Foundations of computer science

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• thesuperbigfrog · Nov 14, 2021 · Recommends

  "Foundations of Computer Science" by Aho and Ullman is an excellent book and freely available: http://i.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html

  on “Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures” ↗
• ralph · Jul 22, 2012 · Recommends

  Thanks for clarifying the question. To learn comp. sci. read Aho and Ullman's excellent C edition of Foundations of Computer Science. (That's Aho as in awk.) What you need for a good grounding all in one place. You can still pick up a paper edition if you want but they've also made it available as PDFs. http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0716782847/mqq-20 http://i.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html

  on “Ask HN: Are there any basic primers for Comp Sci?” ↗
• ralph · Aug 29, 2012 · Recommends

  …but find not all comp. sci. books are dry, particularly those with a Bell Labs background. Something about their writing style perhaps. You may want to peruse Aho and Ullman's excellent C edition of Foundations of Computer Science. (That's Aho as in awk.) What you need for a good grounding all in one place. You can still pick up a paper edition if you want but they've also made it available as PDFs. http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0716782847/mqq-20…

  on “Damn Cool Algorithms: Homomorphic Hashing” ↗
• thesuperbigfrog · Dec 9, 2021 · Recommends

  "Foundations of Computer Science" by Aho and Ullman is an excellent book and freely available: http://i.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html

  on “Ask HN: I'm looking for a good book on the fundamentals of CS” ↗
• __patchbit__ · May 2, 2026 · Recommends

  The ECL (Embeddable Common Lisp) project and the book _Foundations of Computer Science: C Edition_ by Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman would provide a learning environment https://ecl.common-lisp.dev/ http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/focs.html

  on “A Programmer's Guide to Common Lisp” ↗
• fsloth · Nov 14, 2021 · Recommends

  "Foundations of Computer Science" by Aho and Ullman is my personal favourite.

  on “Ask HN: Looking for a book on algorithms and data structures” ↗
• temeya · Aug 23, 2023 · Mentions

  …and Tools, aka "The Red/Purple Dragon Book" Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, aka "The Pillar Book" The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System, aka "The Devil Book" Foundations of Computer Science, Aho, Alfred and Ullman, Jeffrey, aka "The Turtle Book" Introduction to Automata Theory, aka "The Cinderella Book" Lions' Commentary on UNIX, 6th Edition, aka "The Lions Book" Modern Compiler Implementation…

  on “Ask HN: Nicknames for Computer Science Books?” ↗