#29 in the ranking · technical · 2005
The Elements of Computing Systems
The Elements of Computing Systems, by Nisan and Schocken, published in 2005, is cited by 142 people in conversations on Hacker News and Stack Exchange. It shows up in 18 of the 20 years, from 2008 to 2025, with the most mentions in 2022. People who cite it also cite Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Code and Introduction to Algorithms.
Year by year
Peak: 27 mentions in 2022
Mentions per year: 2007: 0; 2008: 2; 2009: 1; 2010: 11; 2011: 3; 2012: 3; 2013: 3; 2014: 6; 2015: 6; 2016: 7; 2017: 17; 2018: 7; 2019: 15; 2020: 15; 2021: 16; 2022: 27; 2023: 9; 2024: 9; 2025: 6; 2026: 0.
Where it’s cited
What people write
From a text search; it doesn’t yet tell recommending apart from just mentioning.
One of my favorite books on subject is The Elements of Computing Systems: Building a Modern Computer from First Principles by Noam Nisan
Hacker News · 2020 · in “How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)” · see comment ↗
Going to go a different route than others here have and recommend The Elements of Computing Systems.
Hacker News · 2019 · in “Ask HN: What are the most fundamental books on computer science?” · see comment ↗
Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective and NAND2Tetris: Elements of Computing Systems are the best books to learn the internals of computer hardware and solidify your understanding of how a computer works.
Hacker News · 2014 · in “Ask HN: What's the best programming book you've read recently?” · see comment ↗