Programming Books You've Read(ing)

[basicxman]

Quite simple, list programming related books you've read or are reading and how you liked them. Great resource for beginning FIRST coder's who need/want some extra reading material :D

Anyways, here goes! (I have my full list here (http://paste.pocoo.org/show/160782/) which I want to knock off before I die :cool:)

The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
Teaches a lot of programming concepts and ways to expand your knowledge on programming. Has a great bibliography and enforces great concepts for programming teams. Loved it.

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andrew Hunt
Great resource on how to expand your mind, sort of like learning how to learn.

Code Complete by Steve McConnell
Haven't read this one yet...it's on my reading queue.

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson
Awesome look into the deeps of computer science and how programs really work.

The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth
I don't own this one...yet. It will probably take me a year to conquer, this is pretty much the ultimate guide to computer algorithms and structure.

Masterminds of Programming by Federico Biancuzzi and Shane Warden
This is a whole bunch of interviews with the coders behind more than a dozen (IIRC) major programming languages throughout the years. A great nostalgic look at how programming evolved.

Any other recommendations? I've got a huge list but I can never read enough books :P

[byteit101]

Its a bit thick (2" 1023 pages (wow, how appropriate!)) but covers almost every aspect of C AND C++ from variable types, to polymorphism
The Complete Reference C++ fourth edition by Herbert Schildt (He was on the ANSI/ISO C++ standardization committee!)

[bobwrit]

Philosophical Programmer: Reflections on The Moth in the Machine---Daniel Kohansk:
The Age of the Thinking Machines----Ray Kurzweil
(A few others that I don't remember)

[basicxman]

The Moth in the Machine

Do I see a reference to the first computer "bug"? ;)

[timothyb89]

Not totally FIRST-related, but I enjoyed "Linux Robotics" - D. J Newman
It covers some robotics basics and programming (mostly with Java), including AI, some image processing, and even some fun things like speech recognition.

I guess it applies a bit more this year with the addition of the Java programming environment, though.

[DonRotolo]

"Teach yourself xxxx in 24 hours" - I've read several in this series, and all of them brought me up to speed from zero to functional in just a few days of focused effort.

[Jared Russell]

Code Complete 2 is one of my favorites.

For C++, by far my favorite text is Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. Not only does he provide great guidelines for crafting effective and maintainable C++, but the dry wit all over the text makes for an entertaining read.

[rsisk]

About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design by Alan Cooper
I wish more developers would read this book... and take it to heart

The Psychology Of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
This book is a must read for anything built for human interaction, including robots

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil
Not directly related to programming, but programmers will probably like the content.

[Abrakadabra]

Robot Programming : A Practical Guide to Behavior-Based Robotics (http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Programming-Practical-Behavior-Based-Robotics/dp/0071427783/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262282172&sr=1-1) by Joe Jones and Daniel Roth

I found this book to be very well written and an excellent introduction to the arbitration and subsumption model of robotics programming developed by Rodney Brooks and others at MIT. The authors were involved with the development of the very first Roomba robots at iRobot. The book won't teach you how to program, but it will give you a very good foundation in autonomous robotic behavior, which as we all know, is becoming ever more important in FIRST competitions.

I also want to echo the props for Steve McConnell's Code Complete (http://www.amazon.com/Code-Complete-Practical-Handbook-Construction/dp/0735619670/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262282639&sr=1-1) (either edition). It is a book that you don't need to read from beginning to end - just pick it up when you get a chance and read a chapter or two at random, and you are guaranteed to take away some useful programming insights.

[Pat Fairbank]

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Gamma, Helm, Johnson and Vlissides
Probably not very applicable to FIRST, but a great reference for object-oriented programming. Reading it made a lot of stuff I'd seen in industry code make sense.

[GGCO]

One word: Chunky Bacon

Still haven't finished reading this (or learning Ruby - I've become very side tracked), but it's still and excellent (and funny, I mean REALLY REALLY funny) read.

http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/

[Chris Fultz]

The Soul of a New Machine, by Tracy Kidder.

Programming in a rather unique sense.

[keehun]

I've read a book detailing Apple Cocoa Framework. (Hillegass, 2008) (http://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Programming-Mac-OS-3rd/dp/0321503619/ref=dp_cp_ob_b_title_2)

Otherwise, I've been mostly a self teaching guy, with the web as a good friend. I've been able to grasp the concept of Object Oriented programming pretty strongly from the elegantly designed Cocoa Framework.

[RobotGrrl]

My favourite beyond all favourites of programming books (I've read an enormous amount) is Probabilistic Robotics (http://robots.stanford.edu/probabilistic-robotics/). It's a great reference for when I quickly need to implement an EKF or whatever to save the robots! ;) I'm more into Social Robotics and AI, so it really doesn't pertain to FIRST much.

Really cool to see that someone else does Cocoa Objective-C! Rock on! :D

[chrisstruttmann]

"The C Programming Language"

Keep a copy on my desk all the time. Serves me well. VERY straightforward.

[Tony.Wu]

"Sams Teach Yourself C++"

[MPlant]

I've read The C Programming Language - best book ever.
Every night before I go to bed I read a passage from SICP.
If I don't I can't fall asleep properly.

[jmanela]

Pragmatic thinking and Learning: Refractor Your Wetware.
Java for Dummies is actually pretty good as well.

-----side note

Do I see a reference to the first computer "bug"? ;)

The first computer "bug" was actually at Harvard University when a moth got stuck in some wiring on a giant room size computer. They had to 'de-bug' the problem.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/H96566k.jpg

[Zach O]

"C for Dummies" However, if anyone has any good Ruby/Pyton books to recommend that they have read and found helpful, PM me.

[LukeS]

I've read The C Programming Language - best book ever.
Old Testament or New? I've got a copy of 1st Ed, but haven't gotten to dive in yet.

[kevin.li.rit]

Expert C Programming Deep C Secrets (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269405520&sr=8-1)

[Chris27]

The Psychology Of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
This book is a must read for anything built for human interaction, including robots

I'll add my recommendation for this book. It was republished as "The Design of Everyday Things."

Also,

Computer Systems a Programmer's Perspective by Randal E. Bryant and David R. O'Hallaron

has been one of my best textual resources as a C.S. student at CMU.

[MPlant]

Old Testament or New? I've got a copy of 1st Ed, but haven't gotten to dive in yet.

2nd edition. It's definitely the most easy to understand programming book I've ever read.

[basicxman]

The first computer "bug" was actually at Harvard University when a moth got stuck in some wiring on a giant room size computer. They had to 'de-bug' the problem.


Exactly what I meant. He cited the book "The Moth in the Machine"

[Andrew Schreiber]

Recent books...

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach - Peter Norvig.
Read this for my AI course, got through something like 9 of 25 chapters.

Haskell - The Craft of Functional Programming
Quick up to speed on Haskell

Compilers - Principles and Techniques (The Dragon Book)

Also, a handful of online books about Lisp.

This term has been all about functional languages for me. I have written no C outside of what I did for FRC. Only one program in Java. And roughly a dozen different assignments in either Haskell or SBCL

I would REALLY suggest picking up LISP as a language, really cool, really quick, really different. Or if you want parallel computing pick up Haskell.

[gvarndell]

Old Testament or New? I've got a copy of 1st Ed, but haven't gotten to dive in yet.

What are you waiting for -- the pages to turn to dust? :confused:

I have 2 copies of K&R 1st edition.
I only take them out of the vault on very rare occasions. :D
Really, the best programming book ever that one.

[qzrrbz]

I'm a big fan of John Allen Paulos. I heartily recommend pretty much every one of his books. While not about programming per se, they are "essential knowledge" for anyone in a technical field.

Start with Innumeracy and read on! Enjoy!

[Robby Unruh]

I've been reading The Standard C Library, along with Java 24/7. I got the Java book from my mentor, actually. Guess he isn't getting it back until next robotics season. :o

And a little off-topic: Has anyone seen any F# books around? I've been trying to learn since I found out it came out in VS2010.

[davidthefat]

I read a lot of programming books, a lot of it is e books but on my shelf is C++ Complete Reference 4rth edition and PHP and MySQL 5 book

[dag0620]

I've seen alot on Java and c++ but is there anything on LabView?

I know that LabView in some ways is a hated , but I don't see my team switching anytime soon....

[Greg McKaskle]

I can't quite tell if this is a request for recommended books on LabVIEW, but in case it is, try going to Amazon and type in LabVIEW. There are a wide variety to choose from.

I was a reviewer on several of them, and generally, I'd say the for Everyone book is a good overall choice.

There are also advanced books that focus on other topics, but use LV for the language to explore the topic. To find those, search for things like LabVIEW control, or LabVIEW fuzzy logic.

For vision, by the way, I'd recommend the Vision concepts manual that is probably already on your hard drive.

Greg McKaskle

[BigJ]

My favorite programming book I have read so far is Head First Design Patterns. We used it in our software component design class at MSOE. It's not as formal as the Gang of Four book, but If you've never even heard of Design Patterns before, it is a great book. It uses examples for everything, like ordering and making pizzas to represent the Abstract Factory and Factory Method patterns, or a video game involving ducks both live and wooden for the Strategy pattern. It is geared for Java but they might have written a C++ version. It is the first and only school book so far I have had the urge to read :)

*reading rainbow noise*

[kenavt]

I want to learn C++, so I'm making my way through Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days, which has a pretty gimmicky title but reads quite well, seeing as I'm a programming novice.