(Part 2) Top products from r/computerscience

The Stanford Algorithm book is complete overkill in my opinion do NOT read that book. That's insane. Read it when you've been doing programming for a while and have a grasp of how it even applies.

Here's my list, it's a "wanna be a decent junior" list:

• Computer Science Distilled
  
• Java/ C# / PHP/ JS (pick one)
  
• Do some Programming Challenges
  
• SQL
  
• Maybe build a small web app. Don't worry about structure so much, just build something simple.
  
• Applying UML: and Patterns: An Introduction to Object Oriented Anaysis and Design Iterative Development
  
• Head First Design Patterns
  
• Clean Architecture
  
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code
  
• If you're interested in Web
  
• Soft Skills: Power of Habit , A Mind for Numbers , Productivity Project
  
  ​
  
  Reasoning: So, the first book is to give you a sense of all that's out there. It's short and sweet and primes you for what's ahead. It helps you understand most of the basic industry buzz words and whatnot. It answers a lot of unknown unknowns for a newbie.
  
  Next is just a list languages off the top of my head. But you can pick anything, seriously it's not a big deal. I did put Java first because that's the most popular and you'll like find a mountain of resources.
  
  Then after some focused practice, I suggest grabbing some SQL. You don't need to be an expert but you gotta know about DBs to some degree.
  
  Then I put an analysis book that's OOP focused. The nifty thing about that book, is it breaks into design patterns nicely with some very simple design patters to introduce you to design patterns and GRASP.
  
  Then I put in a legit Design Patterns book that explains and explores design patterns and principles associated with many of them.
  
  Now that you know how code is structured, you're ready for a conversation about Architecture. Clean architecture is a simple primer on the topic. Nothing too crazy, just preps you for the idea of architecture and dealing with it.
  
  Finally, refactoring is great for working devs. Often your early work will be focused on working with legacy code. Then knowing how to deal with those problems can be helpful.
  
  FINAL NOTE: Read the soft skills books first.
  
  The reason for reading the soft skills books first is it helps develop a mental framework for learning all the stuff.
  
  Good luck! I get this isn't strictly computer science and it's likely focused more toward Software Development. But I hope it helps. If it doesn't. My apologies.

If your school teaches in Java, you might want to do the http://mooc.fi/english.html. That gets you learning Java and using an IDE (NetBeans), and it's a good way to ease you in. Oracle's documentation is really good, too: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/tutorialLearningPaths.html.

If they do C++, that's another story. My community college teaches C++, and I can tell you that the first course was VERY doable for somebody who has a little programming experience -- even very little. I'm at a loss for good online tutorials, but the book my class used -- https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Out-Early-Objects-8th/dp/013336092X -- was very good. I'm considering getting the author's Java book: https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Out-Java-Early-Objects/dp/0133776743/.

The only problem is that "real" textbooks are very expensive. There are some great online resources. One I am using for Java is http://greenteapress.com/wp/think-java. David Eck's free book -- http://math.hws.edu/javanotes/ -- is also very good.

What interests you about CS? What would you like to build / know / work on?

I would always recommend starting at the very bottom when it comes to learning computer science. Build a knowledge of computing based on what is really happening under the hood, in the hardware. This is the approach I took and it gave me a great foundation, and accelerated my career!

This book is great: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Organization-Design-Interface-Architecture/dp/0123747503

I have just started a youtube series on understanding hardware aimed at beginners which you might find helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH4a1-PgdkBTKkSSNx63uVkQG1Qs6GmYv

this is a great video tutorial for C++ in my opinion (helpls if you have some java or c experience)

https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/C9-Lectures-Stephan-T-Lavavej-Core-C-/Stephan-T-Lavavej-Core-C-1-of-n

This is my data structs and algs book my class used. It basically have full examples of everything you're going to do in Java and has good tips. Big book but easy to parse for information.

http://www.amazon.com/Data-Structures-Algorithms-Java-2nd/dp/0672324539/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1457070413&sr=8-6&keywords=data+structures+and+algorithms


Here's a good link to some software that helps visualize algorithms. (I believe this is the right link)

https://www.cs.usfca.edu/~galles/visualization/Algorithms.html


Hopefully those links work.

Hey when I studied for the exam this book https://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Guide-220-901-220-902/dp/125958951X and this guy http://www.professormesser.com/ are extremely helpful, he also does free YouTube lectures, good luck!

Josh Bloch's Effective Java is also really good. Maybe the best book you can buy if you want to understand Java.

I recommend having a look at both on amazon, you can see the contents, and people give a good overview in the reviews as well:

• Grey-Hat Hacking
  
• Corporate Computer Security

I found Think Like a Programmer to be very helpful. The book uses c++ as it's main language and has a lot of varying exercises.

Here you go

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Envy-X360-Touchscreen-Fingerprint-Win/dp/B07Y2S9RNZ/

This thing is great and give you a 1tb SSD with a 3rd gen quad core Ryzen 5 and it's a 2 in 1 for $999

This is the Intro to CS course at Stanford. It is IMHO one of the best online courses available. It is where I got my start with programming. After you watch/do this course, purchase and read Data Structures and Algorithms in Java

That should be more than enough to get you through the summer and be very prepared for the fall term. And don't get hung up on languages, you will find that once you learn one, you can very easily pick up most others.

Does not pertain to functional languages and paradigms, but pay attention in math and these won't be hard to pick up either.

If you want to better understand how computers work and take a bottom-up approach into programming, check out Patt's Introduction to Computing Systems.

Read the book lol https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Programmer-Introduction-Creative/dp/1593274246/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=think+like+a+programmer&qid=1554540180&s=gateway&sr=8-3

How formal do you mean? If you're interested in the theory of computer science, have a read of Sipser's Introduction to the Theory of Computation (or on Amazon - get it 2nd hand). This is a very theoretical book though, and most CS undergrad courses will only cover this type of content as a small part of the subject matter taught, so don't be put off if it doesn't immediately appeal or make sense!

Edit - links.

Clean code is probably one of the most popular CS book. This is the kind of stuff you will never learn in school and very basic programming skill is enough to understand.

it's good for getting your foot in the door as a basic repair tech or helpdesk.

AFAIK Mike Meyer's book has been, and still is, the gold standard for books:
https://smile.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Guide-220-901-220-902/dp/125958951X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497277667&sr=8-1&keywords=mike+meyers+comptia+a

I would personally recommend this book. (There’s also an associated coursework available at EdX I believe? You can also check out the book’s site at www.nand2tetris.org)

If you're interested in reading up on this, I highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Software/dp/0735611319

Or for a more hands-on approach: https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Computing-Systems-Building-Principles/dp/0262640686/

If you are looking for specifically the basic hardware stuff, this is the book that I used. It is a textbook but it is written well. https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Computing-Systems-Gates-Beyond/dp/0072467509

I like the one by Sipser https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0534950973/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_bibl_vppi_i1

What I know, I learned from a book. Unfortunately, the book was purchased before Amazon, Kindle, etc. so I only have it in physical form far away from where I find myself physically right now so I can't remember the name. This one is probably very good (maybe even a newer edition of the same).

A good starting point for studying OS is Tanenbaum's Modern Operating Systems, but of course there are other, more detailed resources.

Noam Chomsky hasn't done much for Computer Science lately. I believe he's primarily a political activist now, though I may be wrong.

Anyhow! My Theory of Computing course used Languages and Machines: An Introduction to the Theory of Computer Science. Another course used Programming Language Pragmatics.

The former focuses entirely on formal languages and machines. The latter focuses more on the specifics of programming languages (lexical analysis, syntax analysis (i.e., parsing), semantic analysis, etc).

I don't remember if either book properly introduces Kleene Algebra. Even if they don't introduce it, they certainly make use of it (especially Languages and Machines). In the event that it isn't introduced, try to educate yourself on the subject. Very interesting topic (and also the building blocks of regular expressions!).

are you talking about this book ?

For reference, /u/fatgypsythief is referring to this.

These guys at the nerd ranch are pro as f... at least for Android and iOS

https://www.amazon.com/Android-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0134706056/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487904695&sr=8-2&keywords=big+nerd+ranch

I personally learned from devslopes (http://devslopes.com)