6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience

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r/computerscience • 1 yr. ago

chyangba_dai

Book Recommendation on Computer Science

Help
I am looking for books on fundamentals of computer science (not language or framework specific)

I am an experienced dev but I often my findself digging into the low level details when I get time but these are
so siloed.

I took computer science in college (but that's the time when I was too naive to appreciate the beauty of
fundamentals and hurried to learn javascript instead)

Ideally I also would prefer if the book has a lot of graphics

added bonus if the book is on oreilly

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4r73m190r0s • 1y ago

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software 2nd Edition by Charles Petzold

27 Reply

SandaruLJ • 1y ago

Absolutely essential for anyone interested in computers.

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6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience
Bibliophile5 • 1y ago
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https://teachyourselfcs.com/

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r_hmuller • 1y ago • Edited 1y ago

I really like Tanenbaum's books: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/andrew-s-tanenbaum/205485/

You can get a free digital copy of the Distributed Systems here: https://www.distributed-
systems.net/index.php/books/ds3/

Another book I like is this one, Designing Data-Intensive Applications:

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/designing-data-intensive-applications/9781491903063/

But Computer Science is a wide topic. Can you be more specific? For example, for algorithms, you can
read the Introduction to Algorithms: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Algorithms-3rd-MIT-
Press/dp/0262033844(But it is a hard book to read by yourself, maybe it is more useful to watch some
YouTube videos about the topics).

--
Edit: One phrase was wrongly copied to the next paragraph.

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Torwals • 1y ago

If you want to go REAL deep into the theory of computer science I would suggest Donald Knuths work
with the book "Concrete Mathematics" and the book series "Art of Computer Programming". I am
currently working trough Concrete Mathemathics before starting on Art of computer programming.

13 Reply

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M1H4F • 1y ago

Go here, CS Books List. It's from OSSU. Besides, you might want to visit this link as well.

5 Reply

srsNDavis • 1y ago • Edited 1y ago

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6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience

N.B. Explore other answers as well. There are some good recommendations here, e.g. this comment
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recommending 'Code' (Petzold). Log In

(My answer focuses on computer science, not software engineering or IT.)

TL;DR Version (Top 3):

'Computer Science Illuminated' (Dale & Lewis) or 'Computer Science Unleashed' (Filho & Pictet),
depending on how familiar the contents seem to you.
'Computer Systems' (Ramachandran & Leahy)
'The Design of Everyday Things' (Norman)

Full answer:

Depending on how proficient you are with these concepts:

Computer Science Illuminated (Dale & Lewis) is a good CS 101 text. It's more detailed than this book
by Filho which I'd recommend to people who are evaluating whether they want to take CS or not,
but Filho & Pictet's follow-up 'Computer Science Unleashed' may still hold promise.

Follow up with topics that interest you with the suggestions in the inner indents. Some of these are highly
technical books and not all of them will be directly applicable to your professional role, but...

'Computer Systems' (Ramachandran & Leahy): An 'integrated' take on computer architecture, system
software (operating systems), and networking. The book introduces all three as parts of one machine
working together. This speaks most directly to your request for digging into low-level details.
You can follow up with targeted books on areas of interest, e.g. 'Computer Architecture'
(Hennessy & Patterson) and OSTEP (Arpaci-Dusseau & Arpaci-Dusseau) as your work (and
hopefully interests) take you.
'The Design of Everyday Things' (Norman) is a fun and entertaining classic, dense with ideas to help
guide you to designing things that are both useful and usable. It doesn't have low-level details about
the machine, but it's about an equally critical (but tragically overlooked) aspect - designing with the
user in mind.
Human-computer interaction is an entire CS subfield, closely related to other areas you don't
normally think of when you think of CS - things like cognitive science (the other CS, well) and
design. Depending on where you study CS, you will likely run into a formal introduction
through a book like MacKenzie's or Dix et al.'s. MacKenzie, in particular, is particularly useful in
training you in designing studies with actual users and analysing results to draw valid,
generalisable conclusions.
Missed the mathsy parts of CS? Erickson's book on Algorithms is a great intro (as are some of the
books it lists in the intro, such as DPV). This is probably the most theoretical recommendation here.
Almost all the topics of an algorithms text can be followed up on if they interest you. For
instance: Number theoretic algorithms build towards cryptographic techniques. Graphs and
trees are enormously important in AI/ML and scientific computing. Dynamic programming falls
under the broader category of optimal control theory. Quantum information science and
quantum computation are emerging domains.
If you find them interesting, you can also follow up with more theoretical (read: less applicable
to your job) topics, such as complexity theory and computability theory (a.k.a. recursion theory),
and of course the underlying maths.
Does your role involve AI/ML or are you just generally interested in it? Russell & Norvig is the classic
AI text. See Goodfellow et al. for a focus on neural network-based techniques.
Any follow-ups would have to be narrow - so I'm omitting specific recommendations - but any
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6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience

follow-up exploration would probably focus on specific techniques (reinforcement learning and
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Logrobotics).
decision making, e.g. in game AI) and domains (natural language, computer vision, In

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captain-_-clutch • 1y ago

Designing Data-Intensive Applications is basically the bible for backend engineers. Tons of great
information.

System Design Interview from ByteByteGo is also incredible. It's made for interview prep but is basically an
overview of modern technologies and architectures. The format isn't great for normal reading but not
bad.

2 Reply

sapphiregroudon • 1y ago

The Art of Code - Dylan Beattie

2 Reply

ManusMau • 1y ago

Two mandatory if you want to be a backender: Object-oriented Design Heuristics Design Patterns:
Elements of reusable Object-oriented software

3 Reply

lilybhr • 5mo ago

++

1 Reply

ExpressionOptimal992 • 16d ago

Hey

1 Reply

Coderules • 1y ago

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6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience

A few general topic books come to mind. Most of these are not specific to language or topic but offer a
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more general philosophy of CS concepts. Log In

The Pragmatic Programmer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pragmatic_Programmer

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph
Johnson, John Vlissides

The Art of Computer Programming, Donald Knuth - I have the three-book set on my bookshelf and reread
it occasionally. Some deep stuff though.

The Art of Computer Programming, Donald Knuth - I have the three-book set on my bookshelf and reread
it occasionally. It's some deep stuff though.

A Philosophy of Software Design, John Ousterhout - This is my #1 recommended book to CS and

programmers looking to think more conceptually. Very short but powerful.

Honorable Mention:

Godol, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid - This book is not about CS but is a good read.

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laughinbuddha2 • 1y ago

Remindme! 7days

1 Reply

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4r73m190r0s • 1y ago

Remindme! 7days

1 Reply

FrosteeSwurl • 1y ago

CLRS

1 Reply

[deleted] • 1y ago

An invitation to computer science

1 Reply

[deleted] • 1y ago

structure and interpretation or computer programs, and introduction to theoretical cs

https://introtcs.org/public/index.html

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h00s13rt1g3rd2d • 1y ago

this guide is probably the best one I have come across.

1 Reply

ell1s_earnest • 1y ago

Alternative idea: Forget about books. You'll just become another armchair computer scientist with a lot of
opinions and idea but nothing to show for it. What have you build? Simple as that. Key Idea: learn as you
build.

When you find a book recommended here: Ask yourself: How many successful complex systems has that
professor / author actually built? Sure they may work at google or "worked on" some project. People who
actually architect many successful complex system don't usually write books they are too busy actually
creating.

1 Reply

The_Moratheon • 8mo ago

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is a very noble cause

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r/compsci • 10 mo. ago

Best book to learn computer science?

63 upvotes · 44 comments

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Computer science books and roadmaps

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I Want to get an education in computer science.

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What are currently the hot topics in computer science research?

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r/compsci • 9 mo. ago

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Which field
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computer science currently has few people studying it but holds potential for the future?
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313 upvotes · 338 comments

r/rust • 5 yr. ago

Best Book/material for People who want to level up in systems programming

47 upvotes · 18 comments

r/computerscience • 2 mo. ago

Computer Science Roadmap

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What book got you back into reading?

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r/booksuggestions • 21 days ago

Book Recommendations
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Is systems biology mostly computer science?

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Best computer science and related youtubers

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Recommend me computer science books

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What books do I need to get started in Editing?

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6/3/25, 4:33 PM Book Recommendation on Computer Science : r/computerscience
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r/computerscience • 1 yr. ago

Suggestions on CS Books

295 upvotes · 220 comments

r/MachineLearning • 1 yr. ago

[D] Book recommendations for learning ML theory

7 upvotes · 3 comments

r/Physics • 1 yr. ago

Book Recommendations: History of Physics

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r/computerscience • 7 yr. ago

What did you learn in Computer Science 1 in college?

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What are the best introductory computer science books?

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r/booksuggestions • 1 yr. ago

Need book recommendations as a “new reader”

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