" tag if you're a "proper" author is to add bonking.