Top Computer Science books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Computer Science books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Computer Science

Understanding the concepts of Computer Science starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Refactoring

Refactoring is improving or updating code without changing its external function or nonfunctional attributes. Refactoring cleans up the nonfunctional elements of software, making it easier to maintain, extend, integrate, align with evolving standards, and continue performing at acceptable speeds.

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Coders at Work

This is a who's who in the programming world - a fascinating look at how some of the best in the world do their work. Patterned after the best selling Founders at Work, the book represents two years of interviews with some of the top programmers of our times.

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Clean Code

Code is clean if it can be understood easily – by everyone on the team. Clean code can be read and enhanced by a developer other than its original author. With understandability comes readability, changeability, extensibility and maintainability.

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Everything You Need to Ace Computer Science and Coding in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks)

Released just three years ago, The Big Fat Notebooks revolutionized the study guide for middle schoolers, and students, parents, and teachers responded—the series has nearly 4 million copies in print with sales escalating every year. Now introducing Everything You Need to Ace Computer Science and Coding, an essential new title with the potential to run hand-in-hand with—or even outrun—Math (ov…

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Introduction to Algorithms

Introduction to Algorithms uniquely combines rigor and comprehensiveness. It covers a broad range of algorithms in depth, yet makes their design and analysis accessible to all levels of readers, with self-contained chapters and algorithms in pseudocode.

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C Programming Language, 2nd Edition

The authors present the complete guide to ANSI standard C language programming. Written by the developers of C, this new version helps readers keep up with the finalized ANSI standard for C while showing how to take advantage of C's rich set of operators, economy of expression, improved control flow, and data structures. The 2/E has been completely rewritten with additional examples and proble…

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Additional Computer Science Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Computer Science, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Cryptography Made Simple

In this introductory textbook the author explains the key topics in cryptography. He takes a modern approach, where defining what is meant by "secure" is as important as creating something that achieves that goal, and security definitions are central to the discussion throughout.

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Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools

This introduction to compilers is the direct descendant of the well-known book by Aho and Ullman, Principles of Compiler Design. The authors present updated coverage of compilers based on research and techniques that have been developed in the field over the past few years. The book provides a thorough introduction to compiler design and covers topics such as context-free grammars

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Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Even bad code can function. But if code isn’t clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year, countless hours and significant resources are lost because of poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Noted software expert Robert C. Martin, presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Martin, who has help…

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Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective

This book focuses on the key concepts of basic network programming, program structure and execution, running programs on a system, and interaction and communication between programs. For anyone interested in computer organization and architecture as well as computer systems.

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Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking

Written by renowned data science experts Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, Data Science for Business introduces the fundamental principles of data science, and walks you through the "data-analytic thinking" necessary for extracting useful knowledge and business value from the data you collect. This guide also helps you understand the many data-mining techniques in use today.Based on an MBA cours…

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Computer Networking: Principles, Protocols, and Practice

Computer Networking : Principles, Protocols and Practice is an open-source ebook that explains the main principles of Computer Networking and the key protocols that are used on the Internet. The ebook is intended to be used for an upper-level undergraduate networking course.

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Specializations and Deeper Computer Science Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Computer Science is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey To Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)

The Pragmatic Programmer is one of those rare tech books you’ll read, re-read, and read again over the years. Whether you’re new to the field or an experienced practitioner, you’ll come away with fresh insights each and every time.
Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt wrote the first edition of this influential book in 1999 to help their clients create better software and rediscover the joy of coding.…

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This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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