Jon Bentley 世界著名計算機科學傢，被譽為影響算法發展的十位大師之一。他先後任職於卡內基-梅隆大學（1976~1982）、貝爾實驗室（1982~2001）和Avaya實驗室（2001年至今）。在卡內基-梅隆大學擔任教授期間，他培養瞭包括Tcl語言設計者John Ousterhout、Java語言設計者James Gosling、《算法導論》作者之一Charles Leiserson在內的許多計算機科學大傢。2004年榮獲Dr.Dobb's程序設計卓越奬。

What do topics ranging from organic chemistry to Napoleon's campaigns have to do with computer programming? This collection of essays demonstrates the many varied aspects of programming, showing how programming can be both a fun and elegant science. Some of the essays cover programming techniques, like how profilers can provide insight into the dynamic behavior of programs, and methods for making data files self-describing. These techniques deal with real programs and they are realistically illustrated, using the C and Awk languages. Bentley also provides the reader with some tricks of the programmer's trade, like a collection of rules of thumb and hints for finding simple solutions to hard problems. These essays also originally appeared in the author's column in Communication of the ACM, and have been substantially revised, incorporating new sections, problems, and reader comments. 0201118890B04062001