Hello, World!

This is a programming blog written by Bill Cruise, a professional computer programmer. I've started this blog to publish a number of essays I've written covering a range of topics in Computer Science, Programming, Software Engineering, Design, and Mathematics. I've always felt that I don't really understand a topic unless I can explain it to someone else on a whiteboard. This blog is my whiteboard. I write the essays in an attempt to organize my thoughts and better understand a given topic. Publishing them is an invitation to others to share their thoughts and join in a discussion.

Hope you enjoy it!


Why "Hello, World!"?

A "Hello, World!" program is a traditional first program written by software developers when learning a new language. It's purpose isn't so much to learn anything about the syntax of the language, but more to test that the programming environment is set up correctly. It's simple enough that syntax mistakes can be easily avoided, thus making it a good choice for a first program.

The tradition of using some variation of the phrase "Hello, World!" seems to have its origin in an example program first published in The C Programming Language, written by Kernighan and Ritchie (K&R).

main() {
   printf("hello, world");
}

Further Reading
List of "Hello, World!" Programs