Essential Coding Theory [pdf]

Ah it's always a bit intimidating when someone says something is part of the essentials when you have yourself only seen a tiny bit of this course material in your program

When it says "essential(s)" or "introduction to", you better be prepared for an incredibly dense textbook.

"What everyone needs to know about coding theory and how to become better at it"

-> Each chapter starts with a personal anecdote and everything is repeated 3 times in 3 different ways. Lots of reassuring words that it's ok if you don't get it right away but trust the author that it will all make sense by the end of the book.

"Essential of coding theory"

-> University lecture with real world analogies for the students.

"Coding theory (5th Edition)"

-> Doorstopper. Mostly formulas and proofs. The text gives no clue of who and when.

It's the essence of coding theory, not necessarily what's essential for all CS students to know.

One of the authors is at my university and teaches from this book. It's a math heavy upper-undergrad elective course. A couple percent of our students take it, usually in their final year of a 4 year computer science program.

The couple students I know who've taken it did enjoy it. They were also people who liked proof based mathematics in general.

Mathematics texts with titles that would mislead a beginner who naïvely takes words such as "basic" and "elementary" at face value are a bit of a running joke, particularly when you go past the undergraduate level.

Just look, for example, at the table of contents to André Weil's "Basic" Number Theory book: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-61945-8#toc