Programming from the Ground Up

Before deep diving into CS theory, I would go deeper into programming first to better understand how a computer really works. The best intro on this topic I found is "Programming from the Ground Up" by Jonathan Bartlett [1]. "Programming from the Ground Up" starts at the bottom with CPU architecture and goes up from there to how functions work, dealing with files, code libraries, high-level languages, etc. Having a solid understanding here will provide immediate benefits in coding and serve as a strong foundation for some of the other recommended texts. If you're interested, I recommend buying directly from Bartlett Publishing [1]. Bartlett published the book under the GNU Free Documentation License and there are multiple copy-cat versions on Amazon. [1] http://www.bartlettpublishing.com/site/catalog/programming-f... (http://www.bartlettpublishing.com/site/catalog/programming-from-the-ground-up/)

Programming from the Ground Up teaches x86 assembler from first principles. All on a free OS (Linux using asm). There is a free version available online, but if you want to support the author you can buy it from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Ground-Up-Jonathan-Bartle... (https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Ground-Up-Jonathan-Bartlett/dp/0975283847)

Programming from the ground up is free, recommended by Joel Spolsky, is grounded in GNU Linux and covers 32 but not 64 bit ASM. http://ftp.igh.cnrs.fr/pub/nongnu/pgubook/ProgrammingGroundU... (http://ftp.igh.cnrs.fr/pub/nongnu/pgubook/ProgrammingGroundUp-1-0-booksize.pdf)

I learned x86 from "Programming from the Ground Up." It was pretty good but doesn't cover 64bit extensions. I would recommend it. Even if it doesn't cover everything what it does cover it covers well.