An introduction to category theory
by Harold Simmons · first published 2011
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2HN commenters
2016–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
"As it says on the front cover this book is an introduction to Category Theory. It gives the basic definitions, goes through the various associated gadgetry such as functors, natural transformations, limits and colimits, and then explains adjunctions. This material could be developed in 50 pages or so, but here it takes some 220 pages. That is because there are many examples illustrating the various notions, some rather straightforward, and others with more content. More importantly, there are also over 200 exercises"--
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…of programming languages and I've been studying on the side books about type theory, compilers, programming languages, category theory, topos and proofs (TAPL and Software foundations form B. Pierce, Introduction to category theory by Harold Simmons, papers on DOT/scala) I would like to pursue this route into PLT but I lack the formalism that a university can teach me. On the other hand, I don't want to start again in a new university…
on “Ask HN: Get into PLT with no CS degree” ↗…Szekeres My intro to abstract math... Wide range of topics, very clearly written and very well structured. Sets, groups, vector spaces, tensors, topology, differential geometry, lie groups and more. An Introduction to Category Theory by Harold Simmons Very enjoyable read. You cannot go wrong with this as your first book on the subject.
on “Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly better at math?” ↗