Book Review - Find The Bug by Adam Barr
Category Book Reviews
If you're a programmer who has to look at code that others have written, you'll appreciate this book... Find The Bug by Adam Barr (Addison-Wesley).
Chapter list: Bug Classification; Tips on Walking Through Code; C; Python; Java; Perl; x86 Assembly Language; Classification of Bugs; Index of Bugs by Type; References; Index
This is a excellent text to help you improve your skills on reading code and mentally debugging it. There are 10 short program or routines for each of the five languages. Your goal is to walk through the code and figure out what is the hidden error in it. There are three or four suggestions if you need help thinking it through, a couple of direct hints to focus your thoughts, and a complete explanation at the end. Even though you may not be familiar with some of the languages, Barr gives you a basic coverage of the fundamentals at the beginning of the chapter so that you can see if you are able to spot the error. Add to all that some good information on how best to walk through code, and you end up with a book that should be part of every developer's training. If you're part of a development group that does code walkthroughs, this would be an excellent guide to help everyone become more effective during the process.
A good way to step outside your normal thought processes and improve your skills... good stuff.
If you're a programmer who has to look at code that others have written, you'll appreciate this book... Find The Bug by Adam Barr (Addison-Wesley).
Chapter list: Bug Classification; Tips on Walking Through Code; C; Python; Java; Perl; x86 Assembly Language; Classification of Bugs; Index of Bugs by Type; References; Index
This is a excellent text to help you improve your skills on reading code and mentally debugging it. There are 10 short program or routines for each of the five languages. Your goal is to walk through the code and figure out what is the hidden error in it. There are three or four suggestions if you need help thinking it through, a couple of direct hints to focus your thoughts, and a complete explanation at the end. Even though you may not be familiar with some of the languages, Barr gives you a basic coverage of the fundamentals at the beginning of the chapter so that you can see if you are able to spot the error. Add to all that some good information on how best to walk through code, and you end up with a book that should be part of every developer's training. If you're part of a development group that does code walkthroughs, this would be an excellent guide to help everyone become more effective during the process.
A good way to step outside your normal thought processes and improve your skills... good stuff.
| Permalink |
