Books & long-form works

Books & long-form works that Hacker News readers keep rediscovering.

Hall of Fame: 38
Candidates: 57
Topics: 13
Median span: 8.1 yrs

Topics in Books & long-form works

13 topics

Software engineering 26 links 13 Hall · 13 Candidates Computer science 21 links 9 Hall · 12 Candidates AI & data 11 links 5 Hall · 6 Candidates Mathematics & science 9 links 4 Hall · 5 Candidates Culture & media 7 links 1 Hall · 6 Candidates Security & privacy 5 links 1 Hall · 4 Candidates Web & internet 5 links 1 Hall · 4 Candidates Design & creativity 3 links 1 Hall · 2 Candidates History & humanities 3 links 1 Hall · 2 Candidates Computer games 2 links 1 Hall · 1 Candidates Economics & business 1 link 0 Hall · 1 Candidates Hardware & electronics 1 link 0 Hall · 1 Candidates Society & policy 1 link 1 Hall · 0 Candidates

Strongest Hall records

38 items

The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]

web.mit.edu Books & learning 17 submissions · 16 people · 15.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-03 Resurfaced 2025-08-25

382max pts

They're Made out of Meat

www.terrybisson.com Books & learning 19 submissions · 19 people · 14.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2016-04 Resurfaced 2023-11-26 archived copy

702max pts

Crafting Interpreters

craftinginterpreters.com Books & learning 16 submissions · 15 people · 9.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-07 Resurfaced 2026-01-14

623max pts

Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces

pages.cs.wisc.edu Books & learning 20 submissions · 17 people · 12.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2018-09 Resurfaced 2021-02-07

334max pts

A Primer on Bézier Curves (2013)

pomax.github.io Books & learning 25 submissions · 19 people · 13.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-04 Resurfaced 2026-04-28

398max pts

Feynman Lectures on Physics now free online

www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu Books & learning 15 submissions · 15 people · 12.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-01 Resurfaced 2026-02-10

749max pts

Eloquent JavaScript 4th edition (2024)

eloquentjavascript.net Books & learning 14 submissions · 14 people · 18.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2014-07 Resurfaced 2024-03-07

1274max pts

Crypto 101 – Introductory course on cryptography

www.crypto101.io Books & learning 12 submissions · 12 people · 11.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2016-12 Resurfaced 2025-07-06

919max pts

Game Programming Patterns (2014)

gameprogrammingpatterns.com Books & learning 14 submissions · 14 people · 14.4 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-05 Resurfaced 2024-02-21

635max pts

In the Beginning Was the Command Line (1999)

web.stanford.edu Books & learning 14 submissions · 14 people · 11.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-07 Resurfaced 2025-12-08

412max pts

Practical Typography

practicaltypography.com Books & learning 24 submissions · 24 people · 12.4 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2018-11 Resurfaced 2021-04-04

472max pts

Learn C and build your own Lisp

www.buildyourownlisp.com Books & learning 11 submissions · 11 people · 11.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-06 Resurfaced 2025-08-05

641max pts

Immersive Linear Algebra (2016)

immersivemath.com Books & learning 8 submissions · 6 people · 8.7 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-02 Resurfaced 2024-05-11

1269max pts

The Tao of Programming (1987)

www.mit.edu Books & learning 17 submissions · 16 people · 10.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-09 Resurfaced 2023-09-27

269max pts

Little book about OS development (2015) [pdf]

littleosbook.github.io Books & learning 10 submissions · 10 people · 10.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-07 Resurfaced 2025-03-21

497max pts

Computer Science from the Bottom Up (2013)

www.bottomupcs.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 9 people · 12.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-04 Resurfaced 2023-09-10

516max pts

Algorithms, by Jeff Erickson

jeffe.cs.illinois.edu Books & learning 10 submissions · 10 people · 7.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-02 Resurfaced 2023-11-13

1463max pts

Practical Common Lisp (2005)

www.gigamonkeys.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 7 people · 19.1 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-01 Resurfaced 2026-05-29

296max pts

A visual proof that neural nets can approximate any function

neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 9.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-04 Resurfaced 2022-03-06

341max pts

Calculus Made Easy (1910)

calculusmadeeasy.org Books & learning 10 submissions · 10 people · 7.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-01 Resurfaced 2021-07-28

417max pts

The Power of Prolog

www.metalevel.at Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 8.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-01 Resurfaced 2022-06-06

381max pts

The internals of PostgreSQL

www.interdb.jp Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 8.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2019-01 Resurfaced 2025-03-03

477max pts

A Course in Machine Learning

ciml.info Books & learning 8 submissions · 7 people · 10.9 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2016-07 Resurfaced 2018-06-02

402max pts

Probabilistic Programming and Bayesian Methods for Hackers (2013)

camdavidsonpilon.github.io Books & learning 8 submissions · 8 people · 4.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2018-02 Resurfaced 2018-02-28

302max pts

Beautiful Racket (2016)

beautifulracket.com Books & learning 11 submissions · 9 people · 9.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-05 Resurfaced 2022-05-12

537max pts

Free Python ebook: Bayesian Methods for Hackers

github.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 8 people · 11.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-01 Resurfaced 2020-01-12

395max pts

Learn Rust by writing a small OS

os.phil-opp.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 9 people · 8.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-07 Resurfaced 2025-07-30

534max pts

Graphics Programming Black Book by Michael Abrash (2001)

github.com Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 8.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-11 Resurfaced 2021-01-15

307max pts

Beej's Guide to C Programming (2007)

beej.us Books & learning 8 submissions · 7 people · 11.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-03 Resurfaced 2023-03-28

427max pts

Composing Programs – Python 3 in the tradition of SICP

composingprograms.com Books & learning 7 submissions · 6 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2018-07 Resurfaced 2020-11-08

300max pts

Algorithms for Modern Hardware

en.algorithmica.org Books & learning 10 submissions · 9 people · 4.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-06 Resurfaced 2024-03-14

344max pts

Python Data Science Handbook

jakevdp.github.io Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 8.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-12 Resurfaced 2025-12-02

455max pts

Show HN: Learn how WebRTC actually works. A book on the protocols, not just APIs

webrtcforthecurious.com Books & learning 8 submissions · 7 people · 4.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-01 Resurfaced 2025-04-11

667max pts

Foundations of Computer Science

infolab.stanford.edu Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 16.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-02 Resurfaced 2022-01-27

325max pts

Byte Magazine Special Issue: Smalltalk (1984)

archive.org Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 8.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-08 Resurfaced 2022-08-11

136max pts

“Is Parallel Programming Hard, and, If So, What Can You Do About It?” v2 Is Out

mirrors.edge.kernel.org Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 6.1 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-06 Resurfaced 2023-06-13

197max pts

OCaml Programming: Correct and Efficient and Beautiful

cs3110.github.io Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 3.9 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-07 Resurfaced 2025-07-26

347max pts

Nuclear War Survival Skills (1987) [pdf]

oism.org Books & learning 5 submissions · 3 people · 4.4 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-03 Resurfaced 2022-03-02

334max pts

Recently resurfaced in books & long-form works

latest 20+ point return

Practical Common Lisp (2005)

www.gigamonkeys.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 7 people · 19.1 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-01 Resurfaced 2026-05-29

296max pts

A Primer on Bézier Curves (2013)

pomax.github.io Books & learning 25 submissions · 19 people · 13.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-04 Resurfaced 2026-04-28

398max pts

Feynman Lectures on Physics now free online

www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu Books & learning 15 submissions · 15 people · 12.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-01 Resurfaced 2026-02-10

749max pts

Crafting Interpreters

craftinginterpreters.com Books & learning 16 submissions · 15 people · 9.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-07 Resurfaced 2026-01-14

623max pts

In the Beginning Was the Command Line (1999)

web.stanford.edu Books & learning 14 submissions · 14 people · 11.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-07 Resurfaced 2025-12-08

412max pts

Candidates

Browse 57 candidates

Reverse Engineering for Beginners

beginners.re Books & learning 13 submissions · 12 people · 11.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2016-07-29 archived copy

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

340max pts

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality just got several fascinating updates

hpmor.com Books & learning 17 submissions · 16 people · 10.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-03-07

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

163max pts

A book series on JavaScript

github.com Books & learning 10 submissions · 10 people · 11.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2016-06-25

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

479max pts

A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography

toc.cryptobook.us Books & learning 10 submissions · 8 people · 7.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-10-19

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

340max pts

Readings in Database Systems, 5th Edition (2015)

www.redbook.io Books & learning 12 submissions · 12 people · 10.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-06-14

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

247max pts

Ignition: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants (1972) [pdf]

library.sciencemadness.org Books & learning 11 submissions · 6 people · 12.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-07-09

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

168max pts

Security Engineering – The Book

www.cl.cam.ac.uk Books & learning 13 submissions · 13 people · 12.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-04-05

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

205max pts

High Performance Browser Networking

hpbn.co Books & learning 11 submissions · 11 people · 9.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-05-14

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

213max pts

The Nature of Code (Book)

natureofcode.com Books & learning 13 submissions · 12 people · 13.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-04-25

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

210max pts

Probabilistic Models of Cognition

probmods.org Books & learning 12 submissions · 11 people · 11.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-03-08

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

173max pts

Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours

en.wikibooks.org Books & learning 8 submissions · 8 people · 14.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2019-10-14

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

124max pts

The Linux Kernel Module Programming Guide

sysprog21.github.io Books & learning 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2024-07-27

Needs:5 submissions

395max pts

The Machine Stops (1909)

archive.ncsa.illinois.edu Books & learning 11 submissions · 11 people · 8.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2015-11-02

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

127max pts

Speech and Language Processing, 3rd ed. draft (2017)

web.stanford.edu Books & learning 10 submissions · 10 people · 9.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-12-08

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

219max pts

Open Data Structures

opendatastructures.org Books & learning 9 submissions · 9 people · 11.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2016-12-08

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

220max pts

They Thought They Were Free (1955)

press.uchicago.edu Books & learning 3 submissions · 3 people · 4.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-09-21

Needs:5 submissions

602max pts

Simple Sabotage Field Manual (1944) [pdf]

www.cia.gov Books & learning 7 submissions · 7 people · 7.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-02-13

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

187max pts

Clever Algorithms: Nature-Inspired Programming Recipes

www.cleveralgorithms.com Books & learning 10 submissions · 8 people · 8.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2017-11-19

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

189max pts

The Book of Shaders

thebookofshaders.com Books & learning 9 submissions · 7 people · 6.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-06-26

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

238max pts

Handbook of Applied Cryptography (2001)

cacr.uwaterloo.ca Books & learning 8 submissions · 7 people · 12.5 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-12-18

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

193max pts

Basic Math Textbook: The Napkin Project

web.evanchen.cc Books & learning 9 submissions · 8 people · 7.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-10-02

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

245max pts

Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications (2010)

szeliski.org Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 14.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-09-27

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

112max pts

The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990) [pdf]

algorithmicbotany.org Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 8.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-07-24

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

146max pts

Modern C [pdf]

icube-icps.unistra.fr Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 4.5 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2016-11-28

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

392max pts

Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures using Python (2015)

interactivepython.org Books & learning 4 submissions · 3 people · 5.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2018-12-21

Needs:5 submissions

456max pts

Linux Inside – How the Linux Kernel Works

0xax.gitbooks.io Books & learning 3 submissions · 3 people · 6.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-05-14

Needs:5 submissions

564max pts

Street-Fighting Mathematics

mitpress.mit.edu Books & learning 4 submissions · 4 people · 6.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-06-25

Needs:5 submissions

327max pts

Category Theory for Programmers (2014)

bartoszmilewski.com Books & learning 8 submissions · 8 people · 4.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2017-04-03

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

267max pts

Natural Language Processing with Python updated for Python 3 and NLTK 3

www.nltk.org Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 6.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2017-09-15

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

107max pts

Distributed systems for fun and profit

book.mixu.net Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 9.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-06-27

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

131max pts

Software Foundations

softwarefoundations.cis.upenn.edu Books & learning 6 submissions · 6 people · 7.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-03-04

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

138max pts

Accelerando (2005)

www.antipope.org Books & learning 3 submissions · 3 people · 3.5 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-05-16

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

334max pts

How Much Land Does a Man Need? (1886)

www.online-literature.com Books & learning 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-12-08

Needs:5 submissions

336max pts

Rouille

github.com Books & learning 3 submissions · 3 people · 4.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-10-23

Needs:5 submissions3 active years

338max pts

Car Hacker's Handbook (2016)

opengarages.org Books & learning 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2018-02-07

Needs:5 submissions

337max pts

Causal Inference Book

www.hsph.harvard.edu Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 5.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2018-07-11

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

261max pts

Elements of Programming (2009)

elementsofprogramming.com Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 6.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-08-14

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

274max pts

Professor Frisby's Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming (2015)

mostly-adequate.gitbooks.io Books & learning 4 submissions · 3 people · 4.7 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-03-22

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

529max pts

Wi is Fi: Understanding Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E/7/8 (802.11 n/AC/ax/be/bn)

www.wiisfi.com Books & learning 5 submissions · 5 people · 2.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-05-06

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart3 active years

414max pts

The Rustonomicon

doc.rust-lang.org Books & learning 4 submissions · 4 people · 9.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-05-06

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

191max pts