Instead of creating threads for every language out there, let's use this thread to discuss good and bad books and/or websites on programming.
Code Complete. It makes you think about the way you do stuff.
>>3
Is it fairly language agnostic? It's made by MS, I'm worried of how much C# and VB crap is in it.
I don't mind that stuff, it just doesn't apply to me at all and buying a book just to find that it's full of irrelevant junk is a bit disheartening.
In a similar vein as Code Complete, I recommend Refactoring by Martin Fowler -- or at least the first three chapters or so. Let's all try to write nice code.
Don't Make Me Think! by Steve Krug is short and to the point, and should get you thinking about UI, at least for the web. Also related to usability is The Design of Everyday Things. I recommend both. If you really want more depth, there's About Face by Alan Cooper and The Humane Interface by Raskin, but the former rambles a lot and I have no opinion on the latter.
What Every Programmer Should Know About Memory is a must-read by anybody concerned about performance. It's a paper that's the length of a book. While the writing leaves a lot to be desired, it's difficult to find all this material in the same place.
If you'd like to read about software architectures that scale, there's Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture: Patterns for Concurrent and Networked Objects_. I'm quite hesitant to recommend this book though. I have yet to finish it, and it's also heavy on the GoF enterprisey angle. However, once again it's hard to find this all in one place.
If you're into language implementation, Smalltalk-80 - The Language and its Implementation is a worthwhile read. Too many popular dynamically-typed languages have been written by people who didn't read it, and as a result the languages are poor and the implementations horrid.
There's a bunch of other books that haven't been mentioned yet, but since I haven't read them either I'm not qualified to comment.
Paradigms of AI Programming: Case Studies in Common Lisp. Read this even if you aren't interested in AI or Lisp.
>>4
Most examples are C(++)-ish, and in general, most of the content applies no matter which language you use.
what would you all suggest as a good book for microprocessor programming or just assembly in general, (i've read quite a few but honestly most are horrible, and none that i've seen are above O.K.)
The reference manual for your processor.
I've heard some people favourably mention Programming from the Ground Up: http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/pgubook/
I haven't read it.
There's also this: http://www.drpaulcarter.com/pcasm/
>>12
His name is Robert Paulsen.
anyone know of a must-have practical text covering any subject concerned with web development?
>>14
web development is pretty much a fap fest right now. There is nothing really substantial pedagogically. You just pick up stuff from web tutorials, references, or whatever and the basics you should know about programming.
>>14
One of the best resources is http://www.htmldog.com/ but it's only for HTML and CSS.
Basically, right now you're supposed to buy the thickest O'Reilly book about every topic you're gonna encounter, and you will still have to figure out yourself the big picture.
There are tons of practical skills to pick up that are never clearly explained anywhere. Such as, how to use a shared server environment, how domain names and DNS business works (and why you should never ever use some companies such as Network Solutions or GoDaddy), how the web hosting business operates (and why 95% of them are scams run by incompetent hacks at a huge mark-up), etc.
And of course you'll want to learn a web programming environment, but making an informed choice is really hard as a beginner, and there are no correct answers.
> let's use this thread to discuss good and bad books and/or websites on programming.
Have you read SICP?
Perl By Practice is a good book for Perl style. Reading it will put you above 90% of Perl programmers.
Don't run away from /prog/ to this board then act like you own the place.
Don't take yourself seriously
uhmm... wtf is /prog/?
>>25
http://dis.4chan.org/prog - it used to be a pretty great board, in the 4chan definition of great. High quality trolling you just couldn't get from the normal internet.
"Read SICP" is no longer simply good advice but just a meme, frequently repeated by people without experience with scheme. Right now, /prog/ is being flooded by idiots, and it has no moderation at all, so we are likely to see some people from /prog/ pay us a visit : http://dis.4chan.org/read/prog/1209135982/
>>27
I am from /prog/, and, apart from a few people taking themselves too seriously, I really like the feel of this board. I've become bored of /prog/. And I actually have the SICP book, which I am reading.
>>25
/prog/ is the trailer park of programming boards, and it's where all the retards who have appeared here recently are coming from. It is filled with bbcode, trolling, and script kiddies.
>>29
Have you ever followed it? It has gone bad the last months and is currently experiencing floods, but it was pretty damn good at what it was (that is, nothing like this serious board) and was almost only filled with clever people.
>>30
Yes, until I found 4-ch. It was horrid two years ago, too. Clever or not, it's all trolling and nonsense, and little or no actual programming.