5 ms·

Old Computing Books

53 points by joebig 2y ago

joebig 2y ago
Even a collection pointing to classic AI books: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/14007/Artificial-Intelligence/ https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/14007/Artificial-Int...
axegon_ 2y ago
My first thought was "I wonder if the C programming language would be on that list" and sure enough... Worth noting that, although the book is 45+ years old, it's aged incredibly well (I know, there have been multiple "patches" applied since the first edition). But considering how books that came out 5 years ago are wildly outdated today, while this one is just as relevant as it was when it first came out is a huge achievement. Major props to Ritchie and Kernighan.
- infinite8s 2y ago
  That's because hardware has bent over backwards to maintain the illusion of the C memory model.
  - xtrgz 2y ago
    Can you elaborate on this?
    - jgwil2 2y ago
      Here's a related article and discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16967675 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16967675
JKCalhoun 2y ago
Needs more KIM-1. The KIM-1 (and MOS Programming and Hardware) manuals are out there — as is "The First Book of KIM."
Sad90sNerd 2y ago
Even the center for computing history can't spell "Ada" right... :(
- nocman 2y ago
  Well, in fairness to them, one of the two books in the list spells it all caps right there on the cover.
  - MrVandemar 2y ago
    Same is true of the Java books, and yet it's not JAVA.
    - nocman 2y ago
      Well, I wasn't arguing that the language is actually named ADA. I was just saying it seems like a common mistake. Plus for some reason (not sure why, exactly), ADA looks more likely to me to be an acronym than JAVA does. Also, way more people are familiar with Java than Ada, and I'm sure the number of programmers who do not remember (or never knew) who Ada Lovelace was closely resembles the number that are unfamiliar with Ada the language.
Something1234 2y ago
I think my favorite old computing book is the tannenbaum operating systems text book. It features minix and has some super interesting things about the software license and all that. Minix has some super interesting recent history involving the intel management engine.
mitchbob 2y ago
Got books to donate? Looks like they've got an email address for that: collection@computinghistory.org.uk

53 points by joebig 2y ago

Even a collection pointing to classic AI books: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/14007/Artificial-Intelligence/ https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/14007/Artificial-Int...

axegon_ 2y ago

My first thought was "I wonder if the C programming language would be on that list" and sure enough... Worth noting that, although the book is 45+ years old, it's aged incredibly well (I know, there have been multiple "patches" applied since the first edition). But considering how books that came out 5 years ago are wildly outdated today, while this one is just as relevant as it was when it first came out is a huge achievement. Major props to Ritchie and Kernighan.

infinite8s 2y ago
That's because hardware has bent over backwards to maintain the illusion of the C memory model.
- xtrgz 2y ago
  Can you elaborate on this?
  - jgwil2 2y ago
    Here's a related article and discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16967675 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16967675

JKCalhoun 2y ago

Needs more KIM-1. The KIM-1 (and MOS Programming and Hardware) manuals are out there — as is "The First Book of KIM."

Sad90sNerd 2y ago

Even the center for computing history can't spell "Ada" right... :(

nocman 2y ago
Well, in fairness to them, one of the two books in the list spells it all caps right there on the cover.
- MrVandemar 2y ago
  Same is true of the Java books, and yet it's not JAVA.
  - nocman 2y ago
    Well, I wasn't arguing that the language is actually named ADA. I was just saying it seems like a common mistake. Plus for some reason (not sure why, exactly), ADA looks more likely to me to be an acronym than JAVA does. Also, way more people are familiar with Java than Ada, and I'm sure the number of programmers who do not remember (or never knew) who Ada Lovelace was closely resembles the number that are unfamiliar with Ada the language.

Something1234 2y ago

I think my favorite old computing book is the tannenbaum operating systems text book. It features minix and has some super interesting things about the software license and all that. Minix has some super interesting recent history involving the intel management engine.

mitchbob 2y ago

Got books to donate? Looks like they've got an email address for that: collection@computinghistory.org.uk