The Design of Design.
Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
31–40 of 134 posts
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#32OP, I've been thinking about starting a column on those kinds of lines - generalized engineering advice. I have 20+ years of experience in the industry and have held both principal engineer and engineering director positions at S&P 500s. Does that hold your interest?
For everyone else, I think I've created an interesting backlog of topics, but I'd love any advice about additional topics that would interest folks, how to kickstart an initial audience, what platform to use, how to moderate without losing my mind, and anything else that'd be useful to know doing this kind of thing.
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#33The two most useful books I have read: Code Complete by Steve McConnell - Really covers how to be good at the craft of writing programs and constructing software. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Microsoft-Programming-Steve-... The Effective Engineer by Edmond Lau - Covers how to focus on what you work on based on the leverage it provides you. http://www.effectiveengineer.com/
> Code Complete by Steve McConnell +1. Also, Rapid Development , by McConnell[0]. I would say that it's even better than Code Complete . It would be considered "quaint," these days, but Writing Solid Code [1], by Steve Maguire, was a seminal book in my education. I still use many of the techniques he mentioned. And I cannot say enough about The Design of Everyday Things , by Don Norman[2]. That book changed my life.…
+1 for the Norman book. A bit verbose, but in the end worth it.
Krug's "Don't Make Me Think", while more UI / UX is a solid compliment to "Everyday Things."
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#34My personal opinion is reading about coding does nothing. Its like reading about math without doing the exercises. You need to work on good codebases, and have your code reviewed by people who are good.
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#35A Philosophy of Software Design
https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/book.php
Righting Software
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#36I have all of these on my shelf. Fantastic reads.
* Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck
* Clean Code and The Clean Coder by Robert C. Martin
* Soft Skills by John Sonmez (1st edition)
* Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
* Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers
* The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick Brooks
(Selfish plug) Additionally, I wrote my own book concerning the entire industry, from just starting out to becoming a self employed consultant when you get sick of fulltime work - all soft skills from my decade or so of the industry, as well - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B43V1JJW
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#37"You're Not Listening" by Kate Murphy.
It's not at all software related but it will make you a better teammate, partner (i.e., client relationship), manager and/or leader.
Technology is the easy part. People, that's the difference between average and above.
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#38I loved 'Joel on Software' - I got a heap from it (I was a PO but attempted to be as technically aware as possible).
Taught me so much about all the things you mentioned
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#39No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
#40My personal opinion is reading about coding does nothing. Its like reading about math without doing the exercises. You need to work on good codebases, and have your code reviewed by people who are good.
My guess is it varies per person. Reading still helps spark some ideas for me, though without exercising what I've read it the learning doesn't stick.
Even better is learning from people better than me. Video tutorials can help too, especially where seeing output is important.