Digital Design and Computer Architecture
Digital Design and Computer Architecture by Harris and Harrisby Harris and Harris
Ranked 4 of 25 computer science textbooks by recommenders
Recommended as a clear, gate-level introduction to digital design and computer architecture, good for self study. No critics recorded.
8 people recommended Digital Design and Computer Architecture by Harris and Harris in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 6 comments.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 5 of 12 months
In 6 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 6 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 25% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 6 of the 8 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains how computers work from gates
“teach you how to design a MIPS datapath (at the gate level.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “RISC-V Is Sloooow” “to get the idea of how these machines work”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: I made some transistor animations”
Other computer science textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other computer science textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 51 | 8 | 4 | 93% | 12 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Computer Programmingby Donald E. Knuth | 25 | 3 | 6 | 81% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Quantum Computation and Quantum Informationby Nielsen and Chuang | 9 | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Digital Design and Computer Architectureby Harris and HarrisThis page | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The Feynman Lectures on Computationby Richard Feynman | 7 | 0 | 2 | 78% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 8 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's the best resource out there on this topic”
“to get the idea of how these machines work”
“Agreed; I have the older MIPS version.”
“I find Digital Design and Computer Architecture (RISC-V edition) by Harris & Harris very nice for self study.”
“teach you how to design a MIPS datapath (at the gate level.”
“Probably the best lecture in my undergraduate.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.