Ask HN: Summer readings?
1. What will you be reading this summer?
2. What have you always wanted to read and have never gotten around to?
3. What do you think every hacker/programmer should read?
1. What will you be reading this summer?
2. What have you always wanted to read and have never gotten around to?
3. What do you think every hacker/programmer should read?
I've been reading Cryptonomicon (Stephenson), Code Complete 2 (McConnel), and Algorithms: A Functional Programming Approach (Rabhi, Lapalme). Those first two are well-known and commonly recommended; the last one I just happened upon recently, and have really enjoyed it. It's the first algorithms/data structures text that I've seen targeting functional languages.
I've been meaning to read Godel, Escher, Bach (Hofstadter) for awhile now, but I'm not sure if/when I'll get around to it. Next on my list are some introductory number theory texts.
Working through Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, as well as some books on Statistics and Machine Learning.
Currently, Code Complete 2 by McConnell. I'm in chapter 5 right now. Also, Dead Reckoning: Calculating Without Instruments by Doerfler. It's extremely difficult for me to follow, so I'm still in the first chapter.
Sometime in the future, I might read Essential Java and Unit Testing in Java: How Tests Drive the Code.
3) The Soul of a new Machine, Tracy Kidder.
3) Neal Stephensons wired article on laying fibre optic cable across the globe: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html
1. Candide
2. The last few chapters of GEB
3. Regardless of whether you're a programmer, anything by Carl Sagan. The Demon-Haunted World and Dragons of Eden are my favorites.
1. GEB 2. GEB 3. GEB
Robert Pirsig's follow-up to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", that being "Lila". I started it some years ago but didn't get too far. However, his addressing the concept of quality, plus the impression Zen had on me, leave me feeling I really should give it another go. And I just turned up my paperback copy the other week.
It's been quite a number of years, and memory fades somewhat, but for me, Zen was one of the most profound reads of my life. I just checked the Wikipedia page for Pirsig, which states (somewhat unclearly, with regard to what "Board" is being described):
Pirsig's publisher's recommendation to his Board ended with "This book is brilliant beyond belief, it is probably a work of genius, and will, I'll wager, attain classic stature."
That was certainly my impression. I should revisit Zen, as well. Unfortunately, my old copy -- full of my scribbled notes -- was I believe lost to water damage.