2014-07-08

Recommended books for programming students

This blog post lists the best books I can recommend to students who want to learn how to program. Please note that programming is more about doing than reading, see Message to the students for a more general picture.

Basics not tied to a specific programming language:

  • Absolute beginners should follow the Message to the students guide first, and finish some online courses about programming.
  • Rivest et al.: Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd edition.
  • Henry S. Warren, Jr: Hacker's Delight, 2nd edition. Chapter 2 (one of the best chapters) is available for download for free.
  • Donald E. Knuth: The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
  • Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike: The Unix Programming Environment, 1984.
  • Steve McConnell: Code Complete, 2nd edition.

Basics for some important programming languages and technologies::

Gems specific to programming languages and technologies beyond the basics:

  • C++: Scott Meyers: Effective C++, 3rd edition.
  • Java: Joshua Bloch: Effective Java, 2nd edition.
  • Java: Joshua Bloch and Neal Gafter: Java Puzzlers, 2005.

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