Introducing
The Slant team built an AI & it’s awesome
Find the best product instantly
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now
4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs?
Ad
Ad
The C Programming Language (AKA: K&R)
All
7
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
3
Top
Pro
Well known classic
This book is so well known that it's affectionately called "K & R", after the authors. It's been cited in many other books and is familiar to most, if not all, CS students.
See More
Top
Con
Out of Date
Some commands and practices are out of date, so errata and googling is needed while going through the book.
See More
Top
Pro
It's excerpted from the idea of its creators
This book is written by Dennis Ritchie, who was one of the main people behind the development and design of C and UNIX.
See More
Top
Con
Teaches bad style
The K&R style works for old Unix mainframe command-line programs that exit after a simple task and leave the cleanup to the OS; where input is only from trusted experts; and most functions are only called internally to the program. The environment is very different today. This style will get your server owned by hackers, or crash it due to a memory leak, etc. You will have to unlearn what you've learned from this book to use C correctly in the real world today.
See More
Top
Pro
Creative, challenging exercises
The challenges at the end of each chapter do a great job of requiring many of the skills learned up to that point. Completing the challenges is a great way of insuring you understand the material.
See More
Top
Con
Not for beginners
Assumes familiarity not only with programming concepts but some C language specifics.
See More
Top
Pro
This book set the template for programming language books
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
Get it
here
43
7
The Design of Everyday Things
All
6
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Transcendental principles
This book isn't focused on recent trends or properties specific to a certain field, and thus applies to all design. It provides a broad view and allows focusing on the fundamental goals of the user experience, rather than being limited in scope.
See More
Top
Con
Quite dated
Examples are quite old, as are the illustrations.
See More
Top
Pro
Focused on the user
Whatever that's being designed, for whatever purpose, it always has the same goal of being used by someone. This book is focused on that interaction and on why users make mistakes. These principles still apply directly to web design, when design leads users to make mistakes, it will ultimately drive users away.
See More
Top
Con
A lot to read
It's quite a long read, there is a lot of material to be covered, if you compare it to similar but more concise books, like The Non-Designer's Design Book.
See More
Top
Con
Not specifically for web design
This book challenges the reader to think about the design of all objects, and their user-friendliness/usability. It is not specifically targeted towards web designers, but will help web designers think in a way that benefits users.
See More
Specs
Pages:
368
Hide
Get it
here
56
1
Coursera - "Compilers" by Stanford
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Community of students
When the course is run, it is taken by thousands of students world-wide. Coursera provides a forum where you can discuss the material with others.
See More
Top
Con
Rarely offered
This course is not frequently run. However, all of the lectures are available for viewing.
See More
Top
Pro
Free
There is no cost to take this course.
See More
Top
Pro
Statement of accomplishment
After successful completion of the course, the student will receive a statement of accomplishment.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
9
0
The Little Schemer
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Aids in teaching programming logic as well as Scheme
"The Little Schemer" teaches Scheme while also challenging the readers thought process in order to improve overall programming abilities.
See More
Top
Con
Lack of detail for more difficult concepts
"The Little Schemer" does touch on more advanced Scheme concepts, however includes only a weak explanation of them. For more advanced topics, the sequel "The Seasoned Schemer", is required.
See More
Top
Pro
Creative and humorous teaching style
The authors write in a humorous and witty style that keeps the readers attention throughout the book.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
7
0
Head First Programming
All
3
Experiences
Pros
3
Top
Pro
Creative teaching style
Head First approaches learning with the idea that anything which increases brain activity will help you learn. Head First does this through humor, pictures, surprise and more.
See More
Top
Pro
Relevant, challenging and fun puzzles
The puzzles and exercises are challenging and unique. They help to reinforce what you've learned while guiding you through developing fun programs from the start.
See More
Top
Pro
Engaging writing style
One of the ways these books encourages the retention of material is by using an engaging and amusing writing style.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
5
0
Professor Frisby's Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming
All
5
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Covers a wider range of topics than many books
See More
Top
Con
Shortage of real world examples
There are very few non-trivial examples given in the book.
See More
Top
Pro
Free
It's available free on Github.
See More
Top
Pro
Can submit pull requests to suggest improvements
You can submit issues to suggest improvements, or submit pull requests. Thanks to it being open source, it's constantly being improved and updated.
See More
Top
Pro
Uses JavaScript
JavaScript is popular, ubiquitous, and has the necessary power to teach core concepts.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
3
0
Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (2nd Edition)
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Comprehensive
This book covers a wide variety of topics relating to compilers. Explanation are detailed with plenty of examples and exercises provided.
See More
Top
Con
Issues with Kindle version
There are issues present in the Kindle version that are not in the paper book. An error with an algorithm, and many formatting concerns have been noted.
See More
Top
Pro
Preferred among developers
"The Dragon Book" is frequently used in university courses and often the resource of choice by experienced developers.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
2
0
Rationality: From AI to Zombies
All
8
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
3
Top
Pro
Will make you smarter
Your intelligence is being used to defeat itself. Learn how to stop that.
See More
Top
Con
Not enough citations
Just Google it.
See More
Top
Pro
Mindblowing ideas
From (friendly) AI to (philosophical) zombies. Also Pebblesorters. And why humans are insane.
See More
Top
Con
Has some highly technical references in places
Things like physics (relativity, quantum mechanics), mathematics and computer programming. Scared? Didn't think so.
See More
Top
Pro
Fictional interludes
These are quality science fiction short stories in their own right.
See More
Top
Con
Long
The chapters are relatively short and digestible essays and short stories. The problem: there are 333 of them. On paper, this would take volumes, but this is an ebook. You'll get a lot out of it long before you finish though.
See More
Top
Pro
Funny
See More
Top
Pro
Engaging
See More
Hide
See All
Experiences
$5 - $0
4
1
Engineering a Compiler, Second Edition
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Covers theory and application
Engineering a Compiler covers both the theory of constructing a compiler, and the implementation.
See More
Top
Con
Lack of examples
More examples and exercises could be used throughout the book.
See More
Top
Pro
Good for beginners
Engineering a Compiler has a beginner-friendly writing style that presents and explains concept without requiring an existing knowledge of compilers.
See More
Top
Pro
Easy read
Engineering a Compiler, Second Edition is an easy read compared to many other compiler books. It is well written and explains concepts in-depth.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
1
0
JavaScript: The Good Parts
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Con
Lack of consistency
Where some parts of the book cover very basic concepts, other parts expect at least an intermediate understanding on JavaScript. There is a lack of consistency, causing some confusion as to who the book is aimed at.
See More
Top
Pro
Explains what makes JS confusing and how to go about it
JS can be a confusing language and often provides difficulty writing good code that uses objects and methods. Crockford explains why that is and how to think about the language to avoid confusion.
See More
Top
Pro
Good for intermediate programmers
The book requires basic understating of how programming works and even some understanding of JavaScript itself.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
17
5
Real World Haskell
All
3
Experiences
Pros
1
Cons
2
Top
Con
Poorly organized and hard to follow
The book jumps around, includes confusing function names and many of the code examples don't compile.
See More
Top
Pro
Free
Available online for free.
See More
Top
Con
Not really "real world"
The book doesn't feel very "pragmatic". The title implies a practical approach to Haskell, but it takes way too long to be able to actually create something using this book as lot of time is spent on theory.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
4
3
Modern Compiler Design
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Top
Con
Poor pseudo-code
The pseudo-code can be difficult to read and follow.
See More
Top
Pro
Covers broad range of topics
Modern Compiler Design covers a broad range of topics not often discussed in other compiler books. The compilation of parallel and logical languages for example.
See More
Top
Con
Dull book
Modern Compiler Design has large chapters with a condensed layout and dull typography.
See More
Top
Pro
Good introduction
Modern Compiler Design touches on a variety of topics without being convoluted. It will help the reader grasp the fundamental concepts of compiler theory.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
0
0
An Introduction to Functional Programming Through Lambda Calculus
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Works with most programming languages
Lambda calculus can be done with paper and pencil, but any programming language with lambda (like Python) can work with it.
See More
Top
Con
Hard to pick up
The first chapter is reportedly not so good.
See More
Top
Pro
Hard to put down
Learn how to build a functional programming language from first principles.
See More
Top
Pro
Non-technical
This book doesn't assume any kind of math or programming knowledge beyond elementary school.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
0
0
For Dummies
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Price
Compared to beginner books of the same language by another publisher, For Dummies books are usually the more affordable option.
See More
Top
Con
Inconsistent
The "For Dummies" series covers a wide variety of languages. However the style is largely inconsistent across the different books, so it's recommended that you look up reviews for that specific book first.
See More
Top
Pro
Great for complete beginners
For someone who has no prior programming experience, these books will take you through the fundamentals of programming at a reasonable pace.
See More
Hide
Get it
here
1
1
Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns
All
6
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Short enough to read in a reasonable amount of time
It is a single blog post entry that doesn't take all that long to read.
See More
Top
Con
No real code
There are no real code examples given to demonstrate the points.
See More
Top
Pro
Funny
The post is written as a humorous and engaging story about "Evil King Java".
See More
Top
Con
Argues FP by bashing OO
See More
Top
Pro
Non-academic
See More
Top
Pro
An easy to follow story form
See More
Hide
Get it
here
0
1
Built By the Slant team
Find the best product instantly.
4.7 star rating
Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to Safari
Try it now - it's free
{}
undefined
url next
price drop