Question

Prerequisites to “category theory in context” by Emily Riehl

Answer 1

I prefer Riehl's book over MacLane's, but with a CS background you might also get more out of Awodey's book.

You should have what it takes to read all these books.

Answer 2

Emily Riehls book is highly recommendable. But in my humble opinion, studying category theory without any background in (algebraic) topology, abstract algebra and/or differential/algebraic geometry is somewhat odd. You might possibly learn a fair share of new vocabulary but you'll certainly lack a lot of intuition what all these abstract notions might ever be useful for.

Answer 3

Emily Riehl's book, absolutely. It's a pleasure to read. Mac Lane didn't have the benefit of decades of people trying to explain category theory. He was writing for experienced mathematicians, and the book was based on lecture series he gave around the world for mathematicians. Also, we know more now and this gives a better context to write category theory for today, rather than what people knew and thought in the 60s. CT was literally just forming as an independent field of study at the time, it was very raw.

Answer 4

Maybe "Category theory for programmers" as you have some cs background? It's free, but to make sense its useful to have some prior knowledge of haskell. (c++ parts I usually ignore, not even sure why are they present)

Answer 5

You certainly have the background to be able to read and understand *Category Theory in Context* which I definitely prefer to MacLane's book, but what (imo) makes Rhiel's book so good is the *in Context* part. Without some exposure to analysis, topology, group theory, etc. a lot of the examples might go over your head.

EDIT: I misread the part about courses you haven't taken -- you'll be fine. Some of the examples might miss their mark, but overall you'll still benefit.

Answer 6

Why do you want to learn category theory? What do you hope to understand?

My guess is that it will seem like pointless abstraction without a background in algebraic topology or a related subject. (And without concrete motivations like that, arguably it is.)

Answer 7

Category Theory in Context is nice, but it is better the more exposure to different math concepts you already had because Riehl normally gives examples from a dozen or more fields for every notion she introduces. And if you only understand one or two of those you miss out.

Since you are a CS major, I would recommend Category Theory for Programmers by Bartosz Milewski. There is also a great lecture series on YouTube, and it is available with multiple programming languages (programming is used to explain the concepts).

Answer 8

That was a fairly challenging book for me. I started it and didn't get very far. My recollection was that it requires a fairly strong background in algebra iirc. I found Awodey's book easier to follow but still challenging.