Bibles of Computer Science
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
Introduction
The purpose of these pages is to provide an annotated list of books,
divided into
categories which match specific topics of interest related to computer
science, which are considered "definitive" works on the topic. Naturally,
such a list can only reflect my own and other contributors' subjective
optinions about CS books. Note also that I've called many books by
the author's last name, which doesn't generally mean it's the
author's only book.
Please direct comments and suggestions to the address at the bottom of
this page. Thank you for your cooperation!
Available Topics
Algorithms
Fundamental Algorithms:
"Fundamental Algorithms", one of the books
from the legendary The Art Of Computer Programming series by
Donald E. Knuth, is perhaps one of the most generally useful CS books
ever written. The Bible for Computer Science Fundamentalists. :-)
Compilers
Compiler theory:
The "Red Dragon Book" is the famous
compiler designer's handbook written by A. V. Aho, R. Sethi and J. D. Ullman.
It contains much useful information related to the theory of parsing and
compiler construction, although the chapters related to code generation
are outdated due to the rapid developments in this field.
Computer Architecture
Design and Analysis of Computer Systems and Microprocessors:
The "Hennessy-Patterson" is a book
recommended by (and to!) many Computer Architecture teachers for its
thoroughness and in-depth coverage of the subject. Even though most of the
microprocessors described in this book are no longer very interesting from
a researcher's point of view, it still can't be called outdated.
Data Compression
Theory of Data Compression:
"Storer's DC book" covers the theory of
Data Compression very well. It contains interesting suggestions and
algorithms for lossless and lossy compression and an extensive bibliography
about this mature subject.
Text Compression
"Text Compression" is an excellent book
about the lossless compression of data (i.e. mainly text). It contains
descriptions of many popular (LZH, LZSS, LZFG, ...) and some less known,
although very interesting,
algorithms, such as those utilizing state machines.
Fractal Image Compression
"Fractal Image Compression"
by Yuval Fisher (ed.) is a
brand-new (1995) book about this promising
image compression technique, written by the leading researchers in this field,
and edited by one of the "veterans" in the study of fractals. You can
obtain more information about it here. This book is probably not old enough to qualify as a "Bible",
but it's certainly a hot candidate!
Graphics
Computer Graphics Principles:
The "Foley" is definitely the most popular and
widely known book about computer graphics, useful both to experts and laymen.
It contains a plethora of algorithm descriptions - whatever strange graphics
algorithm you're looking for, it's more than likely that you'll find it in
there!
Fractals
Theory of Fractals:
"The Fractal Geometry Of Nature" is
Benoit B. Mandelbrot's wonderful book about the connection between Mathematics
and the "real world". It is highly recommended not only to the researcher
interested in Fractals, but to every scientist interested in Mathematics.
Operating Systems
Operating System Theory and Design:
The "Tanenbaum" is probably the most comprehensive
book about modern operating systems, covering both design considerations
and implementation details. The book's apparent predecessor
Operating Systems: design and implementation is worth reading too, although mostly
superseded by its successor.
Last modified: May 26, 1995
Marinos "nino" Yannikos, nino@complang.tuwien.ac.at