I'm a recent grad looking to keep improving. I've read Clean Code, Game Programming Patterns, and Architecture Patterns with Python, and I feel I learned / improved a lot from each of them.
I was looking at Coding Horror's book recommendation list: https://blog.codinghorror.com/recommended-reading-for-developers/
but all those books seem very out of date.
Any suggestions for best books for software engineers in 2024?
Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
1–10 of 127 posts
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#22 books I consider excellent:
- A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout - Domain-driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software by Eric Evans
They both manage to explain some ideas that are really important, in a very simple way (which makes me feel like an idiot).
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#3The Mythical Man-Month and The Design of Everyday Things are not out of date, even if older texts. The Pragmatic Programmer is also still worth a read and received an update since that list was created.
EDIT: An old book (also received an update) I'd add is The Psychology of Computer Programming by Weinberg. More descriptive than prescriptive compared to many other books, written in and about the same period as The Mythical Man-Month.
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#4I would say it's still worth reading The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. I'm sure some of the examples are antiquated, but it's a really interesting book.
Programming Pearls too would still be worth reading
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#5This book surprised me by how good it is -- it distills a lot of tribal knowledge about how software engineering works at the mid-level to (early) senior engineering levels, based on the author's experience working at SV companies.
https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Engineer-Engineering-Dispro...
If you're experienced (senior or higher), it's still a good read, but fewer things will surprise you.
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#6If you're also interested in Software Architecture (at least the high-level), then I can also recommend https://architectelevator.com/book/ by Gregor Hohpe (who also wrote another long-time classic: Enterprise Integration Patterns).
Another one I found very helpful is Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann.
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#7Designing Data Intensive Applications
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#8Domain-Driven Design is fantastic.
Test-Driven Design by Example is a good (and fun) read.
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#9The top book imho is The Pragmatic Programer.
Here some other recomendations
- Designing Data-Intensive Applications - Tidy First?: A Personal Exercise in Empirical Software Design - A Philosophy of Software Design - Refactoring UI - The Software Engineer's Guidebook - https://blog.rstankov.com/programing-books/
Re: Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?
#10The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Surrounded by Idiots
Meditations