Unix Network Programming, vols 1 & 2, by W. Richard Stevens
Yea, I know the code examples are written in C, but he goes into detail about how networks and ipc work.
Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
311–320 of 344 posts
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#312Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers. It's a bit hard to wrap your brain around the Java and C++ examples unless you have experience with them, but the techniques are timeless. You may need to practice them extensively before you understand how important they are, though. In a recent book club we did at work, a common complaint was, "This just looks like common sense". Indeed it does... though the…
I just finished reading this book yesterday. I am not an expert in refactoring but the book seems too old, although most advises could be still useful. Anyway, today I found a new book by the author: Brutal Refactoring: More Working Effectively with Legacy Code. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good review of the book on the Internet. But I think it could be more useful.
Just looking at the responses to this comment, I have to say that I agree with both sides. The book is really dated, but the advice is timeless. The biggest problem I've had trying to get people to take the book seriously is that they can not identify with it. I had not realised that Michael Feathers had written a followup. I will definitely take a look. Thanks!!!
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#313Sipser's Theory of Computation. It covers automata and languages, computability, and complexity - and is brilliantly written, the proof style in particular: clear 'proof idea's followed by the details that can be easily skipped if you're not interested, or it is clear from the 'idea'.
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#314SQL Performance Explained - Markus Winand - Excellent book that gets into the internals of what developers need to know about SQL and covers each part as it relates to the 4 major SQL databases (Oracle, SQL Server, Postgres, MySQL) - Also has an online version: http://use-the-index-luke.com/sql/table-of-contents The Code Book - Simon Singh - It's just a good read that covers cryptography and message hiding throughout…
I like his writing but that is not "language-agnostic"
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#315- The Elements of Computing Systems: Build the virtual hardware and software from scratch. Software includes writing a compiler in a language of your choice, so agnostic in that sense. - The Art of Metaobject Protocol: Extremely insightful treatment of OOP! Alan Kay called it as the 'best book in ten years' at OOPSLA 97.
Also in MOOC form now too:
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
They might work for some, but I always find all the "Head First" books to be very fluffy.
I think that is part of their goal / style. They are meant to be lightweight and fun and easy-to-read intros to topics for beginners, who would get put off by more formal / less joke-y prose.
My impression was that they were aimed at passing certification tests. But that may just be the couple I looked at.
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#317The Psychology of Computer Programming by Gerald M. Weinberg It's an old book but the most eye-opening one to me.
Sure, it was written in the '70s. It talks about punched cards and 24-hour turn around for program listings. On paper.
But programmers haven't changed much since then. You'll recognize all the weirdness in software work.
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#318If you liked Clean Code, read Clean Coder. A quick summary: Robert C. Martin introduces the disciplines, techniques, tools, and practices of true software craftsmanship. This book is packed with practical advice–about everything from estimating and coding to refactoring and testing. It covers much more than technique: It is about attitude.
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't read the dragon book if you're interested in compilers. It's lex and parse heavy, and is not up to date with more recent best practice on codegen. Further, the lex and parse end of it is focused on the kind of theory you need to build tools like lex and yacc, rather than stuff you need to know if you want to write a compiler. For a good intro of modern back end development, check out Engineering a Compiler. It'…
Don't read only the Dragon book if you're interested in compilers (or parsing in general). But it should be read, in addition to whatever else you read on the subject. It's classic for a reason. Most programmers don't understand parsing worth a crap, imho. Some compiler theory would do most of us some good. I read it because I was doing data stream parsing back in the olden days before XML (which was before JSON), wh…
The Dragon book is not good at teaching parsing, but is obsessed with the idea and spends 2/3 of the time talking about it, so you'll just be left thinking it's really difficult. The whole thing is extremely boring and lacks confidence.
Try "Parsing Techniques: A Practical Guide" and then a more concise book like Muchnick.
Re: Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?
#320If you can find a copy, get the 1st Edition of Bertrand Meyer's "Object Oriented Software Construction". (1st ed. is a classic; 2nd ed. is much larger and worse for it, IMO.)
If you can, forget about the title and just read it; most of the good stuff in this book is less about objects and much more a fantastic seminar on programming in general.