STAYING SILENT WHEN THE CONVERSATION GOES OVER YOUR HEAD SUCKS.

Invest in yourself and your career, engage with your peers and make yourself a stronger job candidate!

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DON'T HAVE A CS DEGREE AND FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD?

Hey I don't have one either and I always managed to get the job done anyway... then again...

It turns out I didn't know what I didn't know. I had a job to do! And I did that job and my clients were happy. I created open source libraries, helped people and I even got a job at Microsoft - all the time believing I could learn what I needed to learn to get the job done. And then...

I was hanging out with some colleagues one day and the topic of Big-O came up. I just sat and listened. I had absolutely no idea what it was they were going on about...

The discussion got animated. Someone mentioned graphs, another said something about Bin Packing and depth-first traversal of an optimization problem...

I had been doing this stuff for over 15 years - how was it possible I had absolute NO IDEA what they were talking about. Did it matter that I didn't know? How was I even in the same industry as these people?

This had to change. I felt like a massive impostor. So in 2014 I investigated what went into a CS degree and dug in...

The Result? The Imposter's Handbook.

I spent 4 months of 2014 and 7 months of 2015 and then another full year in 2018 studying all of the subjects that go into a Computer Science degree. I looked at the curriculum for Stanford and MIT (and a few others) and dove in. Computation, Complexity Theory, Encryption, Blockchain, Algorithms and Data Structures, Lambda Calculus and more. I wrote it down and decided to share it all...

Instead of a wall of theoretical text, I did my best to make them as human as possible, with hand-drawn sketches of complex topics that took me days (and sometimes months) to figure out. I wanted to write a technical book for humans that would convey the magic of our industry.

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I LOVE THESE BOOKS!

The Imposter's Handbook is a great resource for *any* programmer, self-taught or otherwise.

testimonial Chad Fowler CTO, Wunderlist

SUCH A GREAT BOOK

I really recommend Rob Conery's "The Imposter's Handbook" as a great way to reinforce those fundamentals and core concepts. Rob has been programming for years but without a CS degree. This book is about all the things he learned and all the gaps that got filled in while he was overwhelmed.

testimonial Scott Hanselman Partner, Microsoft

It's so good...

HOOOOO THE IMPOSTER'S HANDBOOK IS SO GOOD. IT'S SO GOOD... ...Loving learning about NP(~etc) problems!

testimonial Rachel Kelly Front-end Developer

You'll Learn the Topics in a Typical CS Degree

We'll get into theory and practical example, sometimes drawing things out, other times writing some code. I hate dry, boring examples so we'll pretend we're real people and have some fun.

Big-O, Data Structures, Algorithms

People typically think of this as "the stuff you learn when you're about to interview" which is true, but there's so much more to it! Graph traversals can save you so much time if you know how to plug them in and using the right storage type in Redis can make or break your application!

Computation, Complexity and Machines

What exactly is a Turing Machine and why do we even care? I remember talking to a friend about debugging JavaScript and they made a quip about writing bug-free code and The Halting Problem. I asked if that was a movie, but it turns out it's a foundational concept in machine computation!

Lambda Calculus

You ever wonder where programming languages got their start? What did the very first programming language even look like? Turns out that Alonzo Church came up with the blueprint before computers were even invented...

Patterns and Principles

We've all heard of the Gang of Four and other names that get thrown around when we're accused of violating some Grand Principle of Whatever... but ... what are those principles, who made them and why should you even care?

Databases and Relational Theory

I love databases and organizing information but for years I just winged it, organizing my database tables and collections by the seat of my pants and what I thought made sense. Then I learned how to do it right by studying a relational theory and getting to know what CAP meant...

Essential Unix and CLI Skills

I used to make fun of my colleagues that used shell scripts for everything ... until of course they were headed out the door hours before I was. They always seemed to know a simpler way of solving a problem...

Binary, Bitwise Operations, Logical Circuits

One thing I managed to avoid for most of my career was a discussion about anything binary or bitwise. XOR? Sure, whatever. I remember everyone laughing at a joke where the punchline had to do with "bit-shifting" and... I had no idea what was happening. No longer...

Compression, Encoding, Error Correction

Who decides how text is transformed into binary and then back again? Why is one file bigger than another and what does "LOSSLESS" even mean? In this section you'll writ your own encoder and then your own compression algorithm. You'll even know why you're doing it and the fundamental theories behind it!

Encryption and Hashing

Wow if there was one topic I knew nothing about it was encryption. So much math, so much... I really don't care which should I use MD5 or blowfish? How do hashes work and how can they be so small? Why is an RSA key secure? Such a great story...

testimonial

You guys this was so worth it! It's off da chain!

I am being schooled right now and it feels like good! I cannot recommend this too much for people like myself who never went to college for compsci but wishing for proper understanding of significant concepts

Michael Latham

Programmer

testimonial

Brilliant

I got so sucked in to the Imposters’s Handbook for Software Developers by @robconery that I just realised the weekend is over. Brilliant.

Miško Kranjec

Metinalista.si

testimonial

The best compsci book you will ever read...

The best compsci book you will ever read... Telling every dev I know to buy a copy. You really killed it @robconery!

Justin Etheredge

Simple Thread

Written By a Human for Other Humans

Reading about Computer Science concepts can be a bit challenging. Academics construct sentences like an engineer might build a bridge and casual bloggers don't typically take more than 30 minutes to write a post and even then they forget the most crucial details.

My goal with this book was to make it a nice, long conversation where you and I wander through computer science history and get to know the concepts in our own time. I wrote, then rewrote, then rewrote AGAIN with the goal of making each chapter as straightforward and human as possible.

I also busted out my iPad Pro and doodled my heart out as drawing things helps me understand and helps me use fewer words

hero

Packages

There are two volumes, or "Seasons" for this book as well as videos. Lots to choose from...

The Interview Edition

If you're studying up for an interview you need all the help you can get! With this package you get 24 hours of core CS Concepts with the CS Basics video production, which are based on the content in both seasons of The Imposter's Handbook. These videos enhance and extend the contents of the book and are a great edition.

You also get 5.5 hours of interview preparation from our Coding Interview Bootcamp production, from solving practice problems by hand to strategies for what to do when you lockup. In addition, you get coaching from Jon Skeet as he solves 4 Google-inspired interview problems that I throw at him.

$99 BuyNow

The Premium Edition

With this package you get both seasons of The Imposter's Handbook in ePub (open standard for iOS and other digital readers), mobi (for Kindle) and PDF, covering topics from Computational Theory to Lambda Calculus to Encoding and Hashing and Cryptography. In addition you get 24 video walkthroughs that enhance and extend the books, offering concise, tightly edited visual walkthroughs of some of the tougher concepts. I also added additional examples (such as how to create a one-time pad).

$79 Buy Now

The Digital Edition

You get both seasons of The Imposter's Handbook in ePub (open standard for iOS and other digital readers), mobi (for Kindle) and PDF. You'll read about Complexity Theory, dive into Binary problems and brush up on your Unix skills.

You'll receive every update (as with all of the packages here) and downloadable code samples. You can download the books at any time as well - just come back here and login.

$49 Buy Now

A la Cart

Don't want to get both titles together? No problem - you can get Season 2 here and Season 1 right here as standalone items.

The Print Edition

The print version of The Imposter's Handbook is currently available for Season 1 only and is sold through Blurb.com. Season 1 topics include:

  • Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Computation and Complexity Theory
  • Lambda Calculus and Functional Programming
  • Software Structural and Design Patterns
  • Database theory and normalization
  • Compilers and Language Design
  • Essential Unix Skills
$49 Buy Now

Buying for a Team?

You can get a 20% discount for teams up to 10. Need more? Just let me know and I'll do a custom quote for you.

$399 Buy Now

Frequently Asked Questions

These books and videos have been on sale for years now and I've tried to iron out the kinks in the process. Questions still remain - and here are some common ones...

Will I get every update?

Yes. I will never create a "new edition" that you'll have to pay for. That said, this is only for the digital edition. The print version is sold by a different store (Blurb) and I don't have acces to that.

WHAT IF I FIND A PROBLEM?

You very well might! It's been a few years and I've worked a lot of things out, but if you find an issue, there's a link in the front of the book where you can log an issue.

Are the books and videos DRM protected?

No, I hate that. I do ask that you not share, however, this book took me a long time to write.

Can I use this for interviewing?

Heck yeah! I get a lot of email from people who have let me know it helped them score a great job. All of the topics in these books directly relate to job interviews!

Will this work on my Kindle [X]

Yes, it should. The problem is that Kindle's have a proprietary format and it's kind of guesswork as to how to get it to layout properly. I've tried a zillion methods and the recent one as of 2019 seems to work for most Kindles.

Can I get a discount on the print version? How about videos to go with it?

The print version is sold through Blurb, which is a completely independent store that pays me a % of each sale. I can't do anything to control their sales process. In fact, they don't give me any sales information at all, aside from number sold.

Why isn't Season 2 in print yet?

Good question! The book is still under light editing and refinement. When it goes to the printer _it's effectively done_. I can't issue changes, so I need to be sure it's complete.