notes
Coding Books — Free PDFs & YouTube Channels
obsidian source → .md
downloadCoding Books — Free PDFs & YouTube Channels
All PDF links are legally free (official releases, open-access, or author-published). Last updated: 2026-05-10
Master Free Book Lists (Start Here)
| Resource | Link | What's Inside |
|---|---|---|
| EbookFoundation | https://github.com/EbookFoundation/free-programming-books | The biggest curated list — 1000s of free legal books by language & subject |
| Search interface | https://ebookfoundation.github.io/free-programming-books-search/ | Searchable frontend for the above |
| GoalKicker | https://books.goalkicker.com/ | Free PDF "Notes for Professionals" books for every language (Python, Go, SQL, C, Java, JS, Rust…) — compiled from StackOverflow docs |
AI & Machine Learning
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dive into Deep Learning (d2l.ai) | https://d2l.ai/ | Interactive book with code — PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow |
| How Transformer LLMs Work — Jay Alammar | https://www.deeplearning.ai/short-courses/ | Free short course (author of Hands-On LLMs) |
| Probabilistic ML — An Introduction — Kevin Murphy | https://probml.github.io/pml-book/book1.html | PDF free from author |
| Pattern Recognition & Machine Learning — Bishop | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/pattern-recognition-machine-learning/ | Free PDF from Microsoft Research |
| Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction — Sutton & Barto | http://incompleteideas.net/book/the-book-2nd.html | Free PDF, 2nd edition |
| Machine Learning from Scratch — Danny Friedman | https://dafriedman97.github.io/mlbook/ | Free HTML + PDF + Jupyter |
| Neural Networks & Deep Learning — Michael Nielsen | http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/ | Free online book, very readable |
| Python Machine Learning Projects — DigitalOcean | https://www.digitalocean.com/community/books/pythonmachinelearningprojects | Free PDF + EPUB |
| Agentic AI / LLM Patterns | https://www.deeplearning.ai/courses/ | Andrew Ng's free short courses on agents, RAG, prompting |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Andrej Karpathy | https://www.youtube.com/@AndrejKarpathy | LLMs from scratch, neural nets, GPT |
| 3Blue1Brown | https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown | Neural networks visually explained |
| Sentdex | https://www.youtube.com/@sentdex | Python ML, AI, real-world projects |
| DeepLearning.AI | https://www.youtube.com/@Deeplearningai | Andrew Ng lectures, short courses |
| Yannic Kilcher | https://www.youtube.com/@YannicKilcher | ML paper walkthroughs |
| Sam Witteveen (Red Dragon AI) | https://www.youtube.com/@samwitteveenai | LangChain, agents, RAG, local LLMs |
| Matthew Berman | https://www.youtube.com/@matthew_berman | Ollama, local LLMs, AI tools |
Vault:
concepts/ai-ml/agentic-design-patterns·concepts/ai-ml/local-llm-ollama·concepts/ai-ml/dify-platform
Rust
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Rust Programming Language ("The Book") | https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ | Official free book — the standard reference |
| Rust by Example | https://doc.rust-lang.org/rust-by-example/ | Learn by runnable examples |
| Rustlings (exercises) | https://github.com/rust-lang/rustlings | Interactive exercises to learn Rust |
| Rust Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/RustBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Programming Rust (official code) | https://github.com/ProgrammingRust/examples | O'Reilly book's official GitHub |
| Zero to Production in Rust (free chapters) | https://www.zero2prod.com/ | Web backends in Rust |
| Comprehensive Rust — Google | https://google.github.io/comprehensive-rust/ | Google's free 4-day Rust course |
| Rust Atomics and Locks — Mara Bos | https://marabos.nl/atomics/ | Free online version |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Gjengset | https://www.youtube.com/@jonhoo | "Crust of Rust" — intermediate/advanced Rust |
| freeCodeCamp Rust | https://youtu.be/BpPEoZW5IiY | Complete Rust course for beginners (7 hrs) |
| Traversy Media — Rust Crash Course | https://youtu.be/zF34dRivLOw | Quick practical intro |
| Let's Get Rusty | https://www.youtube.com/@letsgetrusty | Rust book chapter-by-chapter |
| No Boilerplate | https://www.youtube.com/@NoBoilerplate | Fast, opinionated Rust shorts |
Vault:
concepts/languages/rust-ruby·synthesis/language-comparison
Go
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Go Programming Language (gopl.io) | https://github.com/adonovan/gopl.io | Official code; book itself at gopl.io |
| Go Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/GoBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Learn Go with Tests | https://quii.gitbook.io/learn-go-with-tests | Free online — TDD-based Go learning |
| Go by Example | https://gobyexample.com/ | Annotated runnable examples |
| Effective Go | https://go.dev/doc/effective_go | Official Google guide — idiomatic Go |
| An Introduction to Go — Caleb Doxsey | https://www.openmymind.net/The-Little-Go-Book/ | "The Little Go Book" — free PDF |
| Learning Go (official code) | https://github.com/learning-go-book-2e | O'Reilly book's official GitHub |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| freeCodeCamp — Go Full Course | https://youtu.be/un6ZyFkqFKo | 25-hour complete Go course |
| TechWorld with Nana | https://www.youtube.com/@TechWorldwithNana | Go + DevOps, Docker, Kubernetes |
| Anthony GG | https://www.youtube.com/@anthonygg_ | Advanced Go, systems, projects |
| Melkey | https://www.youtube.com/@MelkeyDev | Go web dev, real projects |
| Traversy Media — Go Crash Course | https://youtu.be/SqrbIlUwR0U | Quick start intro |
Vault:
concepts/languages/go-lang·synthesis/language-comparison
Python
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Automate the Boring Stuff with Python | https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ | Free online + PDF — very practical |
| Python Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/PythonBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Think Python — Allen Downey | https://greenteapress.com/wp/think-python-2e/ | Free PDF — beginner-friendly |
| Fluent Python (code only) | https://github.com/fluentpython/example-code-2e | O'Reilly book's official code repo |
| Python Data Science Handbook | https://jakevdp.github.io/PythonDataScienceHandbook/ | Free online — NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib |
| Full Stack Python | https://www.fullstackpython.com/ | Free web book — Flask, Django, APIs |
| Real Python | https://realpython.com/ | Free articles + tutorials (many free) |
| Python for Data Analysis (code) | https://github.com/wesm/pydata-book | Wes McKinney's O'Reilly book code |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Corey Schafer | https://www.youtube.com/@coreyms | Best Python tutorials — OOP, Flask, Django |
| Programming with Mosh | https://www.youtube.com/@programmingwithmosh | Python basics + OOP |
| Tech With Tim | https://www.youtube.com/@TechWithTim | Python projects, ML, games |
| Sentdex | https://www.youtube.com/@sentdex | ML, data science, Python advanced |
| ArjanCodes | https://www.youtube.com/@ArjanCodes | Python design patterns, clean code |
| freeCodeCamp Python | https://youtu.be/rfscVS0vtbw | Full Python course (5 hrs, beginner) |
Vault:
concepts/ai-ml/chatbot-gemini
JavaScript & Frontend
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eloquent JavaScript | https://eloquentjavascript.net/ | Free online + PDF — the best free JS book |
| JavaScript Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/JavaScriptBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| You Don't Know JS (series) | https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS | Free on GitHub — deep JS internals |
| JavaScript.info | https://javascript.info/ | Free online "The Modern JavaScript Tutorial" |
| CSS Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/CSSBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| HTML5 Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/HTML5Book/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| React Docs | https://react.dev/learn | Official free interactive React tutorial |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Traversy Media | https://www.youtube.com/@TraversyMedia | HTML, CSS, JS, React, Node — full-stack |
| Fireship | https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship | Fast JS/web dev explainers, 100-second videos |
| The Odin Project | https://www.theodinproject.com/ | Free full-stack curriculum (not YouTube but essential) |
| Kevin Powell | https://www.youtube.com/@KevinPowell | CSS master — the best CSS channel |
| Jack Herrington | https://www.youtube.com/@jherr | Advanced React, TypeScript, frontend |
| freeCodeCamp — JavaScript | https://youtu.be/jS4aFq5-91M | JS full course (3 hrs) |
Vault:
concepts/systems/frontend·concepts/systems/fullstack-roadmap
SQL & Databases
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/SQLBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| MySQL Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/MySQLBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| PostgreSQL Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/PostgreSQLBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| MongoDB Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/MongoDBBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Use The Index, Luke | https://use-the-index-luke.com/ | Free — SQL performance & indexing |
| The Little Redis Book | https://github.com/karlseguin/the-little-redis-book | Free PDF |
| Learning SQL (exercises) | https://github.com/ishitashah23/sql-practice-code | Practice code from O'Reilly Learning SQL |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| freeCodeCamp — SQL Full Course | https://youtu.be/HXV3zeQKqGY | 4-hour full SQL course |
| Caleb Curry | https://www.youtube.com/@calebbcurry | SQL, database design, C, JS |
| Joey Blue | https://www.youtube.com/@joeyblue1 | PostgreSQL deep dives |
| Socratica | https://www.youtube.com/@Socratica | Clear beginner SQL + Python |
| Programming with Mosh — MySQL | https://youtu.be/7S_tz1z_5bA | 3-hour MySQL course |
Vault:
concepts/systems/sql-databases·sources/SQL
C & C++
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| C Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/CBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| C++ Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/CPlusPlusBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| C++ Today — O'Reilly (free) | http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/files/c++-today.pdf | Free official O'Reilly PDF |
| C++ Primer (companion exercises) | https://github.com/Mooophy/Cpp-Primer | Community solutions to C++ Primer |
| Learn C | https://www.learn-c.org/ | Free interactive browser-based |
| The GNU C Reference Manual | https://www.gnu.org/software/gnu-c-manual/ | Free HTML + PDF |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| The Cherno | https://www.youtube.com/@TheCherno | C++ deep dives, game engines |
| freeCodeCamp — C Full Course | https://youtu.be/KJgsSFOSQv0 | 4-hour C course for beginners |
| freeCodeCamp — C++ Full Course | https://youtu.be/8jLOx1hD3_o | 31-hour C++ course |
| Caleb Curry — C | https://www.youtube.com/@calebbcurry | Beginner-friendly C tutorials |
| Bro Code | https://www.youtube.com/@BroCodez | C, C++, Python, Java quick courses |
Vault:
concepts/languages/c-and-cpp·concepts/systems/fullstack-roadmap
Java & Node.js
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Java Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/JavaBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Node.js Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/NodeJSBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Think Java — Allen Downey | https://greenteapress.com/wp/think-java-2e/ | Free PDF — beginner Java |
| Introduction to Programming Using Java | http://math.hws.edu/javanotes/ | Free online textbook |
| Node.js Design Patterns (free chapter) | https://www.nodejsdesignpatterns.com/ | Packt — free sample chapters |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Programming with Mosh — Java | https://youtu.be/eIrMbAQSU34 | 2.5-hour Java beginner course |
| Telusko (Navin Reddy) | https://www.youtube.com/@Telusko | Java, Python, Blockchain — Indian educator |
| Amigoscode | https://www.youtube.com/@amigoscode | Java Spring Boot, full-stack |
| Traversy Media — Node.js | https://youtu.be/fBNz5xF-Kx4 | Node.js crash course |
| Fireship — Node.js | https://youtu.be/TNV0_HtZTew | 100 seconds + quick Node explainers |
Vault:
concepts/languages/java-nodejs·concepts/systems/fullstack-roadmap
Perl
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Perl Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/PerlBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Learning Perl (free chapters) | https://www.perl.org/books/library.html | Official Perl.org book library |
| Higher-Order Perl — Dominus | https://hop.perl.plover.com/ | Free online — advanced functional Perl |
| Modern Perl | http://modernperlbooks.com/books/modern_perl_2016/ | Free PDF/HTML — modern Perl idioms |
| Extreme Perl | http://www.extremeperl.org/bk/home | Free online |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| freeCodeCamp — Perl | https://youtu.be/pEfnQmDFxw | Perl full intro course |
| PerlTricks / perlweekly | https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=perl+tutorial | Search YouTube for Perl tutorials |
Vault:
concepts/languages/perl
DSA (Data Structures & Algorithms)
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grokking Algorithms (code) | https://github.com/egonSchiele/grokking_algorithms | Official code for the O'Reilly/No Starch illustrated book |
| A Common-Sense Guide to DSA (PDF) | https://books.goalkicker.com/ | GoalKicker DSA/Algorithm Notes |
| Algorithms, 4th Edition — Sedgewick | https://algs4.cs.princeton.edu/home/ | Free online companion (Princeton) |
| Open Data Structures | https://opendatastructures.org/ | Free PDF — Java/C++/Python versions |
| Algorithms and Complexity — Wilf | https://www.math.upenn.edu/~wilf/AlgoComp.pdf | Free PDF |
| The Algorithm Design Manual (online) | http://www.algorist.com/ | Skiena's book — free war stories |
| VisuAlgo | https://visualgo.net/ | Visual DSA animations (not a book but essential) |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Bari | https://www.youtube.com/@abdul_bari | Best DSA theory channel — deep & rigorous |
| William Fiset | https://www.youtube.com/@WilliamFiset-videos | Graph algorithms, trees — excellent animations |
| mycodeschool | https://www.youtube.com/@mycodeschool | Foundational DSA — classic channel |
| NeetCode | https://www.youtube.com/@NeetCode | LeetCode patterns — interview DSA |
| Back To Back SWE | https://www.youtube.com/@BackToBackSWE | Visual DSA problem walkthroughs |
| MIT OCW 6.006 | https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-006-introduction-to-algorithms-spring-2020/ | Free university-level algorithms course |
Vault:
synthesis/language-comparison
APIs & Systems
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Designing Data-Intensive Applications (notes) | https://github.com/ept/ddia-references | Reference links for DDIA |
| REST API Design Rulebook (free chapters) | https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/rest-api-design/9781449317904/ | O'Reilly sample |
| HTTP Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/HTTPBook/ | Free PDF |
| Microservices — free report | http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/microservices.csp | Official free O'Reilly report |
| Kubernetes for Full-Stack Developers | https://www.digitalocean.com/community/books/digitalocean-ebook-kubernetes-for-full-stack-developers | Free PDF from DigitalOcean |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Fireship | https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship | APIs, system design, quick explainers |
| Hussein Nasser | https://www.youtube.com/@hnasr | Networking, databases, backend engineering |
| ByteByteGo | https://www.youtube.com/@ByteByteGo | System design — diagrams + animations |
| TechWorld with Nana | https://www.youtube.com/@TechWorldwithNana | Docker, Kubernetes, DevOps |
Vault:
concepts/systems/api-types·concepts/systems/fullstack-roadmap
Terminal, Tools & Shell
Free Books / PDFs
| Book | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Data Science at the Command Line | https://datascienceatthecommandline.com/ | Free online — bash, jq, curl, fzf, csvkit |
| Bash Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/BashBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| The Linux Command Line — Shotts | https://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php | Free PDF — the best shell book |
| Linux Notes for Professionals | https://books.goalkicker.com/LinuxBook/ | Free PDF — GoalKicker |
| Sed & Awk (free chapter) | https://www.grymoire.com/Unix/ | Free Unix tool tutorials |
| The Art of Unix Programming — ESR | http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/ | Free online |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| typecraft | https://www.youtube.com/@typecraft_dev | Neovim, terminal, tmux, fzf, shell |
| DistroTube | https://www.youtube.com/@DistroTube | Linux terminal, shell scripting |
| Dreams of Code | https://www.youtube.com/@dreamsofcode-io | Ghostty, tmux, terminal workflows |
| The Primeagen | https://www.youtube.com/@ThePrimeagen | Vim/Neovim, terminal, fast workflows |
| freeCodeCamp — Linux | https://youtu.be/sWbUDq4S6Y8 | Linux command line full course |
Vault:
concepts/tools/terminal-commands·concepts/tools/atuin·concepts/tools/fzf·concepts/tools/lima-utm
Apple MLX & Local LLMs
Free Books / PDFs
| Resource | Free Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MLX Documentation | https://ml-explore.github.io/mlx/build/html/index.html | Official Apple MLX docs |
| MLX Examples | https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-examples | Official Apple GitHub — LoRA, LLM, diffusion |
| Ollama Docs | https://github.com/ollama/ollama | Official Ollama repo + docs |
| AnythingLLM Docs | https://docs.anythingllm.com/ | Official docs — local LLM UI |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Link | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Berman | https://www.youtube.com/@matthew_berman | Ollama, local LLMs, Apple Silicon AI |
| Prompt Engineer | https://www.youtube.com/@PromptEngineer48 | Local LLMs, Ollama, AnythingLLM |
| David Shapiro | https://www.youtube.com/@DavidShapiroAutomator | Agentic AI, local LLMs |
Vault:
concepts/ai-ml/apple-mlx·concepts/ai-ml/local-llm-ollama·concepts/ai-ml/anythingllm-finetune
Full-Stack Learning Path (YouTube Roadmap)
Watch these in order matching your vault's synthesis/fullstack-learning-path:
- C basics → freeCodeCamp C course https://youtu.be/KJgsSFOSQv0
- DSA → Abdul Bari https://www.youtube.com/@abdul_bari
- Python → Corey Schafer https://www.youtube.com/@coreyms
- HTML/CSS/JS → Traversy Media https://www.youtube.com/@TraversyMedia
- Frontend (React) → Fireship + Jack Herrington
- Backend (Node/Flask) → Amigoscode / Corey Schafer Flask
- SQL → freeCodeCamp SQL https://youtu.be/HXV3zeQKqGY
- Go → freeCodeCamp Go https://youtu.be/un6ZyFkqFKo
- Rust → Jon Gjengset https://www.youtube.com/@jonhoo
- AI/LLMs → Andrej Karpathy + DeepLearning.AI
Cross-Reference with Your Obsidian Vault
| Your Note | Free PDF | YouTube |
|---|---|---|
concepts/ai-ml/agentic-design-patterns | Dive into Deep Learning · DeepLearning.AI courses | Andrej Karpathy · Sam Witteveen |
concepts/ai-ml/local-llm-ollama | Ollama GitHub docs | Matthew Berman · Prompt Engineer |
concepts/ai-ml/apple-mlx | MLX docs + examples | Matthew Berman |
concepts/languages/rust-ruby | The Rust Book · Rust by Example | Jon Gjengset · Let's Get Rusty |
concepts/languages/go-lang | Learn Go with Tests · Go by Example | freeCodeCamp Go · Anthony GG |
concepts/languages/c-and-cpp | C Notes (GoalKicker) · C++ Today (O'Reilly PDF) | The Cherno · freeCodeCamp C |
concepts/languages/java-nodejs | Java Notes (GoalKicker) · Think Java | Telusko · Programming with Mosh |
concepts/languages/perl | Modern Perl · Higher-Order Perl | freeCodeCamp Perl |
concepts/dsa/dsa-sheet | Grokking Algorithms (code) · Open Data Structures | Abdul Bari · William Fiset · NeetCode |
concepts/systems/api-types | HTTP Notes (GoalKicker) · Microservices (O'Reilly free) | Hussein Nasser · ByteByteGo |
concepts/systems/sql-databases | SQL/MySQL/PostgreSQL Notes (GoalKicker) | freeCodeCamp SQL · Caleb Curry |
concepts/systems/frontend | Eloquent JS · You Don't Know JS | Kevin Powell · Fireship · Traversy |
concepts/tools/terminal-commands | The Linux Command Line · Bash Notes (GoalKicker) | typecraft · The Primeagen |
synthesis/fullstack-learning-path | Full Stack Python · Real Python | Traversy Media → Fireship → Amigoscode |