Programming Pearls
Programming Pearls by Jon Bentleyby Jon Bentley
Shares rank 71 of 115 programming books by recommenders
A classic book on programming technique, recommended as a standard reference and as companion reading for older readers. No criticism appeared in the quotes.
A classic book on programming technique, recommended as a standard reference and as companion reading for older readers. No criticism appeared in the quotes.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Seen as a classic programming text
“an equivalend of "Thinking in C++" or "Pearls of programming" of a new field? Sure.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “The death of web development education” “For older readers, see also "Programming Pearls" by Jon Bentley”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Anti-patterns in software blogging” Recommended as companion reading
“For older readers, see also "Programming Pearls" by Jon Bentley”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Anti-patterns in software blogging”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Programming Pearlsby Jon BentleyThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“For older readers, see also "Programming Pearls" by Jon Bentley”
“an equivalend of "Thinking in C++" or "Pearls of programming" of a new field? Sure.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.