Curated references for the Engineering vault. Focus: foundational CS, systems, embedded, control theory, and robotics.
Books
CS Fundamentals and Algorithms
“Introduction to Algorithms” — Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, Stein (CLRS). The standard algorithms textbook. Dense but complete. Use as a reference, not cover-to-cover reading.
“The C Programming Language” — Kernighan & Ritchie (K&R, 2nd ed). The original C book. Short, precise, and still the best introduction to C. Read it cover to cover.
“Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective” — Bryant & O’Hallaron (CS:APP). How computers actually work: bits, memory hierarchy, linking, virtual memory, processes, networking. The bridge between C and hardware.
Systems and OS
“Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces” — Arpaci-Dusseau & Arpaci-Dusseau. Free online (https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/). Virtualization, concurrency, persistence. Clear writing, good exercises.
“Unix Network Programming” — W. Richard Stevens. Socket programming, TCP/IP internals, and server design. The systems networking bible.
Embedded and Hardware
“The Art of Electronics” — Horowitz & Hill (3rd ed). The definitive practical electronics reference. Covers everything from resistors to op-amps to microcontroller interfacing. Keep on your desk.
“Making Embedded Systems” — Elecia White (O’Reilly). The engineering mindset for embedded: hardware/software interface, state machines, optimization, debugging. Excellent for judgment-level skills.
Control Theory and Robotics
“Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems” — Franklin, Powell, Emami-Naeini. Standard undergraduate controls textbook. Transfer functions, root locus, frequency response, state space, PID design.
“Probabilistic Robotics” — Thrun, Burgard, Fox. Kalman filters, particle filters, SLAM, path planning. The theoretical foundation for autonomous systems.