This book is about beliefs---how we get them and how we evaluate them. It takes the form of a fictional conversation makes the following points: 1) in analogy with robots, we humans know by the models we make of reality, 2) these models are always provisional and sometimes unreliable, 3) it is especially important to examine thoroughly those models upon which we base actions, and 4) the scientific method provides an excellent guide for such examination. The level of exposition is neither technical nor deeply philosophical
The Little Book of Semaphores is a free (in both senses of the word) textbook that introduces the principles of synchronization for concurrent programming. In most computer science curricula, synchronization is a module in an Operating Systems class. OS textbooks present a standard set of problems with a standard set of solutions, but most students don't get a good understanding of the material or the ability to solve similar problems. The approach of this book is to identify patterns that are useful for a variety of synchronization problems and then show how they can be assembled into solutions. After each problem, the book offers a hint before showing a solution, giving students a better chance of discovering solutions on their own. The book covers the classical problems, including "Readers-writers," "Producer-consumer", and "Dining Philosophers." In addition, it collects a number of not-so-classical problems
Let Over Lambda (ISBN 978-1-4357-1275-1, 376+iv pp.) is one of the most hardcore computer programming books out there. Starting with the fundamentals, it describes the most advanced features of the most advanced language: COMMON LISP. The point of this book is to expose you to ideas that you might otherwise never be exposed to. This book is about macros, that is programs that write programs. Macros are what make lisp the greatest programming language in the world. When used properly, macros enable amazing feats of abstraction, programmer productivity, and code efficiency and security that are unheard of elsewhere. Macros let you do things you simply cannot do in other languages.