Books for software engineers and managers

The Best Books for Software  Engineers



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The DevOps Handbook
The DevOps Handbook

A pragmatic devops guide for SREs and developers

Accelerate
Accelerate

Metrics on software delivery performance

Peopleware
Peopleware

A holistic and people-first view of software engineering management

The Phoenix Project
The Phoenix Project

A novel about transformational leadership in technology

Making Work Visible
Making Work Visible

Fantastic description of using kanban boards to improve software delivery

Never Split the Difference
Never Split the Difference

Practical guide to everyday negotiations

The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup

Exploring and implementing the Build-Measure-Learn model

Monolith to Microservices
Monolith to Microservices

The tradeoffs and implementation patterns of microservices

On Writing Well
On Writing Well

The practical guide to non-fiction writing

Code Complete
Code Complete

The book every junior to mid-level engineer should read to improve their code

Clean Code
Clean Code

The book on code quality I wish every engineering job applicant would read

Clean Architecture
Clean Architecture

Pragmatic advice for transforming readable code into a solid architecture

Ask Your Developer
Ask Your Developer

How one world class software company leverages developers to drive business success

The Cold Start Problem
The Cold Start Problem

Driving growth with network effects

How Google Works
How Google Works

Practical advice on product strategy and people management

The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The no-nonsense book about engineering and startup leadership

The Manager's Path
The Manager's Path

The definitive guide to understanding expectations at each level of engineering management

No Rules Rules
No Rules Rules

How Netflix culture and operations support innovation

Masters of Doom
Masters of Doom

The story behind Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, and Doom

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Rebirth of a struggling leadership team

Range
Range

Developing expertise through sampling periods, slow learning, and breadth

The Mythical Man Month
The Mythical Man Month

The origin of Brooks’s Law and look into the counterintuitive world of software engineering management

The Staff Engineer’s Path
The Staff Engineer’s Path

What it takes to succeed as a Staff Engineer

Unlocking the Clubhouse
Unlocking the Clubhouse

Research on the gender gap in computer science

Difficult Conversations
Difficult Conversations

Pragmatic advice with examples for initiating and executing difficult conversations

High Output Management
High Output Management

The engineering management book everyone references

Founders at Work
Founders at Work

Startup stories and tech history

Extreme Programming Explained
Extreme Programming Explained

Principles and practices of agile development

The Unicorn Project
The Unicorn Project

A story about rebellion against bureaucracy and corporate politics to delivery customer results

The Effective Executive
The Effective Executive

Improve organizational performance through leadership

Hackers & Painters
Hackers & Painters

The culture and languages of makers

Staff Engineer
Staff Engineer

Beyond senior engineer on the technical leadership track

First, Break All the Rules
First, Break All the Rules

Leveraging talent to drive individual and team performance

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Quality is hard to define but we know it exists somewhere

Brotopia
Brotopia

The book I wish everyone would read before pontificating about how to get more women into tech

Doing Agile Right
Doing Agile Right

Developing agile enterprises by extending agile principles to business support functions

Prepared
8
Prepared

How students learn and prepare for life

Managing Humans
8
Managing Humans

Cynical but revealing guide to engineering management

The Launch Pad
8
The Launch Pad

From application to Demo Day, a look into Y Combinator

Pragmatic Thinking & Learning
8
Pragmatic Thinking & Learning

An introduction to the Dreyfus Model of skill acquisition

The Making of a Manager
8
The Making of a Manager

A pragmatic and human centered introduction for new managers

The Talent Fix
8
The Talent Fix

Pragmatic thinking for talent acquisition leaders and hiring managers

An Elegant Puzzle
8
An Elegant Puzzle

Practical advice on managing software engineering teams

SQL Antipatterns
8
SQL Antipatterns

Database design pitfalls that you will make if you haven’t already

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
8
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

The guide to beautiful and useful graphics

20 YC Lessons
8
20 YC Lessons

Presentation Notes from YCombinator’s Startup School

Wooden on Leadership
8
Wooden on Leadership

Lessons on coaching and leadership that easily translate to managing software engineering

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
8
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

Conceptual and tactical advice for developing strategies that work

Team Topologies
8
Team Topologies

Structuring software teams and relationships for high effectiveness

Working in Public
8
Working in Public

Why developers create open source projects and how they are maintained at scaled

The E-Myth Revisited
8
The E-Myth Revisited

The case for systematization and working on the business, not just in the business

Slack
8
Slack

The counterpoint to efficiency in software engineering teams

Persuasive Copywriting
8
Persuasive Copywriting

Practical copywriting tips highly applicable to recruiting and product development

Drift into Failure
8
Drift into Failure

How systems fail and our broken mental model for understanding complexity

Working Backwards
8
Working Backwards

How Amazon works from the inside

The Score Takes Care of Itself
8
The Score Takes Care of Itself

Leadership lessons told through football stories

Strategy Rules
8
Strategy Rules

An insightful read that’s part history, part business, part technology

Ask Me This Instead
8
Ask Me This Instead

How to interview the company, not just having them interview you

Outcomes Over Output
8
Outcomes Over Output

An introduction to outcomes-based thinking and planning

Refactoring
7
Refactoring

Catalog of code readability and structure improvements

System Design Interview
7
System Design Interview

Real-world system design interview questions that also help you excel in your current role

Coders at Work
7
Coders at Work

Interviews with software development legends

Matchmakers
7
Matchmakers

A good introduction to multisided platform thinking

Beyond Basketball
7
Beyond Basketball

Leadership stories and lessons from Coach K

Thinking in Systems
7
Thinking in Systems

A primer on system thinking through stocks and flows

The Master Algorithm
7
The Master Algorithm

Machine learning primer for technically-minded people

Practical Monitoring
7
Practical Monitoring

A quick read covering the basics of monitoring

Designing Data-Intensive Applications
7
Designing Data-Intensive Applications

Highly technical guide to modern data storage systems

Technical Recruiting & Hiring
7
Technical Recruiting & Hiring

Tactical guide to candidate evaluation and processing

Flow
7
Flow

The science of being in the zone

Only the Paranoid Survive
7
Only the Paranoid Survive

Recognizing and leading companies through strategic inflection points

When Coffee & Kale Compete
7
When Coffee & Kale Compete

Solving customer problems not building features

Working Effectively With Legacy Code
7
Working Effectively With Legacy Code

Refactorings to increase the testability of legacy code

Show Your Work
7
Show Your Work

The quick and inspirational guide to self promotion through content

The Problem with Software
7
The Problem with Software

A brief history of computer programming, plus analysis of the gap between academia and industry

Release It!
7
Release It!

Technical primer on resilience engineering

High Growth Handbook
7
High Growth Handbook

Interviews with startup founders, CEOs, and other executives discussing high growth

Designing for Behavior Change
7
Designing for Behavior Change

Applying behavior change science to software design and development

Lifting the Barriers
6
Lifting the Barriers

Collection of ideas to increase girls’ interest in tech

Engineering Management for the Rest of Us
6
Engineering Management for the Rest of Us

Introduction to Engineering Management

It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy At Work
6
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy At Work

Calling BS on workplace heroics that have become standard

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
6
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

A quick read self-help guide to focusing on what you care about and ignoring the rest

Remote
6
Remote

The case for working remotely even after COVID

Data Science on AWS
6
Data Science on AWS

Using AWS built-in data science tools to improve your application

On Change Management
6
On Change Management

Identifying inhibitors and resistors to organizational change

Get Together
6
Get Together

Growing offline and online communities

Foundations of Security
6
Foundations of Security

Security threats programmers need to defend against

The Long Tail
6
The Long Tail

The end of monopoly hits and rise of niches

The Design of Everyday Things
6
The Design of Everyday Things

Why products look the way they do, for better and worse

The Pragmatic Programmer
6
The Pragmatic Programmer

Look into the world of professional software development

On Strategy
6
On Strategy

The key components of strategy and how to differentiate a management technique from strategy

The Elements of Scrum
6
The Elements of Scrum

Introduction to the mechanics of agile development

Traction
6
Traction

Broad introduction to 19 channels for gaining traction

Make Your Bed
5
Make Your Bed

Life lessons on doing the little things right

The $100 Startup
5
The $100 Startup

Inspirational stories about small businesses started as side hustles

A Philosophy of Software Design
5
A Philosophy of Software Design

An introduction to useful coding practices

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
5
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

Collection of insights from human research

Data Pipelines Pocket Reference
5
Data Pipelines Pocket Reference

Using SQL and Python to create data pipelines

Women in Tech
5
Women in Tech

Advice for women joining the tech industry

Discipline Equals Freedom
4
Discipline Equals Freedom

Quick motivational speeches from a Navy SEAL

Business @ the Speed of Thought
4
Business @ the Speed of Thought

The one from 1999 where Bill Gates predicts the future

SEO 2021
3
SEO 2021

A very shallow look into SEO and SEM

Lovability
3
Lovability

Introduction to a complete product experience mindset

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