Any book that gives an overview of quantum computing to a programmer? A sort of "thing explainer" for quantum computing?
also free online
If you have a solid undergraduate education in computer science theory (computability, computational complexity, etc.) and probability, you can get pretty far through the book and take away useful things. But simply being a programmer doesn't mean you'll get very far.
I got pretty far but got lost toward the end. He states a LOT of results and they become hard to remember without working through them more deeply. It's all theory -- there's absolutely nothing like "programming" in the book.
There was a good course on Coursera some years back that I found quite enjoyable and was my first introduction to quantum computing. It serves as an OK intro to quantum mechanics, too, from the abstract point of view where we just assume we have qubits versus the physics point of view where we start by looking at atoms. Maybe the course is still available.
Saying that, there is one book I like called Quantum Processes Systems, and Information by Schumacher (who coined the term qubit) and Westmoreland since it is an introductory text and has a good discussion of the basics of quantum computing. It does, however, assume you are a physics student with a good understanding of linear algebra.
I think since so much quantum physics depends on maths, which in turn depends on highly specialised terminology or at least symbols, you are right that a Thing Explainer might have serious difficulty with quantum physics. A broad overview probably wouldn't have a serious advantage over the various lay explanations and thought experiments that are floating around at the moment. But as a non-physics student with an imperfect understanding of linear algebra, I would love to be proven wrong!
I did not major in physics, but I have studied and applied linear algebra and have fairly good intuition for it.
It seems to me then that I should study some intermediate physics (books or courses) before studying the Schumacher book. Do you have any recommendations for that? Thanks in advance.
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths is a standard undergrad text. The math is all "simple" (linear algebra and calculus). It's the learning a new way to think about the world that's the hard part.