Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction
Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction by Sutton and Bartoby Sutton and Barto
Shares rank 9 of 28 computer science textbooks by recommenders
Widely called the standard introduction to reinforcement learning, written by two founders of the field. Critics say it covers older methods and some modern deep learning approaches are missing.
Widely called the standard introduction to reinforcement learning, written by two founders of the field. Critics say it covers older methods and some modern deep learning approaches are missing.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Standard, authoritative introduction to the field
“Reinforcement Learning by Sutton & Barto is an excellent introduction by two of the founders of the field.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equation: Reinforcement Learning and Diffusion Models” “Sutton & Barto is the standard recommendation and it's good”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equation: Reinforcement Learning and Diffusion Models” “universally considered the bible of the field”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “Rich Sutton on AI creativity and discovery”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Missing modern deep reinforcement learning methods
“doesn't cover some of the more modern methods used in deep reinforcement learning”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equation: Reinforcement Learning and Diffusion Models” Dated material, heavy on old methods
“Sutton & Barto belabors a lot of old stuff that is no longer obsessed over”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equation: Reinforcement Learning and Diffusion Models” Dense terminology hard to follow
“I tried reading the Sutton and Barto book, but got lost in the terminology.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “CS234: Reinforcement Learning Winter 2025”
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 | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 55 | 5 | 92% | 12 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Computer Programmingby Donald E. Knuth | 28 | 6 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 12 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Quantum Computation and Quantum Informationby Nielsen and Chuang | 12 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Reinforcement Learning: An Introductionby Sutton and BartoThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“universally considered the bible of the field”
“Sutton & Barto belabors a lot of old stuff that is no longer obsessed over”
“Sutton & Barto is the standard recommendation and it's good”
“doesn't cover some of the more modern methods used in deep reinforcement learning”
“I would recommend that you start with one of the classics”
“Reinforcement Learning by Sutton & Barto is an excellent introduction by two of the founders of the field.”
“study Reinforcement Learning (e.g. Rick Sutton)”
“I tried reading the Sutton and Barto book, but got lost in the terminology.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.