Fun Books for the Software Developers

After the serious readings for programming, algorithms and software craftsmanship here are some fun readings for our profession.

Entertaining History of Our Profession

• Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition
• Rebel Code: Linux And The Open Source Revolution
• Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age

Hacker Fiction

Rick Cook’s Wizardy series is a fantasy series for computer buffs that tells the story of a Silcon Valley hacker who finds himself in a different world where he discovers that magic can be “programmed” and is asked save the world from the “Dark League”. Rick Cook definitely have some familiarity with programming and I found his stories to be a fun read and his computer humor entertaining.

• Wizard’s Bane
• The Wizardry Compiled
• The Wizardry Cursed
• The Wizardry Consulted
• The Wizardry Quested

More Books for the Professional Developer

My previous post of books for developers focused on programming, but if you’re a professional programmer/developer/software engineer there are more things you’ll need to know besides writing code and algorithms.

Here are some books that I recommend for the professional or those who work with programmers.

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition) - Describes Brooke’s Law that adding man power to a late project makes it later and other wisdom of software development project management.

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition) - Software development is ultimately done by people (not cogs and robots) and it’s important to remember that.

The Practice of Programming (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series) - Talks about the practical aspect of programming including “topics like testing, debugging, portability, performance, design alternatives, and style.”

Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering - A lot of common sense stuff about software engineering that are often forgotten in the thick of our work.

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Theory in Practice) - There is a level of project management from individuals to teams that every engineering should be aware of. This is a good pragmatic book about getting projects done and not about specific methodologies.