DEV Community

Discussion on: What are some "classic reads" in programming?

Collapse
 
carlosds profile image
Karel De Smet

I loved these books to get more in-depth knowledge about Javascript.

And the online versions are absolutely free which is absolutely ridiculous!

I also liked "SQL Database for Beginners" to get acquainted with the basics on SQL. Would love to have a similar book on MongoDB (or another non-relational database).

Clean Code was great. It's just important to have a good grasp of Java first, or at least read it twice if you don't.

Love that quote from Bill Gates on Knuth's books: "You should definitely send me a résumé if you can read the whole thing.". Which makes me believe my dad is right when he calls me crazy for wanting to read it... It's probably way too mathematical most people, including myself.
In "Deep Work", Cal Newport also describes that Knuth went for very long stretches of extreme concentration (blocking out all forms of communication during work hours) at the time of writing. Which is also cited as one of the reasons why it became such an absolute classic, and I'm inclined to believe that.