None of these books are any good. I've been in software development for over 20 years and I would recommend a completely different list of books, that are not as trendy as yours, but probably more important.
Books every developer should read
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Re: Books every developer should read
#12Re: Books every developer should read
#13These are a bit specific. I feel as though they might, in fact, have been the last 4 books the author has happened to read. Anyhow, I expect we'll get the usual round up here. Code Complete , of course; plus a smattering of rebels who think it was boring or irrelevant. The Pragmatic Programmer will receive universal praise, especially from those who didn't take the time to read Code Complete from cover to cover. Some…
Re: Books every developer should read
#14" The books chosen are generally and broadly useful and not tied to some too limited domain " Yet 3 of 4 have "lean" or "agile" in the tile ..
Re: Books every developer should read
#15I'll be honest, I've read a very small number of books on software development throughout the years. I've learned all my stuff on the way, from mistakes I've made, associated documentation, and from reading the code that's powering production systems from the engineers before me. In the end? I'm doing pretty well. I'm sure that anyone else in a similar situation would agree. Reading these books isn't going to make yo…
Books may also open your mind to new ways of doing things, or a deeper understanding of how / why some things work the way they do. Yes it requires dedication, learning (durably) is hard, it should not be a passive read. For example, I've always been curious about how compilers work, and I'm currently reading the Dragon Book. It is hard, but extremely interesting and fulfilling (if that's the right word, english is not my native language).
So my advice, yes keep writing and reading code (especially from a well-known open-source project), but DO read books. Combined with hands-on experience and serious dedication, the lessons learned will become part of your instincts.
Re: Books every developer should read
#16I'll be honest, I've read a very small number of books on software development throughout the years. I've learned all my stuff on the way, from mistakes I've made, associated documentation, and from reading the code that's powering production systems from the engineers before me. In the end? I'm doing pretty well. I'm sure that anyone else in a similar situation would agree. Reading these books isn't going to make yo…
Re: Books every developer should read
#17These are a bit specific. I feel as though they might, in fact, have been the last 4 books the author has happened to read. Anyhow, I expect we'll get the usual round up here. Code Complete , of course; plus a smattering of rebels who think it was boring or irrelevant. The Pragmatic Programmer will receive universal praise, especially from those who didn't take the time to read Code Complete from cover to cover. Some…
Reading less-read things will give you an orthogonal base of knowledge from your peers. This will make you more valuable as an individual. (Though if you're ignorant of the cogwork everyone must know as general knowledge you might face job dangers.) By definition adding another dimension to what you know gives you a whole new place to explore that you never could have gone to beforehand. There is a lot more potential to be found by reading the more uncommon things.
Since we're all leaving book recommendations, the last book I read was The Information, http://www.amazon.com/The-Information-History-Theory-Flood/d.... Not incredibly rare but not incredibly common--hardly any of its elaborated history was ever mentioned in my K-12 education. I wouldn't say everyone should read it, though I thoroughly enjoyed it, and you can read the reviews on Amazon if you want a sample of opinions.
Re: Books every developer should read
#18you have to agree on an offer/contract, which include scope + price/cost
how can i be lean or agile or whatever, if i am bound by a contract from the start ... making change requests mean that me the IT department failed to deliver on time and on budget, which eventually leads to bad annual reviews ...
having the have a contract or a signed offer approved by business, enforces the water fall model, an internal IT department have to do this to protect itself from the client when a change request is made later on ...
of course i am only speaking on the situation where you work in an IT department and getting your software developed by external vendors
Re: Books every developer should read
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. Reading lightly in human factors and systems has been a real eye-opener. Reading deeply on Olympic weightlifting, strength training and so forth has also given what are to me deep analogies back into software development. Similarly, some bits of the bible really speak to me, even though I'm an atheist and I think most of it is hilaribad. There is nothing new under the sun ...
Strength training as in the famous Starting Strength book?