=== Formal studies === * [[http://www.extension.harvard.edu/ | Harvard Extension School]] -- Undergraduate courses of **Mathematics** and **Educational Technologies**. * [[http://www.unifi.it/ | Unviersità degli Studi di Firenze]] -- I attended only one term of **Software Engineering** (computer Science exam **30/30 cum laude**). In 1995, I dropped out to work for a startup in the emerging field of enterprise networking. * [[http://www.itcvolta.it/it/default.asp | Istituto Tecnico-Commerciale Alessandro Volta]] -- High-school diploma in **Mathematics and Computer Science** with a rating of **56 out of 60**. The track included good amounts of **Electric Engineering**. === Reading List === My favorite books of computer science and software engineering: * **Compilers** -- textbooks such as CompilersPrinciplesTechniquesAndTools and several others. * **Algorithms** -- many, including classics such as DonaldKnuth's bible TheArtOfComputerProgramming, CambridgeUniversityPress's NumericalRecipes and NicholasWirth's ancient, but still brilliant, "Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs". * **Operating Systems** -- Too many to mention here, most of which were quite theoretical and boring. My favorite will always be [[http://www.apuebook.com/|Advanced Programming In The Unix Environment]] by Richard Stevens. I also recommend [[http://catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/|The Art of Unix Programming]]. * **Networking** -- My favorite is the immortal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCP/IP_Illustrated | TCP/IP Illustrated]] trilogy. * **Programming Languages** -- All the obvious textbooks such as BjarneStroustrup's SeePlusPlusProgrammingLanguage, and many others like the old SeeProgrammingLanguage, ThinkingInJava, and dozens of C++ books. * **Programming Techniques** -- Countless. Such as SeePlusPlusTemplateMetaprogramming and the controversial ModernSeePlusPlusDesign by AndreiAlexandrescu. My absolute favourite is Brian Kernighan's and Rob Pike's [[http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/tpop/ | The Practice of Programming]]. * **Software Architecture and Design** -- All the "must-read" classics such as GangOfFour's DesignPatterns, UmlDistilled and UmlDesignPatterns. * **Project Management** -- My favourites are TheMythicalManMonth and [[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AntiPatternsBook|AntiPatterns]], but I've also read [[http://www.amazon.com/Waltzing-Bears-Managing-Software-Projects/dp/0932633609|WaltzingWithBears]], [[ExecutionPlainAndSimple]] and a few others. * **Technical Writing** -- TheElementsOfStyle and DonaldKnuth's TheTexBook are my favourites on the topics of stylish writing and typesetting. * **Numerical Methods** -- I'm sorry to have quite a thin mathematical background. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading DonaldKnuth's ConcreteMathematics and CambridgeUniversityPress' NumericalRecipes. * **Database** -- Relational algebra, principles of schema normalization, SQL.