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Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

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Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#301

Post by ralphosphorous »

trenning wrote: post #242

I don't have a list because I usually look around on here for my next book to read. I see a lot of similar titles after reading through this thread. Some I've read, some I've started and got bored with and a lot I've never heard of. I just finished reading Siddartha, which is a really short book, but I'd like to read more that are similar to this, any suggestions? I see Designing Data-Intensive Applications quite a b…

I'm a huge fan of Hermann Hesse. Beneath the Wheel is probably my favorite novel of his, although Steppenwolf & Demian are also fantastic. The Fairytales of Hermann Hesse re-read every couple years. I've also bought it probably 5 times now, each time lending (giving?) it out to a friend. His fairytales hit the same themes as his novels and often do so with a bit stronger punch and a fun sense of magic.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#302

Post by ismail »

gdoptimizer wrote: post #275
pgeezy wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Each of the books in the three body trilogy started a bit slow for me, but the payoff was worth it. Opens up into a pageturner about 1/3 of the way in.

I second that. A few years ago, I began reading the first book of the trilogy after lunch to kill time, and got so bored and nearly gave up nearly 1/3 ~ 1/2. And then suddenly the idea became clear. I couldn't put it down and skip the dinner to finished it. And the second and third books got even better. Especially the third one was mind-blowing beyond description at that time for me. I was sad when I finished them a…

Had a similar experience. The end was bitter sweet for me. Could not put them down till the end .

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#303

Post by ismail »

0kl wrote: post #276
beaconstudios wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll add Plato's works to my list. I tried to get into Republic when I was a bit younger but couldn't digest it at the time, but I wasn't very familiar with philosophy (or reading dry books in general) at the time so it would be worth another go round. I'm roughly familiar with Camus' ideas as presented in the Myth of Sisyphus, and I like the idea that one can make the fight against suffer…

That does sound very similar. I know that in my interpretation Camus is one of the possible outcomes of Nietzsche's thoughts, and that his thoughts afford for many... I think that is something that resonated with me - that _my_ philosophy does not need to be yours, but that we can still find some common ground to survive with one another. Do you have good recommendations for Zen Buddhism and systems theories? I have…

Here is a list of systems thinking readings I posted before.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19835208

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#304

Post by ismail »

Here is my list, which excludes fiction. Mostly philosophy. I prefer to read fewer books but more deeply.

Currently reading:

Republic - Plato

Being and time - Heidegger

On the list to begin reading:

Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle

Recursivity and contingency - Yuk Hui

Wholeness and the implicate order or thought as a system - David Bohm

Finite and infinite games - James P Carse

Book lists:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31590496?shelf=to-read

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31590496?shelf=current...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31590496?shelf=read

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#305

Post by james_s_tayler »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #300
james_s_tayler wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What has replaced them? Presumably some of the problems they intend to solve still exist. Is there some resource you can point to that says in the past when faced with situation X developers tended to use pattern Y, these days that has been superseded with way of doing things Z? I've seen some of those patterns leveraged to great effect in modern software. But genuinely curious about alternative ways to solve the sam…

This isn't about OOP vs. FP. This is about OOP vs. everything else. Rust, Go and javascript are three languages that are moving away from the OOP paradigm. None of those three languages are classified as functional. >Is there some resource you can point to that says in the past when faced with situation X developers tended to use pattern Y, these days that has been superseded with way of doing things Z? No. A general…

Thanks. I've observed this as a general trend too. I'm starting to become more and more interested in the functional way of thinking.

The image you linked it interesting. I want to dive more in on the how/specifics. I don't necessarily buy the argument it's trying to make that "just make a function and you no longer have a need for factory pattern". You're trying to accomplish something fairly specific with that. Functions compose, I could see how there are properties they have that can be leveraged to achieve the same goal, but I'm guessing the functions you write or the way you write functions to achieve each of those specific aims likely differ in subtle yet important ways. I'm very interested in those details.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#306

Post by crimsonalucard »

james_s_tayler wrote: post #305
crimsonalucard wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't about OOP vs. FP. This is about OOP vs. everything else. Rust, Go and javascript are three languages that are moving away from the OOP paradigm. None of those three languages are classified as functional. >Is there some resource you can point to that says in the past when faced with situation X developers tended to use pattern Y, these days that has been superseded with way of doing things Z? No. A general…

Thanks. I've observed this as a general trend too. I'm starting to become more and more interested in the functional way of thinking. The image you linked it interesting. I want to dive more in on the how/specifics. I don't necessarily buy the argument it's trying to make that "just make a function and you no longer have a need for factory pattern". You're trying to accomplish something fairly specific with that. Fun…

>I don't necessarily buy the argument it's trying to make that "just make a function and you no longer have a need for factory pattern".

The same pattern is achievable with functions but the implementation is so trivial in FP that it doesn't even need a name:

Just have a function return another function. That's a function factory.

Same thing with dependency injection:

Just have a function take another function as a parameter.

Outside of this I wouldn't even recommend either pattern at all. It's bad practice in all paradigms. Only have data flow through your execution path, don't have new "execution paths" flowing through your execution paths, such architectures tend to be over-engineered.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#307

Post by hackermailman »

iamjk wrote: post #274
haileris wrote: post #254

I feel like I'm way behind on fundamentals so mostly textbooks. I'm focused on CS, maths, and finance mainly, not sure I'll achieve this in a year, kind of my perpetual read this within 10 years list. I'm also interested in literature but prefer reading to enrich my knowledge and skills as opposed to reading for leisure : Maths: James Stewart's Precalculus Spivak's Calculus How to Solve It Godel, Escher, Bach: An Ete…

> Computer Systems: A Programmer's Persepctive Can vouch for this one. Provides a great overview of systems through the lens of algorithms they are built on.

There's lectures online for it too: https://scs.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Sessions/List.a...

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#308

Post by james_s_tayler »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #306
james_s_tayler wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I've observed this as a general trend too. I'm starting to become more and more interested in the functional way of thinking. The image you linked it interesting. I want to dive more in on the how/specifics. I don't necessarily buy the argument it's trying to make that "just make a function and you no longer have a need for factory pattern". You're trying to accomplish something fairly specific with that. Fun…

>I don't necessarily buy the argument it's trying to make that "just make a function and you no longer have a need for factory pattern". The same pattern is achievable with functions but the implementation is so trivial in FP that it doesn't even need a name: Just have a function return another function. That's a function factory. Same thing with dependency injection: Just have a function take another function as a p…

Do you have a good example of a reference architecture or implementation of a non-trivial system you can point me to?

I've recently gotten a copy of the book Domain Modelling Made Functional. I'm yet to read it, but I'm pretty intrigued by some of what I've seen and I have heard it comes highly recommend.

I'd be very keen to hear of other high quality examples of things people consider good reference material.

Re: Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?

#310

Post by nireyal »

pjmorris wrote: post #98

I hilariously overestimate the number of books I can get through when I make these lists, but my current list for 2020 is as follows: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Book of Proof Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems Seeing Like a State: How Certa…

May I recommend reading Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life as a practical and pro tech guide for managing tech distraction
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