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Books on Programming Theory?
subversionfactor asks: "I am a philosophy student with an intense interest in mathematics and programming. However, while I've always been able to find books about various experimental areas of mathematics, I've never seen (m)any on the subject of programming theory. Most bookstores' "Tech" sections only include how-to books and books about why dot-coms failed. Does anyone in the Slashdot community have any recommendations for books dealing with any aspect of programming theory?"
Out of the people who recommend Knuth's the Art of Computer Programming, how many have actually read any book in that series? Or even 1/4 of any book in that series? 1%?
Not that they are bad books. I actually enjoy reading them and I'm working my way through the first one. The only problem is I can only get through about 5 pages before falling asleep (reading before I go to bed). Also, a suggestion if you're planning on reading any of these: keep a pad of paper and pencil nearby.
Oh, also for people who want slightly lighter reading, but still good. Check out Algorithms in C or Algorithms in C++ by Sedgewick. Very good books (same book different languages) and very easy to read. Also, I believe this guy and his coauther were students of Knuth at Stanford.
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A new kind of science - it's either genius or folly, but never is it boring...
Code complete by McConnell - very much about the practice, not so much about the theory, but still useful.
Software Engineering - a practitioners approach - useful overview.
Bentley's Programming Pearls - down n dirty.
It's all very well in practice, but it will never work in theory.