Ask HN: Is TAOCP helpful in real life reasoning?
1 hamiecod 3 7/19/2025, 10:29:10 AM
I was thinking of pursuing the difficult task of going through TAOCP cover to cover. Is it helpful in real life CS/software reasoning or is it just academic stimuli?
That's a reasonable reason to read it.
It's at the foundation of computer science.
Thats a reasonable reason to read it.
It's really fucking challenging.
that's an adult reason to try to read it.
And the reason, people don't.
Good luck.
And because Knuth has been writing it for more than sixty years and because Knuth is almost certainly more expert than you and because TAOCP is full of things that Knuth found difficult it is unreasonable to expect to read it cover to cover for any adult definition of "read" in any reasonable amount of time.
There is no quiz next Tuesday and no grade at the end of the quarter. Give yourself permission to not understand, to not treat it like work, and to come and go as suits you.