
Ask HN: Programming books to read while on vacation? - colbyolson
Hey guys,<p>I am leaving for a weeklong vacation tomorrow and I am looking for a book to read while I am there. I asking for any recommendations of programming books that I can find.<p>I just recently started learning python, so something related to that would be convenient, also I will not have access to a computer, so having to work along with the book would be out of the question. I'm trying to find a nice book to assist me in my digital travels into the programming world!<p>I would appreciate any response. Thanks.
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SwellJoe
Try some fiction, instead. It's a vacation. I just finished _The Road_ by
Cormac McCarthy a couple of weeks ago. It's really good.

That said, if you're going to read programming books, you might want narrative
texts rather than "practical" books, since the practical ones require you to
also have a computer, and work through the examples and such. Books like
_Programming Pearls_ , _Beautiful Code_ , etc. tell stories about code, rather
than just show you code (though there are probably moments in either book
where the best course of action is to try applying what you've read about).

~~~
tptacek
Cormac McCarthy is a depressing motherfucker. I'm halfway through Blood
Meridian and ready to slit my wrists. Good programmer read: A Supposedly Fun
Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace.

~~~
johnbender
Blood Meridian made me a McCarthy fan.

------
defunkt
Grab _The Little Schemer_ and a notebook. Do all exercises in the notebook
with a pencil, without a computer.

It'll make you a better Python programmer for sure.

~~~
colbyolson
Forgive me for asking, but how could that book help me down the road? Scheme
seems so obscure to me. I was at the bookstore and checked it out, and was
mildly intimidated by it, although the illustrations were cute.

I ended up purchasing Practical Programming. Thank you all for your
recommendations, some I have saved into my reading list.

PDF Sample: <http://media.pragprog.com/titles/gwpy/toc.pdf>

Amazon link: [http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Programming-Introduction-
Pra...](http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Programming-Introduction-Pragmatic-
Programmers/dp/1934356271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250464190&sr=8-1)

~~~
Scriptor
It's not really meant to just teach you scheme. Scheme by itself is incredibly
minimalist and simple. The exercises are more logic/math-based puzzles. Here's
a list of the exercises themselves:

<http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/BTLS/exercises.ps>

------
weaksauce
"Hackers and Painters" or "Founders at Work" are both good books if you
haven't picked them up yet. Not language learning or directly programming but
interesting none the less.

A book more directly related to programing would be "Structure and
Interpretation of Computer Programs" or "The Little Schemer." bring a notebook
and do problems out of them like defunkt said and it will help in all your
programming.

------
pmorici
Are you _sure_ you want to read a programming book on your vacation? Esp. if
your day job involves computers it doesn't sound like a vacation at all.

That said I find the best instructional material for Python is the tutorial
included in the Python manual itself.

------
caffeine
Nobody's mentioned it here, yet: Godel Escher Bach

~~~
dandrews
Also consider Hofstadter's "Metamagical Themas", a collection of his
Scientific American essays. A broad range of topics, lots of stuff to think
about, and something on my shelf that I return to just for the pleasure. Good
stuff.

------
dshah
I'll suggest The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas. Basic stuff, but
lives up to the title of being "pragmatic".

If you're going to write commercial software for a living, it's useful stuff
to know (or be reminded of).

------
jerf
I would recommend a classic that you haven't read that isn't directly about a
specific programming language, since it would seem to me that the virtue of
reading a book about a specific language when you aren't in front of a
computer is dubious. (Note I didn't say it had no virtue, I just find it
dubious. YMWV.)

Already mentioned is Code Complete and The Pragmatic Programmer. I'd add The
Mythical Man Month, still a classic, but note that's a relatively short book
and may not last long enough. (A depressing read in some ways; decades have
passed and what's in the book is arguably common wisdom, yet I _still_
encounter the errors outlined in that book every year.)

Godel, Escher, Bach (mentioned by caffeine) is a love it or hate it book;
check out a couple of summaries and see what you think.

Personally, I don't recommend the SICP unless you're actually working through
the exercises to some extent, and without a computer it's too easy to think
you understand it when you don't.

If you have already read all those, well, I'd suggest replying and saying so.
:)

------
josephruscio
Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think (Theory in
Practice) is not an instructional programming book per se, but more along the
lines of what I would consider "vacation reading". Each of the chapters is a
self-contained entity, authored by a different luminary, so you can read them
in whatever order suits your fancy.

------
JunkDNA
I find that reading fiction on vacation really stimulates my programming
brain. There's a lot to be said for letting your mind roam free for a bit. I
believe PG talks about the value of letting your mind roam in one of his
essays (or possibly Hackers and Painters). In particular, I've found Neal
Stephenson's books to be great for this purpose. If you haven't read
Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, or Diamond Age, I would suggest reading one of
them. It will satisfy your need for some "geek" content on vacation, without
being all business.

~~~
cschep
I was going to suggest "Snow Crash" as well, so I'll just second it. Very cool
book.

------
abesapien
Code Complete 2nd edition is a good and interesting book about programming in
general. I also recommend these two because they are much lighter reads, and
maybe better for a vacation: "The Passionate Programmer" and also "Masterminds
of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming
Languages".

Another thing you could do is find some great piece of software by a well know
Python hacker and read his code lol. You could put that code in some readable
format on your Kindle, PDA, or Smartphone.

------
deutronium
I really enjoyed reading this book a fair few years ago on holiday "Stealing
the network: how to own a continent" ([http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Network-
How-Own-Continent/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Network-How-Own-
Continent/dp/1931836051)). Theres a few books in the series, they blend
fiction with real security related attacks, its not strictly a programming
book, they do delve into coding a few things if I remember correctly.

------
abecedarius
Since it's a vacation, here's a novel with lots of interesting ideas about
ubiquitous computing, augmented reality, etc.:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End>

Fun with Python: [http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-
Bu...](http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-Building-
Applications/dp/0596529325)

------
tim_church
Here are some similar threads on recommended books for hackers:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135185>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=348019>

If you would rather relax with some fiction, try Little Brother by Cory
Doctorow.

------
jleung
For a programmer on vacation, I wouldn't recommend a technical book. Go for
something that will exercise the right side of your brain, the parts that
don't get as much work day-to-day. Your left-brain is what you're trying to
rest and refresh; that's why you're on vacation after all.

I'd go for something on the far end of the spectrum; some forgotten modern
classic that won't let your left-brain to kick in, like Return of the Native.

If you absolutely must have something technical, the aforementioned Neal
Stephenson books are great, as are William Gibson books. The Little Schemer is
a good book to go through while you're NOT on vacation.

------
TheElder
C# in Depth: What you need to master C# 2 and 3 by Jon Skeet

[http://www.amazon.com/Depth-What-you-need-
master/dp/19339883...](http://www.amazon.com/Depth-What-you-need-
master/dp/1933988363)

~~~
kstenson
I can't champion this book enough, if you're doing C# stuff then this book is
a must have.

------
vibhavs
I suggest Beautiful Architecture from O'Reilly.

<http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517984/>

[http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Architecture-Leading-
Thinker...](http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Architecture-Leading-Thinkers-
Software/dp/059651798X)

It's similar to Beautiful Code (also mentioned here) with various chapters on
different, independent topics: e.g. Facebook's data-centric architecture, Xen
hypervisor, etc.

------
huhtenberg
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_in_a_Boat>

:)

------
rythie
You could read Sarah Lacy's "Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good" (which was
called "The Stories of Facebook, Youtube and Myspace" when I bought it in the
U.K.)

It's a light read (suitable for a holiday) and it will inspire you to build
your startup when you get back.

------
dimarco
Programming Pearls is nice to read while traveling. Doesn't really require a
computer, essays are short.

