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I'm not sure that all those people on Stackexchange have read the question properly. The question is "What is the single most influential book every programmer

by feral 15y ago

I'm not sure that all those people on Stackexchange have read the question properly. The question is "What is the single most influential book every programmer should read?" I.e. given the set of books that every programmer should read, which one is the single most influential? As a programmer, lets consider the answer to the question, as parsed logically (regardless of intent). Typing 'most influential books' into Google brings me to this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Most_Influential_Books_Ever_Written_(book) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Most_Influential_Books_... It turns out its just one persons opinion - but pageranked to the top for 'most influential books'; and notable enough for wikipedia - thats good enough crowd-vetting for my purposes. If I knew which books all programmers should read, it'd now be a simple matter of finding the highest ranked; but here, I have to use my judgement. So I suggest: Number 13, Euclid's Elements Number 32, Machiavelli's The Prince Number 93, Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four I'm not sure every programmer should read Elements - maybe, but its a little abstract these days. I think The Prince would be good reading for the softer skills of the programming profession - and genuinely has really influenced management thinking; its short, so probably worth everyone's time. Finally, I believe without a doubt, 1984 should certainly be required reading for all programmers - a single read is worth a great many 'ethics for technologists' courses. There are other candidates on that list too, but I don't think there's anything that I'm as certain all programmers should read as 1984. Any differing opinions?

brc 15y ago
Not sure of the reason for you downvotes (perhaps it's because you're talking non-technical books), but I think everyone should read 1984 regardless of their profession. The problem being, of course, is that people take it too literally as a story and not enough as a social commentary designed to make people think twice about turning themselves over to micro-regulation.
radicalbyte 15y ago
If we're assuming an America-centric question and your abstract definition then you can summarize it with just one book: 1. The Bible. Closely followed by whatever the first book that people in stackoverflow's demographic read whilst learning to read.
- jacques_chester 15y ago
  Why is this being downvoted? I'm an atheist, but even I can see the bible's profound impact on the course of western and near-eastern civilisation.
- feral 15y ago
  Certainly, it is very influential - but is it a book that all programmers (even western ones) should read? I'm not sure - it is very long. Its probably worth reading some subset of, but I'd be more certain about 1984 and even The Prince, depending on whether we mean 'read all the way through'.
lachenmayer 15y ago
As you have mentioned 1984, I have to add Brave New World to the list. It provides a view of the future which in many aspects is a lot closer to our current culture than 1984. In terms of "ethics for technologists", this should definitely be required reading.
tlear 15y ago
On War by von Clausewitz. Capitalism and Freedom by Friedman for me from my 3rd year in university it completely changed me as a person.
cdcarter 15y ago
Personally I'd vote for Montaigne's Essays.
numeromancer 15y ago
"I'm not sure every programmer should read Elements - maybe, but its a little abstract these days." I don't understand the "these days". Does Geometry decay? Or logic? What is the half-life of a Pythagoras' right-triangle theorem?
- feral 15y ago
  Fair comment: if the geometry is done right, the geometry should be timeless. But whether the particular presentation is worth reading, can change. 150 years ago, every person hoping to do anything vaguely mathematical should probably have read Elements. But now, there is so much other material to pick from, I'm not sure it'd be a good use of time - it might now be a little on the abstract side, to recommend it to all modern programmers. Thats what I was trying to get at; I should have phrased it better.

by feral 15y ago

brc 15y ago

Not sure of the reason for you downvotes (perhaps it's because you're talking non-technical books), but I think everyone should read 1984 regardless of their profession. The problem being, of course, is that people take it too literally as a story and not enough as a social commentary designed to make people think twice about turning themselves over to micro-regulation.

radicalbyte 15y ago

If we're assuming an America-centric question and your abstract definition then you can summarize it with just one book: 1. The Bible. Closely followed by whatever the first book that people in stackoverflow's demographic read whilst learning to read.

jacques_chester 15y ago
Why is this being downvoted? I'm an atheist, but even I can see the bible's profound impact on the course of western and near-eastern civilisation.
feral 15y ago
Certainly, it is very influential - but is it a book that all programmers (even western ones) should read? I'm not sure - it is very long. Its probably worth reading some subset of, but I'd be more certain about 1984 and even The Prince, depending on whether we mean 'read all the way through'.

lachenmayer 15y ago

As you have mentioned 1984, I have to add Brave New World to the list. It provides a view of the future which in many aspects is a lot closer to our current culture than 1984. In terms of "ethics for technologists", this should definitely be required reading.

tlear 15y ago

On War by von Clausewitz. Capitalism and Freedom by Friedman for me from my 3rd year in university it completely changed me as a person.

cdcarter 15y ago

Personally I'd vote for Montaigne's Essays.

numeromancer 15y ago

"I'm not sure every programmer should read Elements - maybe, but its a little abstract these days." I don't understand the "these days". Does Geometry decay? Or logic? What is the half-life of a Pythagoras' right-triangle theorem?

feral 15y ago
Fair comment: if the geometry is done right, the geometry should be timeless. But whether the particular presentation is worth reading, can change. 150 years ago, every person hoping to do anything vaguely mathematical should probably have read Elements. But now, there is so much other material to pick from, I'm not sure it'd be a good use of time - it might now be a little on the abstract side, to recommend it to all modern programmers. Thats what I was trying to get at; I should have phrased it better.