6 ms·

Most-recommended programming books

88 points by known 7y ago

bjornedstrom 7y ago
I think this is a good example of confusing "popular" with "best". Having read over half of those books, the only one I would ever come back to and read again and again with a smile on my face and a feeling of childlike wonder and intellectual curiosity is SICP (number 18).
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  Surely number 19 is among the best class, although the idea of reading it more than once may be limited by how long you have to live.
  - stevekemp 7y ago
    19 was "The Art of Computer Programming", by Knuth. I owned a copy of this, but I only used it as a reference once or twice. Sadly it didn't survive my emigration. I don't think I've ever met anybody who has read the whole thing, and if somebody told me they had I'd assume they were lying.
    - enitihas 7y ago
      TAOCP is a very good reference book, and I think very few people would have ever read it cover to cover, but it is good if you want to look up an algorithm. For example, I went through the hash table chapter while doing assignments for a course while trying to optimize my implementation.
    - ur-whale 7y ago
      I don't think Knuth put those together expecting people to read through them like a novel. They are, however, an excellent reference when you are faced with a practical algorithmic problem in a real world production situation in that they will often yield a direct solution to your headache on a platter and allow you to carry on with your day.
tenant 7y ago
Nisan and Schocken's "The elements of computing systems" should be on this list. I'd have it at number 1
Nicksil 7y ago
>Best programming books of all-time >Methodology: >I’ve simply asked Google for a few queries like “Best Programming Books” and its variations of. And then every one of those links is an Amazon referral URL. This seems at best a low effort attempt to turn over a couple dollars.
- wanttocommentt 7y ago
  I agree, this should be spam.
- bor100003 7y ago
  There's every month here and on reddit such lists with best programming books, I guess it's profitable to recommend them?
cosmiccatnap 7y ago
Most-recommended programming books is very misleading. This is a list of software development lifecycle management books.
xadoc 7y ago
Overtime I've built my own list of lists. Books lists for Hacker News: https://toptalkedbooks.com/hackernews https://toptalkedbooks.com/hackernews http://hackernewsbooks.com/top-books-on-hacker-news http://hackernewsbooks.com/top-books-on-hacker-news http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-most-linked-books/ http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-most-linked-books/ https://mapfilterfold.com/?genre=programming https://mapfilterfold.com/?genre=programming Most mentioned in Stackoverflow: https://toptalkedbooks.com/stackoverflow/all https://toptalkedbooks.com/stackoverflow/all Other aggregated lists: http://developeronfire.com/book-recommendations http://developeronfire.com/book-recommendations https://medium.com/@YogevSitton/the-ultimate-reading-list-for-developers-e96c832d9687 https://medium.com/@YogevSitton/the-ultimate-reading-list-fo... Curated lists: Jeff Atwood https://blog.codinghorror.com/programmers-dont-read-books-but-you-should/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/programmers-dont-read-books-bu... Joel Spolsky https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/11/22/reading-list-fog-creek-software-management-training-program/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/11/22/reading-list-fog-c... DHH David Heinemeier Hansson https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3375-the-five-programming-books-that-meant-most-to-me https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3375-the-five-programming-boo... Jason Roell https://jasonroell.com/2015/03/16/12-most-infuential-books-every-software-engineer-needs-to-read/ https://jasonroell.com/2015/03/16/12-most-infuential-books-e... John Sonmez https://simpleprogrammer.com/the-ultimate-list-of-programming-books/ https://simpleprogrammer.com/the-ultimate-list-of-programmin... Khalil Stemmler https://medium.freecodecamp.org/9-books-for-junior-developers-in-2019-e41fc7ecc586 https://medium.freecodecamp.org/9-books-for-junior-developer...
- brogrammer2018 7y ago
  Nice list, thanks for sharing + https://books.goalkicker.com https://books.goalkicker.com
  - jletts 7y ago
    That is an amazing resource!
- smckk 7y ago
  I'm putting together books on startups as well. You can check em out here https://www.startuplit.com https://www.startuplit.com
skocznymroczny 7y ago
I think Clean Code is a bit overrated. I got the book, and while some of the advice is sound, especially from OOP perspective design, a big part of the book is solving JavaEE specific issues, which don't translate well to other languages.
- jleach82 7y ago
  Uncle Bob is overrated. He's the personal embodiment of the "for dummies" series of the industry. Quick to say what everything should look like, he's given many people a false sense of direction by making no mention of all the reasons why something shouldn't look like that. If you're reading Uncle Bob material and not scratching your head a bit thinking "are you sure that's right?", do yourself a favor and go find some Fowler material instead.
ozychhi 7y ago
Mandatory comment: Omg no K&R?
danielovichdk 7y ago
Dreaming in Code is good too. Clean Code is overrated imo. I would never advice anyone to read about pattern and pratices before they can actually program in a fairly decent abstract domain.
Glavnokoman 7y ago
Those popular vote ratings are mostly useless. What I really would like to see for instance is the books most favored by those who enjoyed SICP and who thinks the `Uncle Bob` books are garbage.
- thequux 7y ago
  In this category, I strongly recommend Art of the Meta-Object Protocol. I've been through it 5 times now, and each time it bends my brain in a completely new way.
stevespang 7y ago
No doubt an affiliate marketing scheme for a laid off employee
haileris 7y ago
Should be titled; "Most recommended programming books for non-programmers"

88 points by known 7y ago

I think this is a good example of confusing "popular" with "best". Having read over half of those books, the only one I would ever come back to and read again and again with a smile on my face and a feeling of childlike wonder and intellectual curiosity is SICP (number 18).

bryanrasmussen 7y ago
Surely number 19 is among the best class, although the idea of reading it more than once may be limited by how long you have to live.
- stevekemp 7y ago
  19 was "The Art of Computer Programming", by Knuth. I owned a copy of this, but I only used it as a reference once or twice. Sadly it didn't survive my emigration. I don't think I've ever met anybody who has read the whole thing, and if somebody told me they had I'd assume they were lying.
  - enitihas 7y ago
    TAOCP is a very good reference book, and I think very few people would have ever read it cover to cover, but it is good if you want to look up an algorithm. For example, I went through the hash table chapter while doing assignments for a course while trying to optimize my implementation.
  - ur-whale 7y ago
    I don't think Knuth put those together expecting people to read through them like a novel. They are, however, an excellent reference when you are faced with a practical algorithmic problem in a real world production situation in that they will often yield a direct solution to your headache on a platter and allow you to carry on with your day.

tenant 7y ago

Nisan and Schocken's "The elements of computing systems" should be on this list. I'd have it at number 1

Nicksil 7y ago

>Best programming books of all-time >Methodology: >I’ve simply asked Google for a few queries like “Best Programming Books” and its variations of. And then every one of those links is an Amazon referral URL. This seems at best a low effort attempt to turn over a couple dollars.

wanttocommentt 7y ago
I agree, this should be spam.
bor100003 7y ago
There's every month here and on reddit such lists with best programming books, I guess it's profitable to recommend them?

cosmiccatnap 7y ago

Most-recommended programming books is very misleading. This is a list of software development lifecycle management books.

xadoc 7y ago

Overtime I've built my own list of lists. Books lists for Hacker News: https://toptalkedbooks.com/hackernews https://toptalkedbooks.com/hackernews http://hackernewsbooks.com/top-books-on-hacker-news http://hackernewsbooks.com/top-books-on-hacker-news http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-most-linked-books/ http://ramiro.org/vis/hn-most-linked-books/ https://mapfilterfold.com/?genre=programming https://mapfilterfold.com/?genre=programming Most mentioned in Stackoverflow: https://toptalkedbooks.com/stackoverflow/all https://toptalkedbooks.com/stackoverflow/all Other aggregated lists: http://developeronfire.com/book-recommendations http://developeronfire.com/book-recommendations https://medium.com/@YogevSitton/the-ultimate-reading-list-for-developers-e96c832d9687 https://medium.com/@YogevSitton/the-ultimate-reading-list-fo... Curated lists: Jeff Atwood https://blog.codinghorror.com/programmers-dont-read-books-but-you-should/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/programmers-dont-read-books-bu... Joel Spolsky https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/11/22/reading-list-fog-creek-software-management-training-program/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/11/22/reading-list-fog-c... DHH David Heinemeier Hansson https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3375-the-five-programming-books-that-meant-most-to-me https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3375-the-five-programming-boo... Jason Roell https://jasonroell.com/2015/03/16/12-most-infuential-books-every-software-engineer-needs-to-read/ https://jasonroell.com/2015/03/16/12-most-infuential-books-e... John Sonmez https://simpleprogrammer.com/the-ultimate-list-of-programming-books/ https://simpleprogrammer.com/the-ultimate-list-of-programmin... Khalil Stemmler https://medium.freecodecamp.org/9-books-for-junior-developers-in-2019-e41fc7ecc586 https://medium.freecodecamp.org/9-books-for-junior-developer...

brogrammer2018 7y ago
Nice list, thanks for sharing + https://books.goalkicker.com https://books.goalkicker.com
- jletts 7y ago
  That is an amazing resource!
smckk 7y ago
I'm putting together books on startups as well. You can check em out here https://www.startuplit.com https://www.startuplit.com

skocznymroczny 7y ago

I think Clean Code is a bit overrated. I got the book, and while some of the advice is sound, especially from OOP perspective design, a big part of the book is solving JavaEE specific issues, which don't translate well to other languages.

jleach82 7y ago
Uncle Bob is overrated. He's the personal embodiment of the "for dummies" series of the industry. Quick to say what everything should look like, he's given many people a false sense of direction by making no mention of all the reasons why something shouldn't look like that. If you're reading Uncle Bob material and not scratching your head a bit thinking "are you sure that's right?", do yourself a favor and go find some Fowler material instead.

ozychhi 7y ago

Mandatory comment: Omg no K&R?

danielovichdk 7y ago

Dreaming in Code is good too. Clean Code is overrated imo. I would never advice anyone to read about pattern and pratices before they can actually program in a fairly decent abstract domain.

Glavnokoman 7y ago

Those popular vote ratings are mostly useless. What I really would like to see for instance is the books most favored by those who enjoyed SICP and who thinks the `Uncle Bob` books are garbage.

thequux 7y ago
In this category, I strongly recommend Art of the Meta-Object Protocol. I've been through it 5 times now, and each time it bends my brain in a completely new way.

stevespang 7y ago

No doubt an affiliate marketing scheme for a laid off employee

haileris 7y ago

Should be titled; "Most recommended programming books for non-programmers"