Writer of The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter and books on software engineering careers; previously an engineering manager at Uber, Skype and Skyscanner.
When joining a new company, your perception is shaped massively in your first 3 months. It takes a lot of work to change that perception later. This book is a practical guide on how to be conscious in focusing on getting up to speed, faster. (My rating: ★★★★★)
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
and this book helps grow with simple and pragmatic suggestions. (My rating: ★★★★★)
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
There are few books like this, that discuss software design in a simple and approachable way, while leaving the reader novel and practical concepts to use.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
The most practical book I've found so far on distributed systems.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
"Tidy First? is the first in a series of books about software design. Kent has been coming back to the topic of “taming” software design in a digestible format."
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Legacy code has no test and is not written to be testable. Touching it this sphaghetti code somewhere breaks the system. And to refactor safely, we'd need to have tests first... but where to start? This book gives practical suggestions
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C# is the language I probably understood down to the nitty-gritty details. Just when I thought myself of being an expert - knowing all that is to know on memory allocation, garbage collection, LINQ - I read this book. It made me realize how many things I did not know.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A hands-on book for people transitoning to management, starting at a new company or looking to make more of an org-wide impact.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
"It’s honest in how it covers topics like navigating tricky power dynamics with CEOs, surviving 'peer panic,' dealing with competition within leadership teams, and in its overall breadth and depth."
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A decade of lessons learned in motivating and leading engineering teams at Google.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A concise guide for managers, from tech lead, through line managers, managers of managers, all the way to CTO. Very much recommended: I have gone back to re-read parts of it several times.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A guide in going from being a first-time manager to becoming a senior manager in an organization. A refreshingly honest tone
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
The book describing how and why empowered teams power the most best product companies like Tesla, Netflix, or Apple. My experience at Uber matches that of the book. My only regret is I could not read it earlier.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Written in the '80s, yet a timeless novel on what management is about, may that be a manager of a team, an organization or an industrial plant.
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A hard to put down story about a company struggling and how the leadership team comes together under a new leader, doing small things that end up making big differences.
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A novel on empowerment, teamwork and breaking down the hierarchical structure. All of it taking place onboard a nuclear submarine (really!).
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A novel inspired by the Goal, this time playing inside an enterprise in 2010.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Holy shit I was going through my old books and found the book I used to brush up on Typescript from 2019, and all my highlights in it It’s was by some random dev I never heard of back then, but remember it was a v good book This “random dev” is @bcherny 🙃
A useful read for more experienced engineers and those wanting to improve architecture and devops skills on designing and operating reliable systems. The content is excellent, but the book is not designed to be read in one sitting.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
a good overview of SRE at Google. For those who worked at places with oncall, much of the first part of the book will likely be very familiar. Keep in mind that your mileage might vary: what works at Google scale, might not be the ideal fit for your use case.
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An eye-opening view on considerations going into building a widely used public API or reusable library. While the book focuses on the .NET framework, many of the conventions apply to maintainable and reusable components, in general. This book had an outsized impact on me as I read it when I was a mid-level .NET developer.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
The definite book about giving good and candid feedback - and a very useful read for new(ish) managers. The book is a list of ideas around the theme of caring personally and challenging directly.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Tips and observations on how to manage the Millenial generation better. Some of these I found insightful, some were less of a surprise.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Get a free introduction to property-based testing: through a live, online webinar hosted by Hillel Wayne, author of Logic for Programmers and Developer Educator at @AntithesisHQ.
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An excellent book to navigate how to grow at tech companies. I like the opinionated and concise advice Dan presents, across a variety of topics.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A book I recommended after reading it, writing: “If you're a senior engineer wondering what the next level is, a staff-level engineer or a manager of staff engineers, this book is for you."
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Leadership Beyond the Management Track. The best resource so far on what it's like to get - and perform - at the above senior engineering levels. A very good read.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
guides, principles, strategies and tactics from code newbie to senior developer.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
a short and sweet book, with good inspiration from prolific software engineers.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
a complete guide for developers on job hunting, acing the interview and landing the job. I like the authentic voice from Randall. I'd recommend this book for people starting out in software, or with a few years' experience.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
A fresh take on navigating the tech the interview process, tailored for frontend engineers. She wrote the book after she found Cracking the Coding Interview to be too Java/backend-focused. The book comes with 1, 2 and 4-week learning plans as well. A great book to start with.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
I've so far not seen good book resources to prepare for the systems design / architecture interview. This book from Alex Xu is the most promising one as of yet.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
a classic to prepare for the data structures and algorithms interviews.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
the book I wrote as advice for engineers to grow professionally.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
The most interesting stories in tech, science and coding summarized, daily.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Explaining complex systems with simple terms. Written by Alex Xu, author of The Systems Design Interview.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
fullstack engineer, product person and former VC. 10-15 links with a concise tl;dr; for each article.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
CTO at Hatch. One email per week, 5 links of programming, big data, architecture, development processes and databases.
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A high-quality newsletter on everything iOS and Swift with lots of easily digestible content.
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Typing out a tag and pressing enter in Substack on a post no longer auto-focuses the textfield (impossible to add tags quick now, or just via keyboard I have to move the mouse to click).
Google Workspace search no longer shows folders by default in its autocomplete - meaning I need to press "enter" even when typing out the folder name I want, just to see it as the top search result after I press enter
high-quality conversations with engineers, leaders, innovators in the tech world.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
discussions from software engineering leaders, with a focus on Asia and Europe.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
a podcast with frequent software engineering guests from underrepresented groups. Weekly episodes on the human side of tech.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
an episode per week on a management topic featured in Harvard Business Review.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Before this book I used to think that Javascript is "bad" or a "hacky" language. This book changed my perspective, understanding some tradeoffs and some remarkable strengths of this weakly typed language that is starting to take over the world. Note that this book is now dated
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Gallup interviewed thousands of high-performing teams and managers and found a dozen of things each of these teams had in common. While the insights are good, the content itself was quite dry for my taste.
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the second part is interesting in getting a proper look into Google software engineering practices.
His continuously-updated public reading list of software engineering and management books, newsletters and podcasts he recommends (page last modified 2024-12-16; the page states none of the links are affiliate or sponsored).
Claude's performative "this request was sooo dangerous that we downgraded to Opus" is wearing me down I ask it straightfoward questions, nothing shady, nothing complicated, and it tells me it's too dangerous for Fable. What BS.
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The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
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The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Hardware, services4 years
Software5 years
Podcasts, courses, other8 years
Books25 years
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