Best Books for Software Developers
This winter, SD Times editor Jennifer deJong Lent asked me to contribute an SD Times article on recommended books for developers. Jennifer and I agreed my list would exclude books about languages, databases or IDEs. I was pleased to contribute.
Jennifer begins her article with the following: “With the proliferation of online articles and ebooks, old-fashioned paper books seem not to have a place in today’s world. Many experts, however, still find useful things in paperbacks and hardcovers. From technology to people and team management, these books still help developers out today. Here are what the experts recommend.”
Following are my recommendations – along with a few that didn’t make the article.
Category: Management and Career Development Books
Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach
By Gerald M. Weinberg
This book was first published in 1986 and it’s still relevant today. Weinberg was the first person to write about the human side of software engineering, and I think of him as the Yoda of software development. His advice on leading software projects boils down to this: stay out of your own way, and know yourself.
— Ellen Gottesdiener, founder of agile consultancy EBG Consulting
Category: Software Methodology Books
Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are not the Point
By Mary Poppendieck and Tom Poppendieck
Leading Lean Software Development addresses one of the key issues that software development teams following the Scrum methodology tend to struggle with: how to focus on the larger organization, not just the team itself.
By James Shore and Shane Warden
This hands-on book deals with project management issues and offers a wealth of practical advice, particularly around test-driven development.
The ones that didn’t make the SD Times list
By Michael Pollan
Why? Because of its elegant simplicity. 64 Rules. One rule per page, with a simple image on the opposite page. Gorgeously concise. Like software should be.
By Alan Cooper
This seminal book by the father of personas reminds us to understand the product from the outside-in. Not that we should ignore the inside-out, but it starts with the customer.
References:
deJon Lent, Jennifer. “The Best Books for Software Developers”, SD Times, December 15, 2011.
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