7 Best-Selling CUDA Books Millions Love

Endorsed by Jack Dongarra, Emeritus Professor, and other experts, these CUDA books offer proven insights for GPU programmers and developers.

Updated on June 28, 2025
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There's something special about books that both critics and crowds love, especially in a field as dynamic as CUDA programming. CUDA's role in accelerating computations across industries—from scientific research to gaming—makes mastering it a valuable skill. Millions have turned to expert-recommended books to unlock the potential of GPU computing, propelled by proven methods that stand the test of time.

Jack Dongarra, emeritus professor in electrical engineering and computer science, is a leading figure in high-performance computing. His endorsement of CUDA Application Design and Development reflects his deep engagement with GPU programming's evolving landscape. Dongarra's insights have helped shape how professionals approach CUDA, ensuring that recommended texts address core challenges effectively.

While these popular books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific CUDA needs might consider creating a personalized CUDA book that combines these validated approaches. Customization allows you to focus on your experience level and projects, enhancing the practical impact of your learning journey.

Best for scientific GPU programmers
Jack Dongarra, emeritus professor in electrical engineering and computer science, emphasizes the importance of this book for anyone seeking to master CUDA for scientific and visual programming. His recommendation carries weight given his extensive academic and research background in high-performance computing. He found the book's accessible approach and detailed coverage invaluable for efficiently programming CUDA, aligning well with widespread reader approval. As he puts it, "The book by Rob Faber on CUDA Application Design and Development is required reading for anyone who wants to understand and efficiently program CUDA for scientific and visual programming." This endorsement reflects the book’s practical value for developers looking to deepen their GPU programming skills.

Recommended by Jack Dongarra

Emeritus Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

The book by Rob Faber on CUDA Application Design and Development is required reading for anyone who wants to understand and efficiently program CUDA for scientific and visual programming. It provides a hands-on exposure to the details in a readable and easy to understand form. (from Amazon)

2011·336 pages·CUDA, Software Development, Parallel Computing, GPU Programming, Performance Optimization

Rob Farber's decades of experience at national labs and computational startups led him to write this book tailored specifically for software developers venturing into GPU programming with CUDA. You’ll learn a solid foundation in parallel computing concepts, then move through practical techniques for creating, analyzing, and debugging CUDA applications, with examples spanning machine learning, visualization, and mobile computing. The book addresses real-world concerns like integrating CUDA with existing codebases and understanding hardware-software interplay, giving you a clear grasp of multi-threaded programming and memory hierarchy within CUDA. If you're a developer aiming to enhance application performance through GPU acceleration, this book offers focused insights without unnecessary jargon.

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Best for beginner GPU developers
Shane Cook is Technical Director at CUDA Developer, a consultancy specializing in harnessing GPU power through expert code re-engineering. With a background in applied software engineering and senior roles in automotive and defense industries, Cook recognized CUDA’s potential to revolutionize parallel programming. His book reflects this deep expertise, offering you a reliable guide shaped by years of practical experience and a commitment to developing engineering talent in the GPU domain.
2012·592 pages·Parallel Computing, GPU, CUDA, Memory Management, Threads

The breakthrough moment came when Shane Cook, drawing on over two decades of embedded software experience and a vision for GPU potential, crafted this guide to parallel computing with CUDA. You’ll gain a solid foundation in GPU architecture and parallelism fundamentals before diving into practical aspects like threads, blocks, and memory management tailored for CUDA’s unique environment. The book offers hands-on insights on installation, optimization, and adapting code across platforms such as Mac, Linux, and Windows, with exercises reinforcing each chapter’s core concepts. If you’re venturing into GPU programming without prior parallel computing experience, this book provides an accessible yet thorough path forward.

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Best for personal learning paths
This AI-created book on CUDA programming is crafted based on your background and interests in GPU development. By sharing your experience level and specific CUDA topics you want to explore, you receive a book that matches your learning goals precisely. This personalized approach ensures that you focus on the CUDA concepts and techniques most relevant to your projects, making your path to mastery more efficient and engaging.
2025·50-300 pages·CUDA, GPU Programming, CUDA Architecture, Parallel Computing, Memory Management

This tailored book explores proven methods for mastering GPU programming with CUDA, combining the collective knowledge that millions of readers have found valuable with your individual interests and goals. It covers foundational concepts such as CUDA architecture and parallel computing, while also diving into advanced techniques like memory management, kernel optimization, and debugging tailored to your skill level. By focusing on your specific background and objectives, this personalized guide reveals practical insights to accelerate your programming skills and deepen your understanding of GPU computing. The customization ensures the content matches your pace and projects, making complex topics accessible and immediately relevant to your development journey.

Tailored Guide
Kernel Optimization
1,000+ Happy Readers
Greg Ruetsch is a Senior Applied Engineer at NVIDIA, specializing in CUDA Fortran and performance optimization of high-performance computing codes. With a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and research experience at Stanford and Sun Microsystems Laboratories, his deep expertise informs this book. Ruetsch’s work at NVIDIA on the CUDA Fortran compiler and GPU computing underpins the practical, example-driven approach presented here, making it a valuable resource for scientists and engineers aiming to enhance their Fortran programs with GPU acceleration.
2013·338 pages·CUDA, GPU, Fortran, Parallel Computing, Performance Optimization

What started as an effort to bridge the gap between high-performance computing and familiar scientific programming languages, this book by Gregory Ruetsch and Massimiliano Fatica equips you with the skills to harness GPU power using CUDA Fortran. You'll learn to identify performance bottlenecks and adapt existing Fortran codes for efficient parallel execution without rewriting them in another language. The book dives into GPU architecture, multi-GPU programming with MPI and peer-to-peer techniques, and offers full source code examples to test your implementations. If you work in scientific computing and want to accelerate your simulations leveraging GPUs, this text offers clear, focused guidance to get you there.

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Best for applied GPU practitioners
John Cheng, PhD, a research scientist with extensive experience developing seismic imaging products using GPU technology, co-authored this book alongside Max Grossman, an expert applying CUDA in medical imaging and geophysics, and Ty McKercher, who has supported GPU acceleration adoption at NVIDIA since 2008. Their combined expertise informs a practical approach to parallel GPU programming, designed to help professionals across various industries grasp complex CUDA concepts through clear explanations and real-world examples.
Professional CUDA C Programming book cover

by John Cheng, Max Grossman, Ty McKercher··You?

2014·528 pages·CUDA, GPU, Parallel Computing, GPU Execution, Memory Management

Unlike most CUDA programming books that dive straight into complex theory, this guide demystifies GPU parallel programming by walking you through practical examples and clear explanations of core concepts like the CUDA programming and GPU execution models. The authors, with their extensive backgrounds—John Cheng in seismic imaging, Max Grossman in medical and geophysical applications, and Ty McKercher's NVIDIA expertise—focus on helping you think in parallel and efficiently utilize GPU resources. Chapters cover essential topics such as memory management, concurrency, multi-GPU programming, and performance tuning, giving you a balanced understanding of both programming techniques and optimization strategies. If you're a software developer eager to extend your skills into high-performance GPU computing, this book offers a solid foundation without overwhelming you with jargon.

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Best for engineers new to CUDA
Duane Storti, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington with over three decades of teaching and research experience, brings his deep expertise in applied GPU computing to this book. His academic background and extensive work in engineering mathematics and 3D printing provide a solid foundation that informs the practical guidance offered here. Driven by the desire to make high-performance computing accessible on common hardware, Storti crafted this accessible introduction to CUDA programming, helping engineers and students tap into GPU power without needing specialized backgrounds.
2015·352 pages·Parallel Computing, CUDA, GPU Programming, C Programming, Performance Optimization

When Duane Storti first realized how accessible high-performance parallel computing could be on gaming PCs, he co-authored this book to bridge the gap for engineers and scientists. You’ll directly engage with CUDA C programming, moving from simple sample codes to building your own with clear, complete examples that encourage hands-on learning. The book covers data transfer between CPU and GPU, timing and debugging techniques, and advanced topics like OpenGL interoperability and 3D data interaction. It’s tailored for anyone with basic programming experience who wants to harness GPU power without prior parallel computing knowledge.

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Best for rapid skill building
This custom AI book on CUDA programming is created based on your background, skill level, and specific learning goals. You share which CUDA topics and challenges you want to focus on, and the book is crafted to provide a personalized learning journey that matches your interests. By targeting the key areas you need most, this approach avoids generic content and helps you gain practical CUDA skills faster and more confidently than traditional one-size-fits-all resources.
2025·50-300 pages·CUDA, Parallel Computing, CUDA Basics, GPU Architecture, Memory Management

This tailored book explores the journey of accelerating your CUDA programming skills through a focused, step-by-step approach. It delves into core CUDA concepts while aligning with your background and specific goals, ensuring the learning process matches your experience level. The content covers essential parallel computing principles, memory management techniques, kernel optimization, and debugging practices, all personalized to fit your interests and desired pace. By combining insights drawn from widely validated GPU programming knowledge with a learning path that suits you, this book facilitates efficient skill acquisition. The result is a tailored resource designed to help you gain practical CUDA expertise effectively and confidently.

Tailored Guide
Performance Tuning
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for C programmers entering CUDA
Jason Sanders is a senior software engineer in NVIDIA's CUDA Platform group who helped develop early CUDA system software and contributed to the OpenCL 1.0 Specification, bringing deep expertise to this book. His experience at industry leaders like ATI Technologies, Apple, and Novell, combined with his academic background from UC Berkeley and Princeton, uniquely qualifies him to guide you through CUDA programming. This book distills his knowledge into practical examples, showing you how to harness GPU power for applications beyond graphics, making it a valuable resource for programmers expanding into parallel computing.
2010·320 pages·CUDA, GPU, Parallel Programming, Performance Optimization, CUDA C

Jason Sanders, a senior software engineer on NVIDIA's CUDA Platform team, brings you a hands-on introduction to general-purpose GPU programming in this book. You’ll explore CUDA’s architecture through clear, working examples that cover parallel programming, thread cooperation, and memory management without needing graphics programming experience. The book dives into practical details like when to use CUDA C extensions and how to optimize performance for demanding scientific or financial applications. If you’re ready to leverage GPU power using familiar C syntax, this book offers a solid foundation, though it’s best suited for programmers comfortable with C looking to expand into parallel computing.

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What makes this book distinct in the CUDA field is its focus on high-performance parallel algorithms applied to a specific medical imaging challenge: generating Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs from 3D spinal models. By harnessing NVIDIA's CUDA platform, the author addresses the intensive computational demands of non-rigid 2D/3D image registration, a task requiring hundreds of radiographs per second. This approach offers a clear pathway for developers and researchers eager to push the boundaries of GPU-accelerated medical imaging, providing both theoretical foundations and practical implementation insights that tackle real-world processing bottlenecks.
2012·128 pages·GPU, CUDA, Parallel Computing, Medical Imaging, Algorithm Design

When André Cardoso tackled the challenge of accelerating Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs) extraction from complex 3D vertebrae models, he turned to the parallel processing power of GPUs. His expertise in leveraging NVIDIA's CUDA platform shines through as he details algorithms designed to handle intense data parallelism, enabling generation of hundreds of radiographs per second—far beyond traditional CPU capabilities. You’ll gain insight into the intersection of medical imaging and parallel computing, particularly how GPU architectures can transform non-rigid 2D/3D image registration tasks. This book suits developers and researchers focused on medical imaging acceleration and those curious about practical CUDA implementations in healthcare contexts.

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Conclusion

This collection of seven CUDA books highlights proven frameworks widely validated by experts and readers alike. They cover a spectrum of needs—from foundational GPU programming principles to specialized applications like scientific computing and medical imaging.

If you prefer proven methods, start with CUDA Application Design and Development and CUDA Programming for solid fundamentals. For validated approaches in specific domains, combine CUDA Fortran for Scientists and Engineers with Generation of Radiographs from 3D Anatomical Models Using the GPU. Those new to CUDA in engineering fields will find CUDA for Engineers and Professional CUDA C Programming especially relevant.

Alternatively, you can create a personalized CUDA book to combine proven methods with your unique needs. These widely-adopted approaches have helped many readers succeed in harnessing GPU power for their projects and careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which CUDA book should I start with?

Start with CUDA Application Design and Development by Rob Farber or CUDA Programming by Shane Cook. Both offer accessible introductions with practical examples, perfect for building a strong foundation before moving to specialized topics.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to CUDA?

Not at all. Books like CUDA for Engineers and CUDA Programming are designed for beginners, providing clear explanations and hands-on exercises to ease you into GPU programming concepts.

What's the best order to read these CUDA books?

Begin with foundational guides such as CUDA Application Design and Development, then explore more specialized texts like CUDA Fortran for Scientists and Engineers or Generation of Radiographs from 3D Anatomical Models Using the GPU based on your interests and background.

Do these books assume I already have experience in CUDA?

Most books, including CUDA by Example, assume programming knowledge but introduce CUDA concepts from the ground up. They're suitable for programmers familiar with C or Fortran but new to GPU programming.

Which book gives the most actionable advice I can use right away?

Professional CUDA C Programming offers practical examples and clear explanations of core CUDA concepts, making it ideal for developers eager to apply GPU acceleration techniques immediately.

Can I get CUDA learning content tailored to my specific goals?

Yes! While expert books provide proven methods, creating a personalized CUDA book lets you focus on your unique skill level and project needs, combining popular strategies with custom insights for faster, targeted learning.

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