Pascal puzzles
J. M. McCaig · ITNOW · 1983
Not long ago, I had to learn the programming language C (well enough to be able to teach it in the near future). After I understood the basic constructs of the language, I acquired The C Puzzle Book by Alan R. Feuer (published by Prentice-Hall, 1982). Despite the first impression which one gains from the title, this book has a very serious intent. The nuzzles are intended to focus the reader’s mind on aspects of the language. Each puzzle is a C program and one solves the puzzle by working out what the program prints. Most of the book consists of worked solutions to the puzzles and their inclusion is very necessary. It took me about one whole day to make a serious attempt at the puzzles and to work through the solutions of those puzzles which I got wrong (the majority). Usually, one can only learn a programming language properly by becoming a serious practitioner of it. In the course of time, subtleties of the language become evident and reinforce one’s grasp of the mechanisms which it embodies (and, probably, one’s favouritism for it). The reward for my labour with the C puzzles was that I learnt a great deal about the language in a very short time. I do not want to suggest that the puzzles were a substitute for programming experience but they provided a useful stepping stone on the path from complete novice to reasonably competent C programmer.