I'm thinking of blog posts and resources that are more than a few years old, but had a big impact and continue to be circulated as relevant and interesting reads.
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Top comments (76)
This one comes to mind for me:
"We can't send email more than 500 miles"
That's such a good read! It's like an 90s private eye drama!
hackernews? hahah xdd
I really enjoy this one:
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
I'm reading the 20th Anniversary Edition, from 2019. This book is a must for every developer.
Same here
I'm thinking to get the new version, do you recommend that?
Yes, I do. There are new chapters. Use cases and examples are upgraded, too. I recommend reading the introduction to the second edition and the free chapter to get an idea of what to expect. I'm reading the fourth chapter and it's living up to all my expectations.
Not a blog but hey. Also new book seams quite nice
That's what I've recommended.
CSS-Tricks' post on flexbox.
css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guid...
It's really a great resource. I just return to it time to time.
lol I used this last night for the 1000 time.
Shoot. We've been trying to put together a list!
But the problem with this stuff is - it always depends on where you are at.
A lot of people swear by "The Pragmatic Programmer" and "The Mythical Man-month" - and we think those are great. They're actually right here - within reach!
But those are NOT the right books to read for someone who is just starting out. Those are like - fun thought-provoking essays and stuff for career programmers who are already advanced and experienced. (please argue this point if you feel differently)
Those are definitely "classic" reads. But - we're curious about what could become a 'classic' foundation for more than code.
"Clean Code" and "Code Complete" are also classic reads - but could devastate the reader if picked up at the wrong time in their learning path.
We think that these should be mandatory reading:
"Design for the Real World", "Ruined by Design" (both for understanding your impact and responsibility as a creator) and "Exercises for Programmers" as a practical (language agnostic) guide to learning programming.
Also required: "The Elements of User Experience."
"The Design of Everyday Things" is another one. (make sure you get the latest edition)
UX: "Don't Make Me Think", "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum"
BLOGS: "Coding Horror" "Joel on Software"
ESSAYS: "I, Pencil"
We would probably choose "The Elements of User Experience" - have the student practice things for a while - and then introduce "Design for the Real World" - or maybe we'll need to write a little collection from all of those books as an entry point.
They are indeed not entry level books.
The Mythical Man-month is for when you get to a position where you get/share responsibility for a team. This book is a foundation of a lot of (attempted) changes in the way we organize to develop software. You must understand the past in order to improve the future.
However, The Pragmatic Programmer is something you should start to read after a year (or two) in software development. Same with Clean Code and Clean Coder. These books are not complex and do provide critical insights.
Code Complete I would hold of on for 5 years. Simply because that book is massive, in size and density.
We haven't read all of Clean Code yet: but they are sitting over there on the shelf... just staring at us. "Web Dev" and "Software Engineering" and all of the "names" of the "things" - are certainly connected - but also have different primary concerns. Small design shops, marketing agencies, and even complex web applications just don't seem that complex! OOP often plays no real role. Hook up a few APIs + write some markup + test with users + iterate. Are "Web documents" really "software?" In many cases - we'd rather hire a developer that can think through UX and has empathy for the user - over someone who has read those books. BUT we'll have to see what happens after we finish reading Clean Code - and Code Complete. ; ) If memory serves - there were a lot of C type language examples that didn't land with us at the time.
Books
Clean Code
Clean Architecture
Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code
The Mythical Man-Month. After 45 years it is still relevant. It's like the industry hasn't learned much.
Blogs
not really part of the original ask, but aren't books just long blogs?
Books
videos
Wow, you've got me in there with some pretty impressive company. If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be mentioned alongside Dave Thomas, Andy Hunt, and Joel Spolsky in a a round-up, I'd have spit out my coffee. Thanks for the mention of the Expert Beginner posts :D
Oh man, your blog post about expert beginner made such an impact on me and my career!
I hope you'll read this because I'm really grateful I got the chance to read it when I did. I was in a company for which what you describe in the article is the exact description. I am a junior dev, and I thought I was lame and that I would never be a good developper, and that my only way out was to get a project management job as soon as possible.
Since I read your post I quit from that company because I understood I would never learn anything good, I learned a lot from books, and even though I still have a lot to do to be good at what I do, your post was the tipping point where I decided to change my working environment. My clients have been happy about my job since that, and I learned to love coding again!
Thank you!
It's good :D. I remember reading it when it came out. Sent it to everyone I knew.
@ Erik Dietrich I've just completed reading your post, and I find it very interesting. Thanks @Benjamin for mentioning this.
For developers I would recommed reading The Unicorn Project. It is the "sequel" to The Phoenix Project. The same event but from a software developer's angle rather than ops. Obviously read them both.
SICP is an awesome book. It divides information technology in data and procedures that transforms that data. It simplifies everything when you're dealing with the most common problem we have today, which is managing state. If you keep those two separated, you can reason about your code without having to be a genius.
Excellent list!
A few that I immediately thought of:
(Edit: now that it's expanded to include other resources, I'm adding one more)
Effective Java (by Joshua Bloch). I've read it when I was a post grad student and deeply amazed by it.
I know it's not directly a software book, but I think every developer should read How to Win Friends and Influence People. If there's one weakness the typical developer type suffers from it's an inability to talk to people in a way that fosters positive relationships. If every developer read this book we'd all enjoy working with each other much more.
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