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Think of the series like a detailed, focused encyclopedia. You can learn an incredible amount from reading and understanding it, but reading the whole thing is

by c256 7y ago

Think of the series like a detailed, focused encyclopedia. You can learn an incredible amount from reading and understanding it, but reading the whole thing is probably not especially efficient, and it will likely take a long time. That said, you didn’t really set any goals; you just asked if it’s “worth the investment”. That’s very abstract, and to that I would say “yes”, but also “it’s very likely that you’re not at a point in your life that reading the series, especially cover to cover, is the best use of your time”. Hope that helps.

ashwnacharya2 7y ago
> “it’s very likely that you’re not at a point in your life that reading the series, especially cover to cover, is the best use of your time”. Genuinely curious, when would it be the best use of my time? Is there any scenario where "Read TAOCP and gain X superpowers" would hold true? I have been wanting to get into this for some time now because I like the idea of intellectual pursuit but I also hoped that some benefits, however incidental, would carry over into my career.
- solveit 7y ago
  Sounds like it would be great for a bored mathematically-inclined high school student with an interest in programming who is also pretty confident that they can get into the college of their choice.
- c256 7y ago
  Offhand, I’d suggest reading it over a long period of time, starting whenever you feel like you have a good mastery of whatever project you’re working on at the time, and taking breaks to rest or sprint on need-it-nowish topics in between. The benefits of understanding how computers work at low levels, how algorithms work and are built/studied/compared, and how data structures can change how you think about programs and processes (to call out a few barrel-sized buckets) are likely to be helpful over the long term, while the likelihood that you happen upon the key thing that you need today (or this month) at just the right time is pretty low.

by c256 7y ago

ashwnacharya2 7y ago

> “it’s very likely that you’re not at a point in your life that reading the series, especially cover to cover, is the best use of your time”. Genuinely curious, when would it be the best use of my time? Is there any scenario where "Read TAOCP and gain X superpowers" would hold true? I have been wanting to get into this for some time now because I like the idea of intellectual pursuit but I also hoped that some benefits, however incidental, would carry over into my career.

solveit 7y ago
Sounds like it would be great for a bored mathematically-inclined high school student with an interest in programming who is also pretty confident that they can get into the college of their choice.
c256 7y ago
Offhand, I’d suggest reading it over a long period of time, starting whenever you feel like you have a good mastery of whatever project you’re working on at the time, and taking breaks to rest or sprint on need-it-nowish topics in between. The benefits of understanding how computers work at low levels, how algorithms work and are built/studied/compared, and how data structures can change how you think about programs and processes (to call out a few barrel-sized buckets) are likely to be helpful over the long term, while the likelihood that you happen upon the key thing that you need today (or this month) at just the right time is pretty low.