Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#1

Post by ahalbert » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 1:17 PM UTC

I recently read the pragmatic programmer, and want to read more books with a theme of developing my career as a software engineer.

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#2

Post by breckenedge » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 1:39 PM UTC

Honestly, PragProg gets you pretty far from a mentality perspective. Practical Object Oriented Design is a nice skills book. You might also try The Mythical Man Month.

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#3

Post by cpach » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 3:03 PM UTC

What particular area of your competence do you wish to improve? For inspiration I can warmly recommend this article by Julia Evans: https://jvns.ca/blog/2018/09/30/some-possible-career-goals/

Reading that might be useful in order to narrow your search.

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#4

Post by b20000 » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

read books on marketing, sales and negotiation

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#5

Post by surprisetalk » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 9:45 PM UTC

How to Win Friends and Influence People and The Design of Everyday Things

Code architecture and design and management are generally people problems. Sure, memory management and algorithms are important, but I’ve found that 80% of my problems have historically been caused by my poor listening skills. Learn to listen to what your customers and coworkers are really saying so that you don’t build the wrong thing to begin with.

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#6

Post by Blackstrat » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 10:34 PM UTC

If you want to advance your career, learn the business first. Read books related to the business domain in which you work. That’s far more important than another book on programming. Join toastmasters and refine your public speaking. And if you don’t write well, learn. Then worry about the next technical book.

Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#7

Post by dev_0 » Sun, Sep 17, 2023, 2:18 AM UTC

Blackstrat wrote: post #6

If you want to advance your career, learn the business first. Read books related to the business domain in which you work. That’s far more important than another book on programming. Join toastmasters and refine your public speaking. And if you don’t write well, learn. Then worry about the next technical book.

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Re: Ask HN: Best Books to Read Develop Your Career?

#8

Post by vintageclothldn » Sun, Sep 17, 2023, 5:04 AM UTC

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