TAoCP1

• Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms Buy new or buy used

At nearly 700 pages the lightest of the three, Knuth 1 presents as groundwork material more difficult than almost any other computer science book I am aware of; even for the first volume, the only book in the neighborhood is CLRS. Knuth 1 gives a brief review of calculus, creates an interesting synthetic assembly language for idealized teaching, and then implements a variety of data structures and algorithms with a detailed explanation of the how, the why and the when of each. It is common for a self-taught programmer which has read Knuth to be more familiar with formal CS than a junior at a good university. If any book can change a programmer, regardless of their skill, TAoCP is it.