by saasinator on 7/22/16, 8:22 AM with 83 comments
by combatentropy on 7/22/16, 3:11 PM
2. The Elements of Style. I always enjoyed writing, but at first school taught me to write in a flowery, longwinded way. This was the book that cracked the code for me to good writing. It dispelled a lot of self-serving and ultimately self-defeating habits and paved the way to clean, helpful English. When I finally got into programming in my late twenties, I found that many of the same principles make good code.
3. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. This is like the Elements of Style but for graphs. Again, it encouraged me to cut through the hype and deliver the content as clearly and succinctly as possible --- to serve the reader, not stroke my ego.
by EnderMB on 7/22/16, 2:43 PM
2) C# in Depth by Jon Skeet: Buying and reading this book is what led me to continue down the deep rabbit hole of .NET development, and following the C# language from version 1 onwards via the book is a great way to appreciate the language, as well as use it. As someone that writes C# daily this is the main book I recommend to existing devs.
3) Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS: This is a bit of a cheat, because I've only glanced at various pages of this book. I have a degree in Computer Science, but my maths knowledge is lacking (to put it kindly), so despite my degree I have only a practical understanding of a lot of the algorithms talked about in the book. It's been my goal for years to build up my knowledge of maths to the point where I can read this book cover-to-cover and actually understand what's going on. I'm still not there, but hopefully one day I'll make it.
by xiaoma on 7/22/16, 3:19 PM
2) Zero to One, by Peter Thiel—Zero to one opened my eyes to several angles of business that I hadn't been thinking about. It made me think much harder about making long-term plans towards a concrete goal, even if changes must be made along the way. It also clarified my thoughts about the nature of competition and non-conformity. Courage is in even shorter supply than genius.
3. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell—While it's not a business book, this book is a deep look at mythology and psychology. I find it helpful both for understanding people and for understanding myself.
by msluyter on 7/22/16, 2:46 PM
2. The Pragmatic Programmer -- a classic. Reminds me that I need to re-read it.
3. Effective Oracle by Design, by Tom Kyte -- Not that I use Oracle any more, thankfully, but really provided a lot of insight about how databases function and how it pays to deeply understand their internals when writing webapps.
by jjgreen on 7/22/16, 8:54 AM
by l33tbro on 7/22/16, 9:00 AM
1) Scott Adams 'How to fail at almost everything' for life strategy.
2) Robert Glover's 'No more Mr Nice Guy' for assertiveness and being your authentic self no matter what.
3) As cliche as it is, 'The Power of Now' is a great source to return to in times of personal and professional woes.
Good luck and Godspeed in your career(s).
by lazyjones on 7/22/16, 3:59 PM
1) Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing (not strictly a book). http://philip.greenspun.com/panda/
2) The "Dragon Book" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_Compiler_Design
3) Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Second part (at hindsight):
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Dad_Poor_Dad (cheesy, but useful)
2) http://toddkashdan.com/upside.php
3) https://www.schranner.com/de/news/2012/04/16/-verhandeln-im-... - German book about negotiations written by an experienced hostage negotiator.
by brikis98 on 7/22/16, 4:52 PM
This may sound like an odd one, but years ago, I almost never took the time to read. My girlfriend, who knew that I loved Sherlock Holmes books when I was younger, convinced me to try this book as an audiobook while I did my ~40 minute commute to work. I was skeptical, but within days, I was hooked. It made my work commute much more interesting (a British person was reading me Sherlock Holmes!); then I started listening to audiobooks during all my driving (instead of wasting time, I can learn!); then I got an iPod, put audiobooks on that, and started listening to them during all sorts of odd chores (e.g. cleaning, walking, biking); after that, I was so hooked on books, that I started making time to read them too. This had a profoundly transformative effect on my career.
2. "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries.
I got a copy of this book when I went to a talk by Eric Ries. Eric seemed like a humble, down-to-earth person and helped dispel the notion that to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be a prescient, superhero, god-like visionary. Instead, what you need to do is to treat your startup and product ideas as hypotheses and test them, as quickly and cheaply as you can (i.e. lean development, MVPs, etc). This fit very well with what I had seen in the real world and with how I thought about problem solving as a software engineer, and gave me a lot of confidence to try out many of my ideas. Since then, I've used these ideas to start a company (http://www.gruntwork.io/) and written quite a bit on what I learned, including an article on The Macro about MVPs (http://themacro.com/articles/2016/01/minimum-viable-product-...).
3. "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser.
If Conan Doyle taught me about the fun of reading, then William Zinsser taught me about the fun of writing. If you want to learn how to write, what it's like to write, or why you should write ("Writing is not a special language owned by the English teacher. Writing is thinking on paper."), it's hard to find a better guide. This book significantly improved my writing skills and even gave me the confidence to write a book (http://www.hello-startup.net/).
by saasinator on 7/22/16, 9:32 AM
1) "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
2) "The War of Art"
3) "The Pragmatic Programmer"by brudgers on 7/22/16, 6:30 PM
And that makes this exercise impossible for me. The books I would tell the younger version of myself to read wouldn't resonate the same way (or not at all) with that other person I used to be. Picking books that might have appealed to the younger version of myself accurately would mean picking the books I actually read -- e.g. The Fifth Discipline -- and not books that the younger version of myself tried to read but couldn't but that I read and recommend today: e.g. TAoCP.
Part of the complexity is that the world in which I read books today is radically different from that of my younger self. Today I can get a MIX interpreter from the internet [1]...there's even help on StackOverflow. My younger self couldn't because even in the time when there was an internet bandwidth was low and Google didn't exist.
Like I said it's great to pick up a good book and realize it is better than I remember when I remember it being really good, but it's hard to see how it could have been better for my younger self.
1. Neuromancer
2. Blood Meridian
3. A Pattern Language
by e19293001 on 7/22/16, 1:00 PM
2. Compiler Construction Using Java, JavaCC, and Yacc, IEEE/Wiley, 2012 by Anthony J. Dos Reis
3. An Introduction to Functional Programming Through Lambda Calculus by Greg Michaelson
I'm lazy now so just look on my previous comment:
by GeneWilburn on 7/22/16, 3:44 PM
The Elements of Style, Strunk & White. On clear writing.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series), Douglas Adams. So you don't take yourself too seriously.
by justushamalaine on 7/22/16, 9:19 AM
How I raised myself from failure to success in selling, Frank Bettger
Thinking in Systems: A Primer, Daniela Meadows
Most important thing is to get up and start doing stuff, understand how you personally f$$k things up and reap benifits of compound interest in personal development. I think these three bookshave a lot of information that is usable in any career or path one might choose.
by samblr on 7/22/16, 4:23 PM
> Tech : C - Kernighan & Ritchie (may be a good python/nodejs book today).
> About tech people : Made in Japan - The Google Speaks - The Everything store - Hatching Twitter - Steve Jobs - Zero to One - Hard things about hard things.
> About non-tech people : Founding fathers - Obama - Einstein - Darwin - Feyman - Teresa - Montessori - Gandhi - Mandela - Che Guevera - Churchill.
> Last but important: Tolstoy - Plato - Enlightenment-Era-Books - Religions(all) - Military fitness.
by r2r on 7/22/16, 9:35 AM
2. "The art of war" by Sun Tzu
3. "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius
by LA_Banker on 7/22/16, 3:48 PM
2. "The Practicing Mind" – Thomas Sterner
3. "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance" – Atul Gawande (I'm not a surgeon; the principles herein are universal)
(honorable mention: "How to Win Friends and Influence People" – Dale Carnegie; various biographies by Caro and Chernow)
by amerkhalid on 7/22/16, 4:46 PM
2. Pragmatic Programmer - A classic, learned many practical tips for day to day programming job.
3. Founders at Work - Motivated me to work on my side projects and be constantly learning.
by naboavida on 7/22/16, 3:38 PM
Incerto - Nassim Nicholas Taleb (4 volumes, with The Black Swan as my favourite). Learn how not to be a fool, or at least, minimize its impacts.
The Startup Owner's Manual - Steve Blank. Learn how to find your way through the market.
by thorin on 7/22/16, 9:24 AM
L'etranger Albert Camus, for the same reasons as jjgreen
A Herbert Shilt book on C programming but could have been K&R instead, was part of the process from moving from simple basic coding to software development
by fogus on 7/22/16, 4:24 PM
"How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built" by Stewart Brand --> http://www.openculture.com/2015/07/watch-stewart-brands-6-pa...
"Programmer's Guide to the 1802" by Tom Swan --> http://www.tomswan.com/store/
by przeor on 7/22/16, 9:27 AM
2) "how life imitates chess" Garry Kasparov
3) "how life imitates chess" Garry Kasparov
Highly recommended, very good read and smart book. I would call it the modern version of The Art of War.
by benkarst on 7/22/16, 4:13 PM
2. "Creativity Inc." (2014) by Ed Catmull. Fascinating stories and lessons from the man who ran Pixar, the animated film company with 11 straight number 1's at the box office.
3. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Along with talent and hard work, being well-positioned is a big part of success. Put in 10,000 hours to be great at anything.
by quantum_nerd on 7/22/16, 4:50 PM
2. "The Bible" - I am not too religious, but I am a spiritual person. I find the new testament to be a good blueprint on how to live a righteous life.
3. "The Pragmatic Programmer: from journeyman to master" - such a timeless classic. Just get it...
by g051051 on 7/22/16, 3:55 PM
Honorable mention: Compiler Design in C
by andersthue on 7/22/16, 3:53 PM
2. Drive, the surprising truth..., Daniel Pink - to understand happiness and motivation
3. Crucial Conversations, to learn how to talk and listen and talk to people without ruining the conversation and the possibilities from it
by protomyth on 7/22/16, 3:46 PM
K&R C (Draft ANSI Edition) - A small book that shows how you should write. Many of the examples are not really good code anymore, but it traveled and inspired.
Perl Little Black Book - I needed to learn Perl and it was packed. Much like many of the ORA pocket references, except with a lot more examples. My copy is in rough shape with flags, notes, and highlights.
I will have to dig it out of a box, but I had a system process and design book from a college class that I used extensively in my first decade of work. I think I internalized it all. I put the book in a crate with my K&R C book waiting for a good shelf to put it on when I get somewhere a little more permanent.
by ericssmith on 7/22/16, 4:33 PM
1) K&R C
2) Zen of Graphics Programming
3) C++ Programming Language, 2E
I wouldn't recommend any of these to a young version of myself today.
by homoSapiens on 7/24/16, 5:42 AM
2. PHP for dummies: My first exposure to the world of programming, since then I've never looked back.
3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Changed my thinking about finance, I don't know how I would have handled my finances if I hadn't come across this book as a teenager, I feel so lucky to have read this book. I would have been stuck in society's harmful way of handling finance.
by rkho on 7/22/16, 8:33 AM
by scottlilly on 7/22/16, 3:56 PM
"How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" - Taught me I don't need to follow the standard path that "everyone else does", and to focus on how I can actively change my world - instead of waiting for someone else to to change it for me.
"Code Complete" - Get it. Read it. Live it.
by deadmik3 on 7/22/16, 3:48 PM
"The Little Schemer"
"Stories of Cats and the Lives They Touch" by Peggy Schaefer
by ohgh1ieD on 7/22/16, 11:17 AM
2. sidebar from /r/theredpill
3. The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime
Book number 3 has probably the most 'click baity' and the most douchey title of all times. It sounds like one of those self help books or one of those get rich fast schemas but in fact, it's an eye opener and it encourages hard work.
by gadders on 7/22/16, 8:56 AM
All of your working life is built on relationships, even if you code all day.
by de107549 on 7/23/16, 8:24 PM
As a programmer :
1. The C++ Programming Language by Bjarne Stroustrup.
2. Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz
3. Compilers by Aho
As an agile software developer:
1. eXtreme Programming by Kent Beck
2. Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas
3. Continuous Delivery by Jez Humble
As an architect:
1. Domain Driven Design by Evans
2. Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture by Buschmann
3. Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte
As a CEO:
1. Good To Great by Collins
2. Lean Startup by Eric Ries
3. Beyond Budgeting by Pfläging
by kozak on 7/22/16, 4:01 PM
2. "Insanely Simple" by Ken Segall
3. "How to Measure Anything" by Douglas W. Hubbard
by kercker on 7/22/16, 8:48 AM
by rffn on 7/22/16, 6:04 PM
- Computer Architecture - A Quantitative Approach (Hennessy/Patterson)
- Expert C Programming - Deep C Secrets (van der Linden)
I woud call the Pragmatic Programmer though by far the most influential.
by sunstone on 7/22/16, 7:42 PM
2.One Up On Wall Street - insiders view of the markets and other lessons
3.Consilence - how to distinguish real things from unreal things
by 0xmohit on 7/22/16, 3:55 PM
- The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely
- Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons In Life by Sir Richard Branson
by kentf on 7/22/16, 3:50 PM
Fooled by Randomness, Taleb
Linchpin, Seth Godin
by hvd on 7/25/16, 1:18 AM
by phyalow on 7/22/16, 3:27 PM
by cmax on 7/22/16, 3:54 PM
by gyvastis on 7/22/16, 8:43 AM
by adrice727 on 7/22/16, 3:47 PM
by rabboRubble on 7/22/16, 10:38 PM
2) Noble House
3) Excel by Que Publishing
by draw_down on 7/22/16, 5:26 PM