You looking for a primer or textbooks? It'd be helpful to know what kind of knowledge you're already bringing to the table

Primecoin is profitable for me at the moment, its CPU only (and will stay that way in all likelihood) and contributes to cool math stuff. I believe Protoshares and other Invictus coins are CPU only as well.

Wow, quick and comprehensive reply. I'm no professional but there is an awful lot of bad coding in many BTC related projects, especially trade bots, seems like a lot of people are learning as they go along, or it's just that if you have something well put together that works and makes you money why would you give away the source?

Freebitco.in is the only free source worth using, I don't hit it up with any regularity but I've managed to get above the lowest payout a couple times. The key is to not gamble it all away before Monday rolls around and they payout to your wallet