On Jun 9, 2011, at 15:18 , Stu 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. > > 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. I like this category: what book(s) do you reread every year. My annual reread book is The School of Niklaus Wirth: The Art of Simplicity Others I love: Compiler Construction, Wirth Effective TCP/IP Programming: 44 Tips to Improve Your Network Programs C Programming Language The Annotated C++ Reference Manual (first and last good book on C++, besides meyers) Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs The Little Schemer, The Seasoned Schemer, (and probably Reasoned Schemer, but I haven't gotten through that yet). Performance and Evaluation of LISP Systems LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual Lisp in Small Pieces Bugs in Writing (best English book ever) Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation Smalltalk With Style The Design and Evaluation of a High Performance Smalltalk System (SOAR - best fucking book on objective profiling and optimization ever written) Lions' Commentary on Unix A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction The Timeless Way of Building More Programming Pearls: Confessions of a Coder Programming Pearls (ACM Press) Writing Efficient Programs (Prentice-Hall Software Series) Working Effectively with Legacy Code The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master Writing Solid Code: Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs Code Complete Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Tool Kit Thinking Forth How to Write Parallel Programs: A First Course Building Better Applications: A Theory of Efficient Software Development Tao of Objects: A Beginner's Guide to Object-Oriented Programming -- is where I had my OO epiphany, but it was only 1 sentence that caused satori, so it doesn't really count for much more than sentimental value at this point.