DEV Community

Cover image for 10 Must-Read Books for Software Engineers

10 Must-Read Books for Software Engineers

Simon Holdorf on November 29, 2020

Besides all the great offerings of the modern world — podcasts, videos, blogs, etc. — reading a good book is still something many people don’t want...
Collapse
 
ravenblood7 profile image
Juan Jaques du Preez

Some more books I found to be fun reading:

The Pheonix Project
The Unicorn Project

by Gene Kim

It's lovely narratives of the real life IT world. Would definitely recommend.

Collapse
 
thekooldev1232 profile image
thedev1232

is there any ebook to it?

Collapse
 
nelsonfrank profile image
Nelson Frank

you can download from this site
b-ok.africa/?regionChanged=&redire...

Collapse
 
vekzdran profile image
Vedran Mandić • Edited

Exactly what I would add to. But, nevertheless, this list is excellent @simonholdorf .

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thank you, my friend!

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thanks for the suggestions, Juan :)

Collapse
 
mooreds profile image
Dan Moore

Great list!

Some of my additions: I liked the Gang of Four book for design pattern, though it has been years since I cracked it. It really did a good job of breaking down the reasons for the patters. The Mythical Man Month reinforces the fact that software development hasn't changed, really, in 60 years.

I love Gerald Weinberg's "Secrets of Consulting". Again, not a really a tech book, but a book about how to get problems solved in organizations. Finally, my recently published book, Letters To a New Developer, is a favorite of mine, but I might be a bit biased.

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Hey Dan, thank you for the detailed comment, great additions!

Collapse
 
vishnuharidas profile image
Vishnu Haridas • Edited

"Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" by the gang of four is a very popular book in object-oriented programming. They speak about solutions for some common problems, and how to write reusable components when building software.

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thanks for your contribution, my friend!

Collapse
 
zeedu_dev profile image
Eduardo Zepeda

Clean code was good I bought Refactor last week, and I'm planning to buy Cracking the code interview when I finish it. Thank you so much for sharing your recommendation with us. You got a new Twitter follower

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thanks, Eduardo, glad it helps you :)

Collapse
 
brombaut profile image
Ben Rombaut

I'm curious if you have any other book suggestions for algorithms? I've considered getting Intro to Algorithms, but I'm worried it might be a little dense or heavy on the theory, like you said. I've read Grokking Algorithms, which I thought was pretty good.

Collapse
 
p1xt profile image
P1xt

To be fair, algorithms are, by their very nature, all about the theory.

Grokking Algorithms was a super light intro, so light that it almost hinted at maybe touching the surface. I understand wanting to ease into algorithms. However, when it comes down to it, to really leverage knowledge about data structures and algorithms day to day, in code you actually write, you'll need to embrace the heavy theory.

That said, A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms by Jay Wengrow and Algorithms Illuminated by Tim Roughgarden are both very approachable. And The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven Skiena covers much of Cormen in a fraction of the pages (but is even denser as a result.)

Collapse
 
robole profile image
Rob OLeary • Edited

I'd recommend Andrew's post. He did data analysis of various recommended reading lists to find the 20 most recommended tech books:

Collapse
 
amerigom profile image
Amerigo Mancino

If I may add an entry to your list, I strongly recommend "The Design of Everyday Things" from D. Norman.

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Of course, thank you very much!

Collapse
 
hb profile image
Henry Boisdequin

Great list!

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thank you, Henry!

Collapse
 
yohanchoidev profile image
YC John

Wow all books you mentioned are what I read. I'm glad to meet someone who read the same books.

Collapse
 
berkangayterminal profile image
CodeNinja

👍

Collapse
 
jennrmillerdev profile image
Jen Miller

"Introduction to Algorithms" I used that book in university! The memories

I'm going to look for it now, just for kicks.

Collapse
 
barbgegrasse profile image
barbgegrasse

Love it thank you

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thank you!

Collapse
 
mcsee profile image
Maxi Contieri

very accurate list !!

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Thanks, Maxi!

Collapse
 
amuuu profile image
amu

I wish someday they update the Head First book series' photos haha!

Collapse
 
simonholdorf profile image
Simon Holdorf

Yeah, me too :D

Collapse
 
stereobooster profile image
stereobooster

Yet to see at least one list of books programmers "must" read without mentioning clean code

Collapse
 
ppicom profile image
Pere Picó • Edited

Lovely list! Thanks Simon! These two are also very good:

  • The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, by Hal Abelson.
  • Object Oriented Software Engineering, by Ivar Jakobson