5 ms·

The New Classics of Computer Science

41 points by smanek 18y ago

smanek 18y ago
A new and improved post, based on the feedback I received for my first post (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=296641 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=296641) from PieSquared (thanks!).
michael_dorfman 18y ago
The books you list are great books, but I still wouldn't take SICP or TAOCP off the list. Generally speaking, I think the real question we need to be asking with lists like this, is "Who is the audience?"
- smanek 18y ago
  thanks. I was shooting for people who had already read sicp, htdp, design pattern, etc (and who have at least tried their hand at taocp ;-)). Those are all great books of course, but there are a lot of topics outside their domain. I was hoping to choose books that complement/supplement the classics.
  - michael_dorfman 18y ago
    I see. But wouldn't most people who have read SICP and HTDP and tried their hand at TAOCP be a bit beyond GEB and the New Turing Omnibus? I mean, I'd heartily recommend those to folks who haven't yet made the leap...
mwerty 18y ago
I liked the kleinberg/tardos algorithms book better than clrs: www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Jon-Kleinberg/dp/0321295358. I felt it was more direct.
hhm 18y ago
GEB as a classic of computer science? Why? It's imaginative, right, but it lacks the rigor to be a classic. Better to read about recursion, formal systems, lambda calculus, undecidability, complexity theory, etc from some math text... at least I have found it to be a lot more interesting and revealing.
- greenagain 18y ago
  Yeah, I think there's some renaissance man posturing going on in this list.
rahulgarg 18y ago
+1 for Road to Reality.
holygoat 18y ago
I think Design Patterns is mischaracterized as a "classic text of computer science". It's only 14 years old (which rules out some definitions of 'classic'), not nearly so profound as TAOCP and SICP (the other two books in your list), and it would be a stretch to say it's about computer science. Computer Science != Software Engineering. I would follow up by saying that, no matter how wonderful Road to Reality is, it's also not about CS, and GEB only overlaps the field. An incorrectly titled post, perhaps?

41 points by smanek 18y ago

A new and improved post, based on the feedback I received for my first post (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=296641 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=296641) from PieSquared (thanks!).

michael_dorfman 18y ago

The books you list are great books, but I still wouldn't take SICP or TAOCP off the list. Generally speaking, I think the real question we need to be asking with lists like this, is "Who is the audience?"

smanek 18y ago
thanks. I was shooting for people who had already read sicp, htdp, design pattern, etc (and who have at least tried their hand at taocp ;-)). Those are all great books of course, but there are a lot of topics outside their domain. I was hoping to choose books that complement/supplement the classics.
- michael_dorfman 18y ago
  I see. But wouldn't most people who have read SICP and HTDP and tried their hand at TAOCP be a bit beyond GEB and the New Turing Omnibus? I mean, I'd heartily recommend those to folks who haven't yet made the leap...

mwerty 18y ago

I liked the kleinberg/tardos algorithms book better than clrs: www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Design-Jon-Kleinberg/dp/0321295358. I felt it was more direct.

hhm 18y ago

GEB as a classic of computer science? Why? It's imaginative, right, but it lacks the rigor to be a classic. Better to read about recursion, formal systems, lambda calculus, undecidability, complexity theory, etc from some math text... at least I have found it to be a lot more interesting and revealing.

greenagain 18y ago
Yeah, I think there's some renaissance man posturing going on in this list.

rahulgarg 18y ago

+1 for Road to Reality.

holygoat 18y ago

I think Design Patterns is mischaracterized as a "classic text of computer science". It's only 14 years old (which rules out some definitions of 'classic'), not nearly so profound as TAOCP and SICP (the other two books in your list), and it would be a stretch to say it's about computer science. Computer Science != Software Engineering. I would follow up by saying that, no matter how wonderful Road to Reality is, it's also not about CS, and GEB only overlaps the field. An incorrectly titled post, perhaps?