On Books

I frequently say that I am grateful to have grown up before the public Internet began to shape and mold human beings and human interaction. And I sometimes wonder if the Internet is a terrible thing to have happened. Not its original vision, but as it’s came to be. Probably.

Anyway, I read books, and I use libraries. I worked in a library at college. If I have the choice, I never choose an ebook over a book (and I try to order local or directly from the publisher). And so I thought, why not compile a list of my favorite computer books?

The books that make this list satisfy two criteria:

• I continue to reread and refer to them.
• Or, I did at one point in my career.

It’s a small list, as favorites can be, and I may add to it in time.

Data Structures and Algorithms

• The Algorithm Design Manual

Editors

• Learning the Vi and Vim Editors
• Practical Vim

Programming

• The Little Schemer
• Hacking: the Art of Exploitation
• The C Programming Language
• Professional JavaScript for Web Developers
• Writing an Interpreter in Go

Command Interpreters

• Learning the Bash Shell

Containers

• Container Security

Systems

• The Linux Programming Interface
• Nmap Network Scanning
• TCP/IP Illustrated