Finding Free and Discounted Programming Books

As an avid reader, I’m always looking for places to find my next book. If they’re free, even better. Although it’s not always so easy finding them, there are plenty available online.

Free Software Engineering Books

By far one of the best books that I ever discovered is Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom. Nystrom is a senior software engineer at Google working on the Dart programming language. In his book, he walks you through the process of how computer languages are designed, offering you two different versions of developing Lox–one written in Java, and the other in C.

This is one of those books that give you a new understanding of computers, especially programming languages. If you are currently a software developer, or are aspiring to eventually become one, this book is an absolute must.

The best part? It’s completely free to read online , so there are no excuses! Go read this book.

Like Crafting Interpreters, there are many free-to-read online books, you just have to know where to find them.

An excellent resource for discovering free programming books is the GitHub repository Free Programming Books. This community-curated collection includes thousands of books, tutorials, and guides covering almost every programming language, including JavaScript, Python, and C++. It’s a treasure trove if you’re looking to expand your knowledge without spending a dime.

Another great free book is Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke. This modern classic provides a comprehensive introduction to JavaScript, guiding readers through everything from the basics to more advanced topics like functional programming and asynchronous code. You can read it for free on the official website, and it even includes interactive exercises to practice what you’ve learned.

If you’re interested in computer science fundamentals, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) is a legendary textbook often used in university courses. The full text is available for free on the MIT Press website. Although it focuses on Scheme, a dialect of Lisp, the concepts are invaluable for any programmer who wants to think deeply about how programs are structured.

If You Prefer Physical Books

I personally prefer physical copies of books, as I will see it, and therefore I’ll read it. I always forget I even have digital books, they usually go forgotten about. If you’re like me, you might want to check out ThriftBooks, where you can get programming books at a much lower price than what you’d see on a shelf in the stores.