// Comparison

Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie vs Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain: Which Should You Read?

Two cybersecurity books on Cryptography, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.

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3/52023

Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie

Damien Vergnaud

A rigorous problem book for learning cryptography — over 150 corrected exercises with course summaries, for L3/master/engineering students — by a French academic cryptographer.

Intermediate

4/52026

Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain

Des bases mathématiques aux standards post-quantiques

Mbaye Ngom

A cryptography engineer specializing in information-system security mechanisms, who also teaches the subject, builds from cryptography's mathematical foundations up to today's post-quantum standards.

Read this if

Students and self-learners who want to actually practise cryptographic mathematics: corrected exercises on symmetric, public-key and (in recent editions) post-quantum primitives. Preface by Jacques Stern.

French-speaking readers who want a complete progression through cryptography, from mathematical foundations to recent post-quantum standards, written by someone who teaches the subject.

Skip this if

Readers wanting applied, deploy-this guidance or a narrative introduction; this is a university exercise book and assumes real mathematical maturity.

Readers who want only developer-facing applied cryptography (library choice, implementation) without the mathematical grounding; this book builds understanding from the foundations rather than skipping past them.

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.

One of the few French-language books to explicitly cover post-quantum standards, still a thin spot in the existing catalog.
Structured as a pedagogical progression, from mathematical foundations to current standards, by an author who teaches cryptography.
Fills a real gap: the catalog's existing French-language cryptography titles (La science du secret, Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie) are older or narrower in scope.

How they compare

We rate Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain higher (4/5 against 3/5 for Exercices et problèmes de cryptographie). For most readers, that means Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain 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. Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain 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 Maîtriser la cryptographie d'aujourd'hui et de demain both cover Cryptography, Foundations, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.

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