Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#61

Post by eatonphil » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

dSebastien wrote: post #60

I don't know if mine qualify and how HN feels about self-promotion, but I can't resist the opportunity to mention my project. I'm working on a collection of 12 books about software development and IT: https://dev-concepts.dev/table-of-contents I try not to get down to the level of atoms and molecules, but I'm going deep down the rabbit hole, and it's quite fun!

Self promotion in general is fine on HN but I think it's pretty hard to objectively say anything you write yourself is well written!

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#62

Post by adamkl » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

How about "The Land of Lisp"? [0]

It comes with a bonus music video! [1]

[0] http://landoflisp.com

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM1Zb3xmvMc

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#63

Post by eatonphil » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

adamkl wrote: post #62

How about "The Land of Lisp"? [0] It comes with a bonus music video! [1] [0] http://landoflisp.com [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM1Zb3xmvMc

That is a pretty fun one indeed. :)

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#64

Post by markus_zhang » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:31 PM UTC

Is GEB considered to be one? It's not exactly CS but can be related, plus it was very well written.

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#65

Post by eatonphil » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

markus_zhang wrote: post #64

Is GEB considered to be one? It's not exactly CS but can be related, plus it was very well written.

It's definitely interesting! I don't know if I've ever met someone who finished the book though. It's a skewed definition maybe, but I don't personally consider things well written if it requires inhuman dedication to finish. :D

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#66

Post by rgrmrts » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 5:59 PM UTC

I recently added some books by Nils M Holms[0] to my library. Given some of the titles you mentioned, I think you might like them. I enjoy their writing style.

[0]: https://www.t3x.org/

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#67

Post by carapace » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 6:12 PM UTC

"The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants"

> ... is a book by Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz and Aristid Lindenmayer. It's notable as it is the first comprehensive volume on the computer simulation of certain patterns in nature found in plant development (L-systems).

> The book is no longer in print but is available free online.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Algorithmic_Beauty_of_Plan...

http://algorithmicbotany.org/papers/#abop

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#68

Post by carapace » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 6:19 PM UTC

eatonphil wrote: post #44

Jtsummers wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much everything by Smullyan is interesting (probably all, but I haven't read it all yet).

What else have you read of his that you recommend (related or not to this thread)?

"Planet Without Laughter"

> excerpted from This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes by Raymund Smullyan

https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/smullyan.html

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#69

Post by withinboredom » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

Not a book, but I truly enjoy this guy’s videos: https://youtu.be/h7apO7q16V0. I usually watch them while eating lunch. He does a truly fantastic job.

Re: Ask HN: Most interesting, mildly impractical, well-written books on software?

#70

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 22, 2021, 6:51 PM UTC

eatonphil wrote: post #21

tephra wrote: post #20

I thought Knuts Literate Programming book ( https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html ) was extremely interesting, the paper "the errors of TeX" which is a part of it is one of the more interesting papers I've read. Joe Armstrong used to recommend Algorithms + Data structures = Programs ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithms_%2B_Data_Structures... ) but I haven't read it. Okay I know you said no to the l…

> I thought Knuts Literate Programming book ( https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html ) was extremely interesting, the paper "the errors of TeX" which is a part of it is one of the more interesting papers I've read. I haven't read any of Knuth's stuff because doesn't having 7 volumes kinda imply it can't possibly be well edited? Or maybe I really do just need to suck it up and read these books. I know it's…

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