// Comparison
Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie vs La science du secret: Which Should You Read?
Two cybersecurity books on Cryptography, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.
A rigorous problem book for learning cryptography — over 150 corrected exercises with course summaries, for L3/master/engineering students — by a French academic cryptographer.
A lucid popular-science history of cryptography by Jacques Stern, one of France's most eminent cryptographers — from classical ciphers to public-key and the science of secrecy.
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Key takeaways
- A genuine exercise-and-problem book — the corrected problems are the point, not prose.
- Covers symmetric, asymmetric and, in recent editions, post-quantum constructions.
- Best as a companion to a crypto course; pairs naturally with Avoine et al.
- Popular cryptography history written by a top-tier cryptographer (Stern, ENS), so the science is impeccable.
- Traces the arc from classical ciphers to public-key — the conceptual leaps, not the code.
- A French equivalent of The Code Book with a researcher's eye; dated on modern primitives but timeless on fundamentals.
How they compare
We rate La science du secret higher (4/5 against 3/5 for Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie). For most readers, that means La science du secret is the primary pick and Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie is a useful follow-up.
Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie is pitched at advanced level. La science du secret is pitched at intermediate level. Read the easier one first if you're not yet comfortable with the topic.
Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie and La science du secret both cover Cryptography, Foundations, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.
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Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie
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