From: Stu Date: 2011-06-10T11:56:33+09:00 Subject: Re: Classic Computer Science Books Thank you for the responses. I look forward to reading others. In effort to make a quick point about the K&R C book I do agree it is terse. I also agree it's more a reference for a seasoned C programmer than tutorial for an absolute beginner. If you remove the language in context and simply read the prose it has to be one of the most well written efforts to distill the authors knowledge and experience on the subject of programming to the reader. I am interested in books that do just that. Since some Ruby books have been mentioned If I was on a desert island and could take one ruby book with me The Ruby Programming Language by Matsumoto/Flanagan would be what I would pick. I have enjoyed reading Metaprogramming Ruby as well but Matz's book seems to still have the longevity value. I tend to enjoy reading Stroustrup's book on language creation. Stroustrup tends to be a well skilled technical writer. I have in my queue to read Meyers C++ books and Crockford's Javascript: The Good Parts. If a great book is in digital form only I'm all ears. I also read pdf and web only books. In some cases to pre-view it for my library and ultimately buy the print version if I feel it's worth owning. I read the java version of 'How To Think Like A Computer Scientist' last year solely off the pdf available drm free online. I plan to eventually read the python and c++ version under the same title as those books are pedagogical in lesson and theory. So anyone responding to this thread. Please don't feel the need to omit e-book or lulu DIY published books or even a well written web based resource or article. Though I am interested in books that mainly illuminate concepts I would be interested in hearing about the tutorials where you may have had a massive ah-ha moment where everything that seemed so difficult before or obfuscated became simple. Books or literature that changed the way you programmed from that point forward.