Reading

Some computer based reading I have enjoyed over the years.

Computer Science

Art of Programming
- Synopsis: Multi volume books meant to cover all the different mathematics used to write algorithms. Volumes are separated based on math concept.
- Opinion: Don’t expect to read these back to back. Take it in parts and for topics that you are interested in. For example I found the section on hashing interesting when I was trying to understand it better.
Introduction to Algorithms (CLRS)
- Synopsis: Canonical Algorithmns teaching book.
- Opinion: I have a personal affinity for this book due to its simplicity in format and diagrams. IMO it isn’t too wordy like other books and gives me what I need to know quickly.
Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (Dragon Book)
- Synopsis: Provides information for building a compiler and the different features involved.
- Opinion: Really loved this book in school. Gave me a good sense of compiler basics. Unfortunately it doesn’t cover more advanced topics like type reification but it shouldn’t be expected as starter book.

The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary - Observations by Eric S. Raymond of Linux development and Open Source projects in general while managing his own (i.e. fetchmail).
Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World
- Synopsis: Hacktivism where its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression.
- Opinion: As a 90’s kid of the nascent personal Internet this is very nostalgic for me. Great read if you want to get a sense of the hacking ethos at the time.
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal - Outlines Licklider’s visionary dream of a “human-computer symbiosis” transforming the course of modern science and led to the development of the personal computer.
Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe
- Synopsis: A history of computation and the creation of the computer.
- Opinion: Gave me a deep sense of the contribution that philosphy and mathemetics had on computers, and a new appreciation of its history.

Mythical Man-Month - Presents the multiple ideas of Fred Brooks with the central theme that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later” (Brook’s Law).
Site Reliability Engineering - Outlines concepts used by Google SRE for managing large scale systems. These convcept have served me very well in my time at Google. If you want a good sense of devops posture, this is a must read.

An archive of past to present awarded by the ACM can be found in Turing Lecture Award Papers.

Akira - In the backdrop of post-WWIII Neo-Tokyo, two friends relationship becomes darker as one realizes their strong psychokinetic powers.
Blade Runner / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Backdrop is a detective in futuristic 2019 charged with killing replicants. Contrasts human vs artificial intelligence (AI), the central theme is the examination of humanity.
The Ghost in the Shell - In the near future, humans are augmented with cybernetic improvements to traits such as vision, strength, and intelligence. Story follows, counter terrorism operative and cyborg, Killian.
MaddAddam Trilogy - A corporate dystopian future where civil society doesn’t exist, just the corps. The story follows multiple characters involved in a bio attack.
Neuromancer - Set in the future, a washed-up computer hacker, Henry Case is hired for one last job. This brings him up against a powerful AI.