> "Computer science [..] filled with books that encourage you to write code [..] PAIP [..] has you spend much of the book reading code."
You replied:
> "There is a long and rich history of books in early computer science."
which seems to be missing the point, it's not reading books they are talking about, it's reading code as something to learn from, compared to learning by writing code, as the change which PAIP kick-started. "no you're wrong" is a low quality rebuttal, even moreso when it's backed by nothing more than the "assurances" of a throwaway account.
I went back to the original post that said it was edited, rather than that one. If it was there all along and I missed that part about reading code specifically then that doesn't really change what I wrote at all. TAOCP has vast amounts of code you are expected to read and understand (pseudo assembly and a fairly rigorous algorithmic specification language even if it may not be a "real" language).
But reading real code has long been a "thing". Why do you think UNIX and derivatives were so popular and widely used as teaching aids in universities in the 70s and 80s?
> which seems to be missing the point, it's not reading books they are talking about, it's reading code as something to learn from, compared to learning by writing code, as the change which PAIP kick-started. "no you're wrong" is a low quality rebuttal, even moreso when it's backed by nothing more than the "assurances" of a throwaway account.
I don't think it's worth getting too upset over. The "assurance" is a figure of speech, not appealing to my authority. And I don't see why you're getting calling out a low effort response because it is in response to a low effort claim. I didn't think it required anything more.
In throwawaylinux's defense, they've been using the account consistently for three months, and have a sizeable portion of karma (roughly (* 3 x) my own current 222, and (* 40 x) my own two days spent here). I believe, if I'm not mistaken, enough to use every point-based tool on the site (flagging, downvotes, colorbar). It's perhaps less than fair to wipe away a person who seems to be giving a good-faith effort like that, even if they're ultimately wrong about something.
I completely agree with everything else you said, though.
> "Computer science [..] filled with books that encourage you to write code [..] PAIP [..] has you spend much of the book reading code."
You replied:
> "There is a long and rich history of books in early computer science."
which seems to be missing the point, it's not reading books they are talking about, it's reading code as something to learn from, compared to learning by writing code, as the change which PAIP kick-started. "no you're wrong" is a low quality rebuttal, even moreso when it's backed by nothing more than the "assurances" of a throwaway account.