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Comment by blfr | Hacker News Reader

This is great. I was going to pick up Automate the Boring Stuff with Python after reading http://www.alexkras.com/review-automate-the-boring-stuff-wit...

Any reviews of the other ones from HN crowd?

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Silence on the Wire is a fantastic book that looks at unconventional and underdiscussed aspects of security: interesting timing attacks, subtle information leakage, fingerprinting, etc. It's by Michal Zalewski, who is perhaps better known to HN folks as the author of the American Fuzzy Lop (AFL) fuzzer.

I think that book probably did more to get me into security than any other – it's just filled with really wonderful, clever stuff.

Michal Zalewsk is a all-round polygot that also wrote "The Tangled Web", I wish I could recommend it but I don't understand 1/2 of it.

Interestingly I only became aware of him after stumbling on his "Guerrilla guide to CNC machining, mold making, and resin casting" http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/gcnc/, an astounding complete piece of work.

I'm a few chapters into Silence on the Wire and enjoying it. Zalewski is brilliant. It's very theoretical however. I'd only recommend it if your motive for reading it is pure interest rather than a desire to pick up practical skills that are immediately actionable.

The Linux Command Line has basically taught me everything I know about using bash.

I've never read The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy, but I've heard so many good things about it. It's on my to-read list.

The Bug Hunter's Diary is really interesting, although someone reading it now might feel like it's a bit outdated (it got released in 2011 if I remember correctly). I didn't particularly enjoy reading The Art of Exploitation. It was a bit dull for me.

Edit: spelling

Interesting - I have the first edition of Hacking - The Art of Exploitation and found it an interesting read. Can't compare to other books listed here though as I haven't read any of them.

The quality of No Starch Press titles is generally pretty high. They're usually a pretty good bet.

I found Practical Malware Analysis really good, but I suppose it'd only be relevant if that is something you're already interested in!

PMA is the best tech book I have ever read.

Currently reading Python Crash Course. It's pretty great. The first part is all the Python basics, and the next part is three diverse projects: a videogame, data visualisation, and a Django website. You can go back and forth working on the projects and flipping to the Python basics. We just bought it, and the learners in my family seem to be enjoying it a lot.

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