rcmnd

Julia Evans

Programmer and writer at jvns.ca; author of the Wizard Zines programming zines.

17 things

fish shellSoftware

loved

In 10 years of using fish I have never found a single thing I wanted to configure. It just works the way I want.

Post listing the reasons she still loves the fish shell after 7 more years of daily use.

2024-09-12·jvns.ca ↗

Designing Data-Intensive ApplicationsBook Martin Kleppmann

loved

Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann is a book I still want to finish, but I loved what I read of it

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Go standard library documentationOther The Go authors

loved

the Go standard library documentation is probably my favourite language reference

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

perfSoftware

loved

I like to use perf top no matter what language my programs are written in, just to see if I can understand anything from it.

Post listing the five debugging tools she uses most.

2016-07-03·jvns.ca ↗

dstatSoftware

loved

There’s also iostat and netstat and atop and a bunch of other tools, but dstat is my favorite.

Post listing the five debugging tools she uses most.

2016-07-03·jvns.ca ↗

HelixSoftware

liked

One of my favourite things about Helix is the search!

Notes after three months of switching from Vim to the Helix editor.

2025-10-10·jvns.ca ↗

The Linux Programming InterfaceBook Michael Kerrisk

liked

The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk – an exhaustive reference on how Linux works. There are about a million chapters, but every individual chapter is pretty short and I find it quite readable.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

The Manager’s PathBook Camille Fournier

liked

The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier. Helped me understand what a tech lead’s job is.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Networking for System AdministratorsBook Michael W. Lucas

liked

Networking for System Administrators by Michael Lucas helped networking click for me, even though I’m not a system administrator.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Ed MasteryBook Michael W. Lucas

liked

Ed Mastery was a really fun read even though I’m probably never going to use Ed.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Ruby Under a MicroscopeBook Pat Shaughnessy

liked

Ruby Under a Microscope helped me when I was writing a Ruby profiler

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

fast.aiCourse

liked

https://course.fast.ai/ is a free course on deep learning with PyTorch. It helped me get started with deep learning, though I didn’t get that far.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

CryptopalsCourse

liked

Cryptopals – a set of exercises to learn cryptography by breaking it. Very fun.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

NightmareCourse

liked

Nightmare – an intro to reverse engineering. I did a few problems and it was really fun.

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

straceSoftware

liked

strace is pretty broadly useful, but keep in mind it can really slow down your programs.

Post listing the five debugging tools she uses most; strace is the first entry.

2016-07-03·jvns.ca ↗

TinyWMSoftware

recommended

TinyWM is where I’d start if I wanted to learn how a window manager works

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Hacking: The Art of ExploitationBook Jon Erickson

read

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson taught me about ARP spoofing

Her undated Bookshelf page listing books and resources that helped her (observed 2026-09-04; archived since at least 2023-01-17).

2023-01-17·jvns.ca ↗

Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.

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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