I am about to embark on a great journey – over the next 6 weeks I plan to read through C++ Numerical Recipes 3^rd edition http://amzn.to/YtdpkS

I'll be reading this with an eye to C++ AMP, thinking about implementing the suitable subset (non-recursive, additive, commutative) to run on the GPU.

APIs supporting HPC, GPGPU or MapReduce are all useful – providing you have the ability to choose the correct algorithm to leverage on them.

I really think this is the most fascinating area of programming – a lot more exciting than LOB CRUD !!!

When you think about it , everything is a function – we categorize & we extrapolate.

As abstractions get higher & less leaky, sooner or later information systems programming will become a non-programmer task – you will be using WYSIWYG designers to build:

• GUIs
• MVVM
• service mapping & virtualization
• workflows
• ORM
• Entity relations In the data source

SharePoint / LightSwitch are not there yet, but every iteration gets closer.

For information workers, managed code is a race to the bottom.

As MS futures are a bit shaky right now, the provider agnostic nature & higher barriers of entry of both C++ & Numerical Analysis seem like a rational choice to me.

Its also fascinating – stepping outside the box.

This is not the first time I've delved into numerical analysis.

6 months ago I read Numerical methods with Applications, which can be found for free online: http://nm.mathforcollege.com/

2 years ago I learned the .NET Extreme Optimization library www.extremeoptimization.com – not bad

2.5 years ago I read Schaums Numerical Analysis book http://amzn.to/V5yuLI - not an easy read, as topics jump back & forth across chapters:

3 years ago I read Practical Numerical Methods with C# http://amzn.to/V5yCL9 (which is a toy learning language for this kind of stuff)

I also read through AI a Modern Approach 3^rd edition END to END http://amzn.to/V5yQSp - this took me a few years but was the most rewarding experience.

I'll post progress updates – see you on the other side !