Algorithms

What Hacker News says

1. orsenthilSep 2026
   The quote by Hokusai is beautiful.

   Algorithms books and material by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne is 40 year effort too.

   Computer Networks, Operating Systems, Distributed Systems from Andrew Tanenbaum, same.

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2. atribecalledqstMay 2026
   I've cracked into quite a few programming books over the years and it's pretty crazy how much of an advantage it's given me. I'm a lowly systems engineer, not even a real programmer, but I definitely understand networking better than the majority of programmers at my company because I read Stevens' TCP/IP Illustrated 10 years back. (and I read the OLD version from the 90s that was already dated when I read it!) And then I read UNIX Network Programming to help understand all the different sockets APIs and that's paid dividends too, because I get our network programming code better than most of my coworkers too.

   Then there was that one time I was self-studying computer architecture (Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective) and was able to turn what I learned around and hack our binary code at a customer site because I wasn't in an environment where I could compile our code... and then years later, when I wanted to analyze the ROM of a 90s electronic device with a much simpler instruction set than x86, I wasn't afraid to crack open the thing in Ghidra

   Let's see, what else have I read that's paid dividends over the years:

   - Modern Operating Systems (Tannenbaum)

   - Learning Python (Lutz)

   - JavaScript - The Definitive Guide (Flanagan)

   - Programming PHP (Tatroe)

   - Learning Web Design (Robbins)

   - Algorithms (Sedgewick)

   - A book I read whose name escapes me now, about technologies like RS-282/RS-484 and serial communications in general

   - (I could probably put down Cuckoo's Egg too as an "inspiration" for me ultimately getting interested in computers and networking, and I bet that's not too uncommon a story)

   It's probably a sign of my age (mid 30s for reference), but when I'm curious about something and want to learn it really deeply - I look for a good book on the topic. (although I'm willing to admit that maybe this process hinders me in some ways, because it means I sometimes spend more time studying than I actually do working with a thing - I have spent a LOT more time reading about circuits than building them - but I like studying so I'm happy either way)

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3. zellynMay 2026
   It's not just AI.

   I grew up with borrowed ZX Spectrum manuals that detailed the Z80 assembly language, (a clone of) a Red Book that came with the (clone of a) Apple II computer that had assembly listings, and fold-out circuit-board diagrams for the whole computer. I taught myself C++ from the manual that came with Borland Turbo C++ and the Waite Group C book. I laughed out loud at footnotes in the Camel book, which I read from the start through to where it becomes a reference. I read Sedgewick's Algorithms cover to cover for fun when I found it in a local library as a teenager. I borrowed the ancient "build a flight simulator" book from a friend in high school.

   I've bought books by Kleppmann, Julia Evans, and Hillel Wayne's in-progress book on proofs. I owned the gang of four design patterns book (although I won't pretend -- like everyone else -- to have done more than skim a few patterns!)

   And yet.

   For many, many years now every time I've wondered into a bookstore, and meandered over to the fondly-remembered computer books section with a sense of nostalgia, I've just been deeply disappointed and sad. If you're lucky, you'll find one or two books that look worth reading, and the rest is just the product of some giant publishing machine whose sole purpose seems to be to fleece unsuspecting neophytes of their money by pushing on them hastily written books on whatever the current fad is. Often when you look at the publication date and compare it to the release date of the software, it's obvious you couldn't write a _good_ book that fast.

   And they're all huge. The C Programming Language, Javascript: the good parts, and The Go Programming Language are just about the only three examples I know of where concision was considered a virtue. Most are just fluffy as hell, which is offensive to the kind of mind that wants to learn a programming language.

   Add to that the observation in the article that paper books for programming languages are inherently weird.

   So yeah, nobody cracks open a programming book anymore, but there are lots of compelling reasons beside AI, reasons that make you grateful if AI can save you from having to wade through an ocean of dreck.

   I can imagine a heavily curated shelf of programming books, and it would be a thing of beauty, a collection of potent fireworks shot into the dark of the unknown. But, like, who would go to Barnes and Noble or whatever and actually see it, and actually buy something?

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4. optymizerFeb 2025
   Algorithms by Sedgewick is pretty good for learning the fundamentals, imo, and sufficient (together with the Cracking the Coding Interview book) to pass interviews at the FAANGs I've worked at (and was an interviewer at for years).
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5. adastra22Apr 2023
   Just skim it and read a section or two to see for yourself. It's been more than a decade since I read any of it, but IIRC it's a from-first-principles build up of theoretical computer science. Basic algorithms, stuff like that. It is foundational, but it is also common knowledge and covered in tons of other very good textbooks. I usually recommend people read "Algorithms" by Sedgewick instead.
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6. rurbanSep 2022
   Antipatterns

   SICP

   Sedgewick Algorithms

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