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Applied Cryptography is terrible.

https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2013/07/22/applied-practical-cry...

No Starch's "Serious Cryptography", the JP Aumasson book, is strong.

I recall you saying that "Cryptography Engineering" was much better than AC somewhere.

Do you recommend Serious Cryptography over that?

Both books have their strengths. If I had to pick one, it'd be Serious Cryptography, since it's much more up-to-date than Cryptography Engineering is.

Part of our current Humble Bundle, too.

No, Applied Cryptography isn’t “terrible”, but treat it as a starting point. It will help you understand more advanced references (like the linked blog post).

No, Applied Cryptography is actively misleading. I can't say it any better than that linked post does.

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