Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?

I've often recommend SICP to self-taught programmers; it is not a complete substitute for a computer science education, but it is a concentrated dose of the stuff you're probably missing out on.

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. I have attempted some of the problems in Lua, Python, Erlang and Ada.

They mean 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by the late Robert M. Pirsig - I second the recommendation

- The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

both C Language editions

One of the first books I read that led me on to craploads of other books.

- The Pragmatic Programmer

"The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas

+1. Great for getting a lay of the land on distributed systems problems. I haven't ever studied distributed systems formally though, so I wonder how this differs from that.

I've been thoroughly enjoying "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann.

"Code Complete" from Steve McConnell

I second Code Complete

Code Complete2 is a really good book to read!

I am currently reading it and would definitely suggest it.

+1 to Code (Petzold). I would absolutely start with that. One of my favorite books.

Can't recommend enough if you're iffy on the internals of computers and programming.

- The Mythical Man Month

Love the Little Schemer! Lots of interesting and challenging questions!

No one has mentioned The Little Schemer.

Nobody recommended The Phoenix Project yet by Gene Kim?

"Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Edition" from Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, Clifford Stein

- Introduction to Algorithms

Clean Code by Robert Martin