Thursday, March 14, 2013

What CS Papers Should Everyone Read?

Ryan Williams (via @CompSciFact):

We all have favorite papers in our own respective areas of theory. Every once in a while, one finds a paper so astounding (e.g., important, compelling, deceptively simple, etc.) that one wants to share it with everyone. So list these papers here!

Embarrassingly, I think I’ve only read one of these, the fun Ken Thompson one about a compiler Trojan horse.

See also: 10 Papers Every Programmer Should Read (At Least Twice) and the 6.033 reading list.

Update (2013-09-10): An old Bruce Schneier post discusses David A. Wheeler’s Countering Trusting Trust through Diverse Double-Compiling.

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