# Art of Problem Solving

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Art of Problem Solving and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Parents and students recommend its math textbooks and courses as a stronger way to learn math than school classes, and the materials are self-guided.

## Why people recommend it

- Kids learn more math than school (2 comments): "My kid learned more math when she was doing AoPS for 2 yrs than when she was in class" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47856910)) "AOPS wipes the floor with any math education you’d get at a public school." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46000892))
- Strong textbooks for math learners (2 comments): "use the AoPS books, which present exercises before explanations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49861348)) "the holy grail is truly The Art Of Problem Solving textbooks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46084537))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Khan Academy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/khan-academy.md): 67 recommend
- [Coursera](https://hackerapproved.com/p/coursera.md): 26 recommend
- [Udemy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/udemy.md): 16 recommend
- [MIT OpenCourseWare](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mit-opencourseware.md): 14 recommend
- [Brilliant.org](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brilliant-org.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Art+of+Problem+Solving+textbooks&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://artofproblemsolving.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Art of Problem Solving", https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-problem-solving/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).