TAOCP is a very good reference book, and I think very few people would have ever read it cover to cover, but it is good if you want to look up an algorithm. For

TAOCP is a very good reference book, and I think very few people would have ever read it cover to cover, but it is good if you want to look up an algorithm. For example, I went through the hash table chapter while doing assignments for a course while trying to optimize my implementation.