Education
B.A. Mathematics 1998 (CSUN, Northridge, CA)
Post Baccalaureate Mathematics 1999,2000,2004,2006 (Statistics and computational mathematics)
M.S. Engineering Management 2010 (CSUN, Northridge, CA)
Programming
Visual Basic.net (Framework 1.1,2.0,3.5)
ANSI C
CUDA parallel processing
Programming references
ASP.NET 3.5 (C#) [current]Stephen Walther. Although I originally chose the Apress book, I've since added Walther's newest book. For example, In using Master Pages, I knew from my 2.0 Walther book that he does quite a lot. The Apress book wasn't what I was looking for for this topic, although the Apress book has a lot more technical detail and is good for studying.
ASP.net 3.5 C# 2008 Szspuszta, Macdonald (Apress) [current]
Javascript (2006) The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly) [current]--no longer (as of 4/18/08) working on this book since I completed my Javascript exam with a 97% rank [better than 97% of all previous test takers] Master score. That's good enough for now since I need to concentrate on ASP.net 3.5 in C#.
MCAD/MCSD Developing Web Applications with Visual Basic.net and C#.net (MSFT) Study guide mainly, terse, packed w/ info, gives parallel C#/VB, created for exam prep [selected topics]
MCAD/MCSD Developing Windows Applications with Visual Basic.net and C#.net (MSFT) Study guide mainly, terse, packed w/ info, gives parallel C#/VB, created for exam prep. [cover to cover]
ASP.net 2.0 Unleashed (Walther) Goes through all controls, data access, packed with code 1800 pages, none of it fluff [currently paused around 750 pages into this behemoth], but I'm switching to the ASP.net 3.5 C# 2008 as ASP.net 2.0 Unleased is given solely in VB.net (C# is on a CD). It should be noted that ASP.net Unleased 3.5 is in C# and VB.net is on CD =)
ANSI C++ (Horton) Great book on C++, written by a couple o' mathematicians; lots of math examples, very precise as you'd expect from a programming book written by a doctorate in math [selected topics: classes, inheritance, file I/O etc]
Object Oriented Programming in C++ (Lafore) Good book, covers more commonplace examples than Horton's book. [selected topics]
The C Programming Language 2nd edition (K&R) Classic K&R book; essential reading for any programmer of any language. [cover to cover]
C# Essentials 2nd Edition (Drayton, Albahari,Merrill) - O'Reilly: Terse, packed, very good for people who already know VB.net or who are C# coders looking for a complete, concise overview of the language.[cover to cover]
C# Pocket Reference 3.0 (Albahari bros.) - O'Reilly - Readable for the experienced programmer wanting to get to the crux of C# versus VB 3.0 [cover to cover]
Programming Visual Basic 2005, The Language (MSFT) - Excellent book for the VB 6.0 programmer moving to VB.net [cover to cover]
Java (Deitel) Not a huge fan of Java, but as with all Deitel books, the top-of-the-line. [selected topics]
DirectX 9 Pipeline (Gray)-MSFT Good book for studying shaders. Covers both HLSL and the old assembly-like shading language. [HLSL=2nd half of shaders]
Shader X4 (Engel) [reference mainly, compilation of expert articles] Many topics covered, compilation of theoretical articles [selected articles]
Managed DirectX 9 (Miller) Great book for the experienced VB/C# programmer wanting to take on managed DirectX [mainly managed shader portion (chapter 9). Already knew fixed function directX fairly well when I got the book in 06]
Programming Vertex and Pixel Shaders (Engel) Excellent Book on HLSL. The best book for implementing HLSL. Uses unmanaged C++, so reader will need to port to managed code, which itself can be a bit of a chore [first 5 or so chapters: ambient, diffuse, specular (blinn phong), bumpapping]
Another good resource is Brain Bench which offers exams for just about everything. They are an effective motivator and allow a public measure of competence as a programmer. It requires study, in my experience, to do well.
My Brain Bench exam certification list: C (master), C++, C#, and Visual Basic.net, Javascript.