Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#81

Post by sanderjd » Fri, Jul 11, 2014, 5:24 PM UTC

daveloyall wrote: post #10

This book profoundly changed how I look at computers (and other things). http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/ Petzold's style is narrative, but make no mistake: every sentence is carefully chosen. I recommend resisting the urge to skim, lest you have to backtrack later...

God yes. This is the only book about computers that I recommend to my non-technical family and friends. It is the only way I've found for people to understand the love of computing as opposed to just understanding why it may be a good job.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#82

Post by cfeduke » Fri, Jul 11, 2014, 6:50 PM UTC

thisjepisje wrote: post #47

Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman! Not very technical, but there's some interesting stuff in there, for example about working on the atomic bomb in WWII.

One of my favorite books for certain.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#83

Post by cfeduke » Fri, Jul 11, 2014, 6:58 PM UTC

Eloquent Ruby[1] by Russ Olsen

If you are an experienced programmer coming to Ruby this is definitely the place to start. Especially if you are a Java or .NET EE-indoctrinated programmer. The people who maintain your code after you will be thankful that you read this and wrote idiomatic Ruby.

If you just want to learn Ruby or read an excellent technical book as mind food this book is also a great choice.

(Code by Petzold is actually my favorite technical book, but its already been picked.)

[1] http://eloquentruby.com/

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#84

Post by kirang1989 » Fri, Jul 11, 2014, 7:47 PM UTC

thisjepisje wrote: post #47

Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman! Not very technical, but there's some interesting stuff in there, for example about working on the atomic bomb in WWII.

A brilliant book indeed!

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#85

Post by arityfn » Sat, Jul 12, 2014, 4:16 PM UTC

daveloyall wrote: post #78

mgmeyers wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, you can go through the UC Berkeley SICP course for free: http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/fa13/ I'm going through it now, on my own, and it's an awesome course.

Also, this: http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/su14/ ...It started in late June and the Final is in August.

Are there any video lectures to this?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best technical eBook you have read?

#86

Post by clark-kent » Mon, Jul 14, 2014, 1:03 AM UTC

SCIP should always be in the list as one of the best programming books ever written. Others are 'Simply Scheme: An introduction to computer science', simply scheme is an alternative to "How to design Programs", http://htdp.org/, both books are written for non-programmers but they provide a gentle introduction to many advanced topics covered in SCIP. I prefer "Simply Scheme". Another one is the "Little Schemer" http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Schemer-4th-Edition/dp/0262....