[ubuntu-uk] Recommended Reads

[Neil Greenwood]

2008/10/23 Steve Flynn <anothermindbomb at gmail.com>:
> On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 7:39 AM, Jason Liquorish <jason at dropshock.com> wrote:
>
>> I am just looking for general reads that people rate, mainly things that
>> relate to my college course, as listed in my original post, as well as
>> improving my knowledge on Linux.
>
> You might also enjoy Jon Bentleys "Programming Pearls".

Some of the 'Pearls' are getting a bit long in the tooth now (sorting
a file on tape onto another tape anyone?), but a lot of the principles
and the analytical techniques Bentley uses are interesting and still
apply.

Not all of them involve computers either. If I recall correctly,
there's one about how to organise a mail room and its pigeon holes!

>
> For heavy duty reference material, I strongly recommend getting hold
> of Volumes I - III of Kunths "The Art of Programming"... saved my
> bacon many a time at work.

Just in case you're not aware, the above author is actually spelt
"Knuth". Might make tracking it down easier. :-)

For Java-specific reference,
-  Josh Bloch's "Effective Java" has lots of tips on how to write code right.
- "Java Puzzlers" shows lots of programs that don't do what you think
they might.
- and if you're writing multi-threaded code, "Java Concurrency in
Practice" is a must!

If that lot leaves you with a bit of time free, I can also recommend
the "Java Specialists' Newsletter", which has some simple ideas and
lots of wacky things. It might be a bit advanced, depending on how
well you currently know Java.



Can anyone guess I do Java for a living? :-)

Cofion,
Neil.