I'm a mid 30s web dev (LAMP stack), self taught, made a decent career from it for the last 10 years but now I'm keen to actually learn programming properly, with the aim to actually learning a 'real' language later.<p>What's the best books to read to give an introduction to computer science? Assuming zero background, no college/uni education, etc. Sure I don't exactly have zero experience but I'd like to approach it like I did, and learn it all from scratch.
I'm also self taught, but just starting out. I'd be very interested to hear about how you got started, got your first job, and ended up making a decent career (if you don't mind sharing).<p>Do you feel like not studying CS has ever held you back? Whenever I'm struggling to understand something I always wonder if a grasp of basic CS concepts would have helped.
The Art of Computer Programming
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321751043" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321751043</a>