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Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

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Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#121

Post by fsloth »

chii wrote: post #84
d0m wrote: post #40

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Program (it's written in scheme but it's mostly for convenience and its lack of syntax). Definitely the best book I've read on programming.

I'd find it quite hard to apply lessons from SCIP using java or c...

"I'd find it quite hard to apply lessons from SCIP using java or c"

IMO, you're supposed to write your own Scheme to reap full benefits from SICP.

The book contains a recipe for an interpreter that can be transferred to any other language. Chapter 5.4 : The explicit-control evaluator[0].

Strangely this fact is not advertised that much, I find it to be one of the coollest features of the book.

The implementation is not a direct syntax translation - one needs to figure out how to implement the base susbstrate and how to handle e.g. tokenization, but well rounded software engineer should have some model in ones head how to manage these (so if there are missing pieces this is a good opportunity to brush on those).

[0] https://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-34.htm...

Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#122

Post by eof »

sethrin wrote: post #106
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #58

Some of the most interesting books I've read in support of my software-development work are: * "Compilers: Principles, Techniques, & Tools" by Aho et al. (i.e., "the dragon book") * "Data Flow Analysis: Theory and Practice" by Khedker et al. * "Understanding MySQL Internals" by Sasha Pachev. * "Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques" by Gray and Reuter. * "Fundamentals of Wireless Communication" by Tse and V…

> "Understanding MySQL Internals" Why this, as opposed to a more general text on databases? MySQL is popular, but few would accuse it of actually being a good database. I feel like the point at which knowing about the internals of MySQL becomes relevant is probably the point at which you should use a better database.

And just abandon all that domain knowledge your garnered along your journey?

Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#123

Post by eckza »

binarymax wrote: post #45

Programming Pearls. Great short book to get you thinking creatively and how to dissect algorithmic problems, language agnostic with pseudocode examples. Non-programming but still highly relevant for a professional programmer: Mythical Man Month, and Peopleware.

MMM is a must-read, for anyone that wants to effectively engage in the software development lifecycle, IMO. Developer, project manager, doesn't matter.

Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#125

Post by flor1s »

zimmund wrote: post #61

Introduction to algorithms[1] is a great book to improve how you think about code and the way you implement your solutions. Even if you are a seasoned programmer you'll find it useful. [1]: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms

We used it in my algorithms class in uni, I found it a bit heavy on the math side of things. For me a more code oriented book such as Skiena's The Algorithm Design Manual works better.

Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#126

Post by BlanketLogic »

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #34

Books I'll treasure forever: - Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by Stevens - Operating Systems: Design and Implementation by Tanenbaum - The Art of Unix Programming by ESR - Parsing Techniques by Grune and Jacobs - Applied Cryptography by Schneier

+1 for Parsing techniques. Excellent book.

Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

#127

Post by twohlix_ »

0xbadf00d wrote: post #41

I would recommend "Sorting and Searching" Volume 3 from Donald Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming". Fantastic, in-depth read.

I also emphatically suggest D.Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming". Super dense, not like a sit down and read from cover to cover, but really good set to have around.
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