--9jxsPFA5p3P2qPhR Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 09:22:58AM +0900, Josh Cheek wrote: > On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 5:18 PM, Stu <stu / rubyprogrammer.net> wrote: > > > > I wanted to start a thread discussion on classic computer science > > texts you have read that have influenced you in your lifetime. I am > > always on the lookout to acquire books that last beyond the subject > > matter where the concepts transcends the era in which it was initially > > conceived and implemented. I am an avid collector of books and have an > > collected several out of print gems or not available now in hardbacks > > over the years as I enjoy collecting these texts for my library. > > Hmm, I'm going the opposite direction. I think it will be all PDF from here > on out (annoyingly, publishers haven't embraced this yet). But then again, I > wonder if technical books will even be competitive. Things change so fast > that books are almost stale by the time they're published. At the beginning > of the summer I went through all my books, and realized I had some that I > had bought within the last year or two but not gotten to read yet, but they > were already obsolete. Books are extremely important for fundamentals. That won't go away just because the details change. > > > > For example every year I take a week and re-read The C Programming > > Language (Kernighan, Ritchie) as it's the gold standard to simply well > > written texts. It's also a very good read. > > O.o That was actually my first book, I bought it because it was the shortest > C book at Barnes and Noble. My opinion of it wasn't very high at that time. > I felt like there was some context or tacit information that would have > prevented me from getting past even the first chapter if I hadn't been able > to figure it out. Maybe I would like it more now, but I haven't felt > compelled to re-read it. It's a good book. Once you feel comfortable enough with programming in general to be able to wade through its density, go back to it. > > > > What books have you read that you still admire and refer to even after > > all these years? The kind of books that you would love to be > > altruistic and loan to your colleague or friend but fear it wont ever > > get returned? > > I liked The Pragmatic Programmer, but was probably still too novice to > appreciate most of it at the time I read it. Still, it was pretty > accessible, and very motivating. It makes you want to write good code. That's actually the first book that sprang to mind when I saw the topic of this thread, but then I though "Does that qualify? It's not exactly 'computer science', per se." > > I like Pragmatic Thinking and Learning, I actually reread the last 70 pages > a few days ago, and decided to set up a personal wiki as a result. It's > another motivating book. Makes you want to be productive, get shit done, > organize your life, encourage your creative side (R-brain in the book). I > got a lot of takeaways from this book, and even almost a year later, still > do (intermittently) some of the things they talk about in it. It also makes > a point to give you a mental model for your brain. And I think it gets > better as you go. That's another good book. I second your recommendation. > > I've read quite a few Ruby books, but none of them have really inspired me. Ruby book recommendations: 10 Great Books And Other Resources For Learning Ruby http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development/?p=3886 > > Eloquent Ruby might have if I'd read it two years ago (also had to deal with > DRM infested bullshit when I tried to buy the PDF from the publisher). Thanks for mentioning that. I'm thinking about getting the book; I'll avoid the PDF (and other PDFs from the same publisher, I guess). This kinda limits what books I'd be willing to buy from that publisher, given the benefits of a searchable digital book on my laptop. After all . . . DRM Is Counterproductive http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=5604 -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] --9jxsPFA5p3P2qPhR Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.14 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAk3xZGcACgkQ9mn/Pj01uKWnsQCfQa/muF1YJcmbgbbDA/xtNnZg wJIAoL6W6150Q0keu7cu3/2qGQQtgzAv e9 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --9jxsPFA5p3P2qPhR--