Donald Knuth Was Framed

The article presents an alternative perspective on Donald Knuth’s concept of Literate Programming (LP) as demonstrated in his response to a challenge by Jon Bentley. The author emphasizes that LP allows out-of-order writing and editing of code interwoven with narrative explanations. Knuth’s intention was to showcase the benefits of LP, not to compete with Douglas McIlroy’s concise shell script solution. The article also provides context for Knuth’s eight-page response, explaining that it includes setup, index, and Pascal-specific workarounds, and justifies his approach as reasonable within the context of demonstrating LP. The author believes that McIlroy’s critique, while raising valid points, does not diminish the value of LP. The article also mentions the Leo Editor as a modern version of LP worth exploring and promotes their newsletter on software history, formal methods, and research.