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Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

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Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#1

Post by dondraper36 »

Even though there are literally thousands of books on software engineering, not many are really useful or career changing. That said, let's try and name the books that you consider to be important in your career, how you understand the field, your current skills and depth of knowledge.

Let me start:

1. Designing Data Intensive Applications

This book doesn't need any additional praise, but it's just brilliant how it manages to be both highly technical and very readable (and even capturing).

2. The Pragmatic Programmer

I wish I had read it years ago. It reads like a great conversation with an incredibly experienced friend of yours

3. Philosophy of Software Design

It's debatable whether this book is the better replacement for Clean Code, but I really like how nuanced and undogmatic it is.

It goes without saying that with such books it's often the case that you revisit some parts or delay until you have a usecase that includes the topic discussed in the book. This is especially true for DDIA.

What are your top 3-5? Please, also add your brief comments on how exactly this book changed you :)

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#2

Post by throwaway0asd »

As a self taught developer there are only a few books I read early in my career that seriously impacted how I write code.

1. XML Schema by Priscilla Walmsley - https://www.amazon.com/Definitive-XML-Schema-Priscilla-Walms...

2. DOM Scripting by Jeremy Keith - https://www.amazon.com/DOM-Scripting-Design-JavaScript-Docum...

3. CSS Pocket Reference - Eric Meyer - https://www.amazon.com/CSS-Pocket-Reference-Visual-Presentat...

Most of the developers I have worked with in my career are absolutely terrified by tree structures. They will admit otherwise like some kind of pathological liar, but this is easily exposed and that's so unfortunate. A tree structure is just a data structure like any other and embracing that liberates you from a kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#5

Post by nickspain »

1. Release it

Got me to start thinking about reliability and able to express my thoughts on it.

2. Design of Everyday things

Read it as a junior and it got me thinking about UX and putting the user first.

3. The Pragmatic Programmer

Another one I read as a junior that had some really interesting ideas in it. Along with Release it! it gave me the language to talk about the ideas as well.

Thinking about this now, I’m keen to give the Design of Everyday Things a read. I now work in a different area and it’d be interesting putting it in that light.

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#6

Post by willsmith72 »

I would say the technical books can be important (esp. higher level ones, like DDIA), but the bigger impact can be getting more perspective on the business or product side.

1. Lean startup - Eric Ries

2. Inspired - Marty Cagan

3. Sprint - Jake Knapp

4. Creativity inc. - Ed Catmull

5. Range - David Epstein

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#7

Post by rg111 »

1. Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, Walker

2. Quantum Mechanics by Eisberg, Resnick

3. Mathematical Physics by Arfken, Weber, Harris

4. Introduction to Statistical Learning with R by Hastie et al.

5. Deep Learning for Coders by Jeremy Howard

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#8

Post by samuel »

1. Data Analysis with Open Source Tools

This learnt me how to analyze "small" datasets which have helped me incredibly in my career. Technology wise is very out of date, but the concepts are still valid.

I think it's hard to get more with less investmtent. Really underrated book.

2. Expert Oracle Database Architecture

If you have to develop on Oracle (something I undestand it's not very popular in HN), you have to read it. It's a great book that delves into the why's and not only into the how's.

3. Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art.

Only the "cone of uncertainty" concept would make it a must-read. It provided me a framework for doing estimations and at same time, to worry less about them. It has helped me to divert lots of uncomfortable conversations about "when" towards a much more productive "what-and-why-is-needed".

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#9

Post by billziss »

The single most important programmer's book that I have ever read is the UNIX Programming Environment by Kernighan and Pike.

I read this as a teenager in the late 80's and it was an epiphany for me to discover what was possible to do with rather simple tools.

Re: Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?

#10

Post by DoingIsLearning »

Probably not the answer you are looking for but Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'.

So much of our career path is decided on relations more so than deliverables, also self-promotion is key but it doesn't come naturally for everybody.

The idea that I shouldn't self-promote (because somehow it felt like bragging) and that people will notice if I do amazing work but stay silent was probably one of the most negatively impacting inhibitions I had at the beggining of my career. Also the book made me realize how 'utilitarian' and sometimes selfish I was in communication with others.

I had an amazing manager as a Junior who gifted me that book, it really gives you some perspective. We are often selfish listeners and are not committed to acknowledging the other in a 2 way relation. Once you condition yourself not to do that then building relations is way easier, and the space for self-promotion occurs naturally without a feeling of humblebrag.

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