macOS basic book rec?

[acidburn]

i have posted here a few times for advice about careers in programming. i have experience programming and currently use matlab (starting to dabble in perl) for my job. my background is more math and i understand how to write code - the logic part of it is almost like doing a math proof.
but i lack experience/understanding of some low level aspects of computers and operating systems. whenever i want to do something at a low level i have to research on the internet so i feel like i get a very limited understanding of something - not a big picture. can anyone recommend a book or a website where i could learn this stuff? i am interested in macs as well as windows. i just don't know where to start looking.
thanks -

 

[mbabauer]

How low-level are we talking? Assembly would be pretty way down there, and good if you want to get into driver development. C/C++ would be a good language to learn, and if you want to concentrate on Mac-only development, try looking into Objective-C and Cocoa.

If you are looking for more of the "Big picture", as in how does all this crap work and fit together, here is my laundry list of books you should look for...keep in mind these are more for the academic "big picture".

• Analysis of Algotiyhms - Just search amazon for "Analysis of Algorythms" with the quotes.
• Any book on C that does not have "Teach yourself", "Dummies", or "Idiots" in the title. I personally like the ones by Deitel
• A book on compilers - Again, just do a search on Amazon and pick something
• A good book on Software Design Principles...if you find one, let me know because I am still looking.

You may also want to take a look at some Collage CS corriculum, and just buy the books they recommend for CS students for classes. There is nothing stopping you from following the same course of actions they take.

From here, it really depends on what you want to do. For web development there are languages like Ruby, PHP, Java, etc. If you are more low-level driver development, look at more Assembler and C/C++. There are really so many ways one could go.

Good luck...