How to get the right programming theory?

Question

Books

In our time, many books have been written about programming, about algorithms, and design. I would like to get for myself the “correct base of theory” by choosing the books to study in the correct order . Of course, I heard about 4 volumes of Knuth, about books by McConnell, Alan Cooper, Jeff Ruskin and many others. In what order and what to read? Help me to understand :)

Answer 1

Answers unfairly ignore CLR = Kormen, Leizerson, Rivest (+Stein in the second edition) Algorithms. Construction and analysis.
I would start with the CLR.
And I would study a programming language in parallel - this is a different occupation.

Answer 2

McConnell writes very well on common and commonly used topics, and he also has excellent books on IT project management. Knuth - well, what can I say, the bible of algorithms, but since his books are very meticulous and deeply studied various algorithms that you will use more often , and not implement , I would move this book from the first places until the moment when you really want to figure out how it is arranged in the intestines and what can be changed

Answer 3

1. Start with the basics. At least a cursory glance on Wikipedia
- algorithms (linear, branching, cyclic, recursive)
- data structure (scalars, arrays, structures, trees)
- concepts (linear, procedural, object-oriented)
- patterns (programming patterns)
2. By each of the points is already clear what literature to look for. But reading Knuth and Dijkstra requires some kind of mathematical background.
3. On the specifics, it's time to decide on the language.
Balance between academic and demand - Java, C ++
Exact names, alas, I will not help. I read it a long time ago, I don't remember.
Something like this…

Answer 4

And I would advise you to read Raskin in parallel with books on algorithms, take a break from boring theory;))

Answer 5

Ruskin, why is he here? Designing user interfaces is not the basics of programming)

Answer 6

The book is not entirely theoretical (like McConnell), but still: "Joel on programming", by Joel Spolsky. This is a person who has worked in many places (including Microsoft). Now he has his own company Fog Creek. But it's not that. He writes extremely entertainingly about many important aspects of programming and design. Personally, I learned a lot from this book.

Answer 7

Structure and interpretation of computer programs.
This book is more famous as SICP
www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Computer-Programs-Engineering/dp/0262011530/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293473330&sr=8-1
A very sensible introduction to Computer Science, there is a lot about theory and practice of programming