Programming is the art of writing algorithms in a formal language.
The C Programming Language,
Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie, 1978
Why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby,
Why the Lucky Stiff, 2006
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs,
Abelson/Sussman, 1996
Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming,
Peter Norvig, 1992
On Lisp,
Paul Graham, 1993