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News Release from: No Starch Press
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 10 March 2006
Thinking low-level, writing high-level
Author Randall Hyde teaches readers how their compilers work to translate their high level language statements into low-level machine code.
How do programmers choose their high-level language statements to produce efficient code? Unfortunately, a lot of them simply don't They've never considered how compilers generate machine code for those high-level language statements and data structures, and the result is sloppy code
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 15 Dec 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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"Write great code, Volume 2: thinking low-level, writing high-level" (No Starch Press, March 2006) fills the void created by a lack of traditional computer science training, with the same clear and instructive content that has made the first "Write great code" instalment such a valuable resource.
In this second volume in his series, popular No Starch Press author Randall Hyde teaches readers how their compilers work to translate their high level language statements into low-level machine code.
In the early days of computing, programmers used high-level language code sparingly, because they knew that a high-level language compiler would generate poor-quality low-level machine code for their software.
Today, however, programmers routinely write in high-level languages like C, C++, Pascal, Java, or Basic, and count on their compilers to generate efficient machine code.
But compilers can only generate great machine code if the original high-level source code is also great.
"Write great code, Vol 2", provides the critical knowledge a programmer needs to write source code that the compiler can translate into efficient machine code.
Armed with that understanding, programmers will be better able to choose a proper mix of high-level language statements to produce more efficient software - all without having to give up the productivity and portability benefits of a high-level language.
(The majority of the examples in the book are in C/C++, but the concepts apply to most imperative programming languages).
"Like Hyde's 'Art of assembly language', the 'Write great code' series captures years of hard-earned, valuable experience and education in an accessible and affordable format", said Bill Pollock, founder of No Starch Press.
"Randy speaks to this new generation of programmer that hasn't been taught assembly language or been trained in a computer science curriculum".
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