Suggestions please, for interesting books to read

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1

Back in the day one could go into Waterstones or similar bookshops and be able to browse a range of computing-related books aimed at professionals or university students. Some would have been mainly educational - such as Agile Web Development with Rails and others maybe somewhat historical The Soul of a New Machine

I guess I could browse Amazon but it is not the same as being in a bookshop. In a shop your eyes can quickly flit over a huge range of topics and have your attention caught by something you would never actually search for.

So I am reaching out to you guys in the hope that some of you may have some suggestions for books related to computing that are interesting to read. The only limitation I will impose is that I am not really interested in biographies unless they are mainly about technology. Who someone went to school with has little interest.

Thanks.

...R

2

Robin2:
The Soul of a New Machine

That is a good book.

The last two computer books I read are as dry as a martini baking in the Sahara sun after returning from deep space. So, I do not have any recommendations.

If you want to fiddle with small web servers Python + Flask is a great choice.

3

I already use Python and Bottle.

And, in any case, I am not looking for books because I want to learn something. I just want an enjoyable / interesting read. If I happen to learn something from an interesting book that will be a bonus.

...R

4

some other topics than programming

5

travis_farmer:
....
Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension[/url].
not a light read, but i enjoy going back to it from time to time. one of these days, i may even understand it. :wink:

LOL

6

robtillaart:
some other topics than programming

Thanks. I have had enough of other science for the moment - just now looking for suggestions in the computing area,

...R

7

Robin2:
Thanks. I have had enough of other science for the moment - just now looking for suggestions in the computing area,

...R

like this? - https://www.amazon.de/dp/0321842685

8

I found a link to Steven Hawkings lectures, those were pretty interesting reading. I think I got there from a stackexchange.com area on plantery movements.

Guess that'd be more science than programming, but it was interesting reading.

9

The Goal is a good book... not specifically for coding persey, but all students could benefit from it imo

10

Just for others (and me for later), Rob's link in Reply #9 is a book called Hacker's Delight.

...R

11

I found Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age an interesting read.

12

groundFungus:
I found Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age an interesting read.

Yes, if I want to relax and read, that is the sort of book I like.
Anything that concerns history of technology.
Or fiction involving technology, such as "The Martian", any early Arthur C Clark or Tom Clancy.
Tom.. :slight_smile:

13

somewhat historical The Soul of a New Machine

Somewhat?! Minicomputers built with TTL logic, IIRC... (Of course, I was definitely a DEC bigot at the time I read it...)

Cliff Stoll's Cuckoo's Egg is pretty good (pretty dated, though - dialin...)

Mostly I read fiction for entertainment.

14

westfw:
Cliff Stoll's Cuckoo's Egg is pretty good (pretty dated, though - dialin...)

Mostly I read fiction for entertainment.

Also a very good TV Doco on YouTube

Tom... :slight_smile:

15

Code Complete
Joel on Software
Programming Pearls

16

I have "Joel on Software" - excellent. I also liked his blog and also Jeff Attwood's Coding Horror blog.

...R

17

I missed one in the alleged full table scan of my computing bookshelf:
The Pragmatic Programmer.

18

One of the authors of the Pragmatic Programmer is David Thomas. I think he is the same guy that wrote Programming Ruby and Agile Web Development with Rails, both of which I have and have enjoyed.

...R

19

From my bookshelf:

C Traps and Pitfalls by Andrew Koenig
Practical Astronomy with your Calculator by Peter Duffett-Smith
Thinking Forth by Leo Brodie
The Lego® Mindstorms® EV3 Idea Book by Yoshihito Isogawa
Learning Unix for Mac OS X by Dave Taylor and Jerry Peek

From my Kindle (actually the Kindle app on my phone):

Arduino a Technical Reference by J. M. Hughes
Make: AVR Programming by Eliot Williams