I found the series "Write Great Code" to be helpful because they give accessible introduction to computer architecture, software engineering and compilers. It's

I found the series "Write Great Code" to be helpful because they give accessible introduction to computer architecture, software engineering and compilers. It's not at the level of traditional university textbooks, but enough to understand the main ideas and bridge into more advanced texts. Some of the other books I didn't find helpful. For example, Learn Java the Easy Way seems to be too slow for anyone with any programming experience but not enough coverage of fundamentals for beginners.