3 books every developer should read
Every one knows that software engineering is a craft where one needs to be constantly updated. New technologies and new frameworks keep coming to light, so being able to read and digest all that new information is an essential skill to every developer.
Besides websites and documentation pages, there is a lot of useful information in books. There are some well written books that really help developers perfect their craft and provide a new point of view when it comes to software engineering.
Below follows a list of the books that have influenced and helped me the most during my career:
Clean Code
Personally, this is the holy grail of books in software development. Robert C. Martin has gather all the practices for not only writing code that runs but for code that is well designed. By well designed, we mean that it is easy to read, easy to comprehend and extended by any new developer that has to put his hands in your code. The advice consists of naming conventions, correct usage of comments, separation of classes and many more. Also, lot of examples complement the theory in this book which makes is easier to grasp.
The only downside to this book is that is Java oriented, but still, a must read for developers.
The Phoenix Project
Have you seen a book about IT and business disguised as a novel?
If not, “The Phoenix Project” will surprise you. It is a novel that narrates the story of Bill, who gets promoted as an IT manager in the company Parts Unlimited. He gets in charge of an IT department which will be outsourced in 90 days, unless the mission critical project called “Phoenix Project” gets delivered.
This book illustrates nicely how important the IT department is for any company. It gives you a greater overview of how business works and how Agile Methodologies help IT professionals deliver maximum value.
The Mythical Man-Month
This book is not exactly for software developers, instead it is refers to project managers. Even if this book is kind of old and at same places it is outdated (i.e. we keep our documentation online and we do not print them anymore), it still has valuable information about software development process.
My favorite quote from this book is the following:
The bearing of a child takes 9 months, no matter how many women are assigned
If you agree to this, then you should really have a go at this book.
These are only a few of my personal choices, when it comes to software development books. Of course, there are many more good options (i.e. The Pragmatic Programmer is a notable mention), but these give you a complete overview about how the IT world works in general.
