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7 Books Every Software Developer Must Read Right Now
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” - Socrates.
In an era where information is available at the click of a button, reading books might feel like a thing of the past. Looking for information and solutions online may appear to be a more practical and straightforward approach than looking for solutions in a book. But whether you have just graduated or you’ve been a software developer for years, reading books gives you an in-depth perspective on subjects in a structured way.
Books generally have a holistic approach to a subject and have different real-life examples that help the reader grasp things better. They help software developers hone their skills and stay updated with the most recent changes in the field of technology. Additionally, books also help developers improve their teamwork and communication skills and gain a better understanding of how business works.
Now you might be wondering which books you should start with. Don’t worry, we have curated a list of books that every software developer must read.
7 Must Read Books For Software Developers
- Clean Code – A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin
- The Mythical Man–Month – Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr
- The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
- Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
- Refactoring – Improving the design of existing code
- Introduction To Algorithms by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leirson, Ronal L. Rivest, Clifford Stein
- Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister
Also read: 15 Best Communities That Every Developer Should Join
Clean Code - A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
By Robert C. Martin
Clean Code, by Martin, is one of the most popular books among software developers. Although the book was written in 2008 and based on Java, it is helpful when working with other object-oriented programming languages. His book is filled with examples and case studies on how to write readable, maintainable, and clean code.
The book highlights principles and patterns and includes detailed case studies that help developers improve code quality. Also, it has a detailed chapter on common mistakes that programmers make.
P.S. He is one of the founders of Agile Methodology and is the co-author of the book Manifesto for Agile Software Development.
The Mythical Man-Month - Essays on Software Engineering
by Frederick P. Brooks Jr
Often referred to as the “bible” by many software developers, this book was written way back in 1975. This is considered a classic and is still referred to by all engineers, even today. It acts as a project management guide for large-scale software development projects. More or less, the theme of the book revolves around “Brook’s Law,” which says that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.”
The Pragmatic Programmer
By Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas was originally published in 1999, and the 2nd edition was published in 2019. This book has been a regular part of the curriculum for many university courses. It focuses on pragmatic ways and practical tips for software developers that are useful in any software development project.
The authors use a combination of stories and analogies, such as broken windows theory, the story of the stone soup, and the boiling frog, to present development methodologies and processes.
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
By Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
If you are a software developer looking to take a deep dive into design patterns and object-oriented design theory for your projects, then this is the perfect book for you. Learn about behavioral, creational, and structural design patterns and how to put them best into practice.
The book has multiple examples to help developers understand the differences between all the patterns and write reusable, flexible code. This book is one of the must-have books for all software developers.
Also read: 10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring A Freelance Developer
Refactoring - Improving the design of existing code
By Martin Fowler
What is code refactoring? The overall process of restructuring the computer code without any change in the objective or functionality is known as “code refactoring.” It is done to standardise the code to improve readability, testability, and maintainability.
This book explains step-by-step refactoring in detail with more than 40 proven examples, samples, diagrams, steps to follow, etc. The refactoring ideas can be applied to any object-oriented programming language and can be implemented in projects from start to finish.
Introduction To Algorithms
By Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leirson, Ronal L. Rivest, Clifford Stein
This is another book on our list that is used as a textbook by many universities around the world. Also called the CRLS, this book acts as a reference guide for different algorithms for software developers. Each chapter is a single entity and written in pseudocode so that it can be applied to any programming language easily.
Not only this, the book also highlights where the algorithms can be applied and their design techniques.Globally, researchers commonly cite this book as a reference in published papers.
Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams
By Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister
Understanding the people’s side of software development is imperative to growing as a software developer and handling large teams. Despite its importance, there are only a few books that focus on it, especially for developers.
The book by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister focuses on the leadership and communication aspects of software development and how they lead to building effective teams, improving productivity, and delivering successful projects.
Also read: Top 5 Project Management Tools To Supercharge Your Product Journey
Bonus: The Lean Startup
by Eric Ries
Eric Ries’ book The Lean Startup outlines how to build and grow successful startups in this era of startup boom. Although this book is not about software development, it speaks about how to build successful product-based startups.
Rises’ book argues in lieu of creating a minimum viable product, rapid experimentation, and continuous innovation. In practice, it gives startups the opportunity to shorten their product lifecycle and gain valuable customer feedback, thereby giving them a learning opportunity. This book acts as a practical guide to running successful startups.
The list doesn’t end here. These are just a few examples of great books that software developers must read for a solid foundation in their careers. By saying this, we are not undervaluing the importance of technical blogs or videos, but the in-depth knowledge you get from books is far more valuable than other mediums.
Abhishek Ghosh
