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Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?
388 points by OneOffAsk on Dec 4, 2022 | hide | past | favorite | 127 comments
I’ve gotten to be quite good at the actual coding part after a decade or so of programming. I’m not looking for better code practices, although I’ll obviously still learn and grow there.

What I’m seeking is reading material regarding how to manage project scope, be better team member, converting asks to deliverables, managing expectations from management, enabling team members by opening communication channels across teams, time management, etc.

Any suggested reading material? Preferably books, but excellent blog posts are welcome.




A few books that I've found useful:

The Goal - Eli Goldratt - It is a novel about optimizing a factory, but it is immensely valuable in thinking through what are the actual constraints on your team's ability to deliver software and how do you fix it without making other things worse. The Phoenix Project is kind of a modern retelling, but I'd start with The Goal.

The Principles of Product Development Flow - Reinersten - Great for thinking deeply about how you deliver value through your system and the tradeoffs you are making in what you choose to focus on next. Once again it isn't specific to software, but very relevant.

The 5 Dysfunctions of Teams - Lencioni - Common team problems and what to do instead.

Influence: Science and Practice - Cialdini - How to get people into agreement so you can move forward--a skill that can be used for both good and evil.

The Little Schemer - Friedman and Felleisen - It is kind of hard to describe why this would be useful, but I felt it made me think more deeply about what it means to program a computer in ways that indirectly supported the topics you mentioned. Or maybe I just happened to work through it at a point in my life when I was growing in those other areas too.


The audiobook version of The Goal is the best audiobook I have listened to! Each character is voiced by someone else, which sometimes doesn’t work well for audiobooks, but in this case I think they knocked it out of the park. The main voice actor in particular is phenomenal. I have tried to figure out who voiced Alex, but all credits for the audiobook simply say “ensemble cast” or “unknown”.


+1 for "The Goal" - This book is so timeless!


The two most useful books I have read: Code Complete by Steve McConnell - Really covers how to be good at the craft of writing programs and constructing software. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Microsoft-Programming-Steve-...

The Effective Engineer by Edmond Lau - Covers how to focus on what you work on based on the leverage it provides you. http://www.effectiveengineer.com/


> Code Complete by Steve McConnell

+1. Also, Rapid Development, by McConnell[0]. I would say that it's even better than Code Complete.

It would be considered "quaint," these days, but Writing Solid Code[1], by Steve Maguire, was a seminal book in my education. I still use many of the techniques he mentioned.

And I cannot say enough about The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman[2]. That book changed my life. I would consider it required reading, for anyone that develops anything that will be used by other humans.

[0] https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/rapid-development-...

[1] https://writingsolidcode.com

[2] https://jnd.org/the-design-of-everyday-things-revised-and-ex...


+1 for the Norman book. A bit verbose, but in the end worth it.

Krug's "Don't Make Me Think", while more UI / UX is a solid compliment to "Everyday Things."


The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Frederick P. Brooks * still relevant re: people are the key to getting things done; understand how people work together.

https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780201006506


I thought this book was really fun to read, but it mostly reinforced what I already knew. The problem is my managers don’t, so having read the book doesn’t actually help in any way.


You can cite it, which in a functional place should have some weight behind it.


I really liked his other book The Design of Design as well. They go well together.


Reading this book is a terrific way to spend an afternoon. Every chapter has a lesson that's directly applicable today, despite its age.


Recommend this book, but honestly you don't need to read it:

Deep Work: Cal Newport

What you need to know from this book is that to write good software (both quality and quantity) you need to go deep. You need to fully absorb and understand the problem in your mind, BEFORE you begin writing code. And then, you need quiet undistracted time to map the thoughts in your mind, to code on paper.

This process of turning a mental model in your mind, into a well designed code model, takes more focus than you think (if you want to do it well). Give yourself a quiet room with no visual distractions. Just you, and your code. Set aside a few hours.

Most importantly of all - Remove the possibility in your mind, that a distraction could happen. I cannot emphasize this enough. Your mind will not go deep if, even on a subconscious level, you think a distraction could come. A text message, a spouse walking in, a co-worker asking a question, etc. These all need to be (as reasonably as possible) NOT possible so that your mind can go quiet, and you can take on the work.


I would have loved to see you talk about the part of the book that addresses working with others, as that seems topical to the OP.

Overall, it is also my recommendation, in that when you develop a good habit of churning out quality work, it enhances your contributions to the team.


'Becoming A Technical Leader', Gerald Weinberg. Jerry, working for IBM, designed the telemetry system NASA used to track early manned space flights and then spent a career helping organizations, teams, and people achieve their goals, both technical and personal. He wrote many books on the topics you mention, all of them worthwhile. I picked this one as a place to start.

'Making Things Happen', Scott Berkun. Berkun was a successful developer and product manager at Microsoft and the book captures his reflections and research on project management.


I’m currently reading Peopleware which is simultaneously very insightful and very obvious. It’s also a bit of a marker in time of how software development worked. I’d say a lot has improved with remote work, at least for some companies.

I found The Mom Test pretty helpful for honing a product mindset. I’ve fallen into the trap of writing code simply because I find it less daunting than talking to users. The Mom Test is a good reminder on priorities.


Oh man, Peopleware was so good when I read it in the 2000s. You indicate that time has passed it by a bit? Any particulars you remember?


I think there was a whole section about dress code for engineers and things like that. Tbf it was more of “dont have dress codes” but that’s status quo today so largely irrelevant


I can’t say I’ve ever worked at an office that had a public announcement system, or had phones on the desks. Sure we have slack now but in my experience most companies don’t expect slack to be responded to immediately.

Also remote work solves a lot of the problems around open offices, while introducing new problems of its own.


Everyone even thinking about creating a startup should read "The Mom Test" first.


Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track by Will Larson (https://staffeng.com/book)

Peopleware


Also check out his guides which are freely available. We’ve been using these as a way to answer the question “what does a staff eng do?” at clearbit.

https://staffeng.com/guides


So I asked this same question to ChatGPT, here's its response. This thing really does have the potential to be a good recommendation tool for books/resources.

"Here are a few books that may be helpful for improving your skills as a software engineer:

"The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas: This book offers practical advice on a wide range of topics, including how to write clean and maintainable code, how to work effectively with others, and how to manage your time and priorities.

"Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin: This book focuses on the importance of writing code that is easy to read and understand, and provides specific guidance on how to write clean and maintainable code.

"Peopleware" by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister: This book discusses the human side of software development, including how to create effective teams and work environments, and how to avoid common pitfalls such as overwork and burnout.

"Agile Software Development" by Alistair Cockburn: This book provides an introduction to agile software development methodologies, which are designed to help teams deliver high-quality software quickly and efficiently.

In addition to these books, there are many excellent blog posts and online resources on these topics. Some websites that may be helpful include the Pragmatic Programmer blog, the Agile Alliance website, and the ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes journal.

Another helpful resource may be attending conferences and workshops on software engineering and related topics. These can provide opportunities to learn from experts in the field, network with other professionals, and stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices. Many conferences and workshops also offer certification programs, which can be a valuable way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise to potential employers. Some well-known conferences in the software engineering field include the ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE), the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI), and the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). "


And yet, the first two explicitly fail the criteria of the OP.

The ACM has some interesting work, but is often impractical in day-to-day practice, unless your day-to-day involves constructing databases or researching generative algorithms (for example).

Rather than seeing this as great I see it as... superficial.


This answer scares me. Wow


It shouldn't. The fact that it recommended Clean Code goes to show it's literally aggregating a bunch of books that are commonly recommended. Clean Code is really not the way you want people writing code, especially judging by the code examples in the last half of the book.


Can you expand on why you feel that way? A few people I respect have told me they got a lot out of it, so I'm curious to hear what you think is wrong with it.


IMO, the advice is all over the place. Sometimes it's good or almost, but often obvious or accepted (maybe a sign of the times?). Sometimes it's bad or ambiguous. If you can make that call, you are likely experienced enough to not need it. If not, how would you know what to follow, and what to ignore?

There's also a shocking lack of evidence that applying "clean" code rules actually leads to, well, "better" code (more maintainable, or even just more readable). In fact, in some cases, the rules kinda clash.

So in the best case, you read it, think about it, and maybe pick up one or two new things. In the worst case, it leads to pointless zealotry that can be quite toxic, especially when forced onto other people.

In short, save your money. Clean code is a grift, like many self-help books. You do have to give to Uncle Bob, he recognised that in a gold rush it's better to sell shovels (as the saying goes).

This has been linked elsewhere already, but is a better critique than I could do in a comment: https://qntm.org/clean


There's A LOT I could write about Robert Martin and Clean Code, but in short:

- focused on the readability of small functions rather than the readability of the whole program. This gives you unreadable programs containing lots of small readable blocks of code. I argue this is wrong. We care about programs first and foremost.

- arbitrary rules ("ideal function should have zero arguments", "functions should be two to fours lines long"). He hasn't run studies, he hasn't provided any proofs. Nothing scientific, it's just some guy's opinions.

- his code examples speak for themselves, in a bad way. Check out the link posted in a sibling comment. They show a person who's trying to put their ideas in code for the first time (or, at the very least, first time trying to write non-trivial code) and it's becoming obvious that those ideas don't work. But the person persists and publishes the book regardless.

- he hasn't really achieved anything in software apart from selling books and consultancy services. Name one impressive piece of software that he wrote, like a version control system, or a database, or a high performance JSON parser. All he's done is (as far as I can tell) CRUD software. That's not even enough for an "appeal to authority" argument.

In the words of a classic, Robert Martin is a "self-appointed expert". I would be very skeptical about following his advice.

> A few people I respect have told me they got a lot out of it

I don't mean to offend you. If I had to guess, these people you respect work on trivial software, just like me or Robert Martin. It's software you can write using almost any ideas or methodology. It doesn't matter what you use, because the task is so simple. Read data from a frontend, write to a DB, read from a DB, send back to frontend. You can do this using assembly x86, Fortran, OOP (whichever flavour), FP, whatever P.

So when people say "they got a lot out of it", I take it this means "I do things a lot like Robert Martin (as opposed to a mythical idea of <<spaghetti code>> that's meant to make the code unmaintainable), and it seems to work; I deliver features and I get paid". And that's fine, I guess. You can make your life harder by following Robert Martin's advice and still achieve your goal.

The problems begin when you need to start writing "real" code (rather than CRUD/plumbing), like anything that's supposed to have good performance, or actual CS problems like TSP, path finding, and so on. Robert Martin proved he can't write a readable prime number generator even when performance is not an issue.

My advice is to keep respecting the people you respect but focus on the CS and mathematics fundamentals instead. IMO there's little to nothing in Clean Code that will make you a better developer.


Right? This thing is more eloquent with its words than I am with my own.


I aim to ignore this advice and spend the next year figuring out how to leverage LLMs to become a more productive software engineer. Unfortunately there's no books on it yet.


Maybe you could do the experiments and write the book.


Yep, it has recommendations for every single subject!


How did you get that?

Any attempt I do at recommendations or summaries of books is met with a cookie cutter response that it can not do recommendations because it can't access the internet.


Just hit try again. It very often says it can’t do something, then does it on the next try.


How do you go about asking it a question like this? I would like to ask it for recommendations in other genres LOL.


I got a ton of value out of “Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams”. Even if you’re not a manager that can directly follow the advice, as an engineer it will provide great clues on how to ensure environment and team dynamics can greatly influence efficiency and chances of success.

Of course my all time favorite is The Mythical Man-Month. But that’s already mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

I haven’t read “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” but some of the concepts it talks about are also of interest (on how to ensure workers are motivated and I’m not talking about “the beatings will continue until morale improves” :) )


I have all of these on my shelf. Fantastic reads.

* Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck

* Clean Code and The Clean Coder by Robert C. Martin

* Soft Skills by John Sonmez (1st edition)

* Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas

* Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers

* The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick Brooks

(Selfish plug) Additionally, I wrote my own book concerning the entire industry, from just starting out to becoming a self employed consultant when you get sick of fulltime work - all soft skills from my decade or so of the industry, as well - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B43V1JJW


Robert C. Martin has ruined so many mid organizations it's kind of funny


If you want your criticism to be taken seriously, please be specific.

There is apparently a large group of people who hate everything he does and also, seemingly, him personally. Everywhere he (or any of his books) is mentioned, the haters come out, with their vague “it’s all bad” and the old standard “I don’t know where to begin”. Serious criticism can be found (if you look for it), and he himself welcomes it, but the constant vague hate is scary to see.


I don't hate everything he does and I'd imagine he's probably an interesting guy to chat with

there is a subset of 'clean code' fanatics who treat his work as religious text and tend to produce some of the most bloated unmanagable code bases I've run into

I wouldn't even say his work is valueless but it's a horrible starting point and shouldn't be a destiation


Again, criticism without any specifics.

And people misinterpreting and doing bad things (which he would agree is bad), is that his fault?


Years wasted on having to convincing people that "comments are viable" because they misunderstood Clean Code


Sounds like people being stupid? I mean, he never says that comments are not viable: like you say, they misunderstand the book.


On that one point, he should issue clarification and release a new version.


Have you read the book? I checked it now, and I think he expresses himself quite clearly.


Yes, I have read it. But it seems that people have confusion over this part.


I’m not sure how he could have expressed himself any more clearly, so I don’t know what such a “clarification” would entail.


Having never read Clean Code, why do you say that?


Someone wrote a lengthy and detailed critique of Clean Code a little while back:

https://qntm.org/clean

As someone who also recommends against improving developers reading Clean Code, I think the arguments in that piece are generally on point.


To the point of the question I would much more recommend "Clean Coder" by uncle bob, which mostly deals about the professional ethics of software development


A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout is good reading


I’m always looking to improve my set of skills, so thank you for the thread and thank you for the responses- I have managed to pick up some recommendations.

My personal recommendation would be Deep Work by Cal Newport as it is my most recent read, having completed it just the day before yesterday.

I applied what I learned and discovered that I was able to meet deadlines much easier than before. I’m also in the process of applying deep focus techniques to my work weeks to ensure I have a tangible build or product every Friday. Could be a document, a repo, a feature, etc. So far so good. This past week I delivered a Design Spec document in record time.

Thanks again and take care.


“The Effective Manager” by the people behind Manager Tools (a great podcast) is a really, really good view of this.

Re: Communication, this book starts there and builds upon that foundation. It’s targeted at line managers, but anyone in a leadership position can and will benefit. For example, I don’t do one-on-one’s with my team. I do “Project Management 1:1’s” or “Weekly project status updates.” I don’t always give feedback the way they prescribe (because the team doesn’t formally report to me). I do, however, go out of my way to say “Just to let you know, when you do X, Y happens.” And from the book, learned that there’s a 10:1 ratio of positive to negative feedback to strive for.

Side note: Manager Tools has a great podcast series that is arranged into a “map of the universe” [1] which shows a huge list of topics, and how to discuss everything from good or bad performance, dealing with various types of conflict, to even how to structure emails or how to address a personal scent issue (which I’ve actually used).

[1] https://www.manager-tools.com/map-of-the-universe


> how to structure emails or how to address a personal scent issue (which I’ve actually used)

How did that play out?


Honestly pretty well.

One of our colleagues took aggressive advantage of the ping pong tables at the office (in the before times) every afternoon after lunch. I’d noticed as had some others. I had a short talk with that person about the fact that in a shared office environment he was essentially showing up post-workout for the balance of the afternoon. I actually don’t recall what changed - but we stopped noticing the issue. I think they just started playing toward the end of the day then just went home after.


People have recommended some excellent books.

I will advise something different, find a mentor.

The most important parts of actually -engineering- software, not bashing out code come from intuition and taste and these are best taught through a mentor.

If you can't find a mentor at your current company then consider getting involved in OSS, particularly in well engineered projects like Linux, PostgreSQL, Apache projects, etc. If you have the capacity for this it's one of the strongest ways to increase your capability and strengthen/widen your network which will help further your career in other ways.

Once you have found a mentor focus on being a good student. Learn how to ask the questions that will prompt insightful answers, the "why" rather than the "how". Especially try to learn what -not- to do. Experience doesn't always need to come first hand... getting burnt isn't necessary to understand not to touch hot stuff.

Not the answer you asked for but I think perhaps even more important than what you can learn from a book.


My personal opinion is reading about coding does nothing. Its like reading about math without doing the exercises. You need to work on good codebases, and have your code reviewed by people who are good.


> reading about coding does nothing

> Its like reading about math without doing the exercises

But you do learn math from reading and then you practice it to improve your understanding with exercises. It's not an either or. It's both. You should be reading about software development as well as actively improving your code in practice. I don't think you'd get even half as far if you only did one of the two things.

This is such a bizarre point of view that I'm seeing increasingly. "Reading does nothing". Since when?


Yeah I had a boss who, when I mentioned that I was reading about startups and recommended the books, dismissed them saying that it didn’t seem like one could learn from books. Which seemed like a weird dichotomy because nobody’s saying you can learn how to run a startup entirely from a book? We’re just saying you can learn some useful elements or perspectives from books. Which is really all that you can ask for from instructional material.


Obviously if you land in a perfect environment, then you won't need outside resources.

I am self taught in how to write good code by reading books, watching videos, and reading recommended open source code. I was never in an environment with other great coders who reviewed my code. HN was my guide in how to learn to write better code.

It is possible to be self taught at writing good code.


Good coding culture is a living and constantly evolving thing.

Code reviews will get you through the start of your career. But as an intermediate software developer, you should be reading and considering new paradigms and practices in relation to your own organizations' practices, and be willing and able to discuss and, if necessary, champion new ideas. And as a senior software developer, or development manager, you should be thinking about how to cultivate a healthy coding culture where those kinds of discussions can and do take place.

The way we code has changed dramatically since the dawn of the PC era, as has the way we manage software development. And it will continue to do so. Even as a junior programmer, you should be cultivating the habit of continuous professional development, seeking reliable sources of professional coding culture on the internet, and reading important new books as they become available.

It's like inventing new math instead of just doing it.


I don’t know why this is phrased as a dichotomy. You can work on a good codebase with good people and read books. You can also be in a less than ideal situation and at least read books. Unless these books are actively hurting you, which is pretty unlikely imo, it’s not a bad idea to read them.


My guess is it varies per person. Reading still helps spark some ideas for me, though without exercising what I've read it the learning doesn't stick.

Even better is learning from people better than me. Video tutorials can help too, especially where seeing output is important.


I think doing any one of those things will lead to being a weak dev, if you only read, only work on big code bases, only work on small projects, only work alone, only work with people, etc. you have room to grow.


How do you do the math exercises without reading a book first? There's a back and forth process between theory and practice/exercise going on here.


In that vein, I would love a recommendation on coding books that come with good exercises.


SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)

https://web.mit.edu/6.001/6.037/sicp.pdf


Camille Fournier - The Manager's Path

https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Grow...

https://www.elidedbranches.com/


+1 - I lend my copy to new managers, it's been universally praised for helping people think about how they add value as they move from a 100% Individual Contributor role into helping others stay unblocked and productive


A Philosophy of Software Design

https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/book.php

Righting Software

https://rightingsoftware.org/


Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle https://lethain.com/elegant-puzzle/. It is mostly or entirely taken from his blog so you can just read the blog for free but I find the book valuable


You can take a look at the following. Doesn't look like anyone else has mentioned this yet.

As with everything else, check it out, adopt what looks good, adapt it to your needs.

> Watts Humphrey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Humphrey

> Personal software process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_software_process

> Team software process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_software_process

> More at Libgen: http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=watts+humphrey&lg_topic=libg...

> More at PDF Drive: https://www.pdfdrive.com/search?q=watts+humphrey&pagecount=&...


The Missing Readme” book seems right up your alley

https://nostarch.com/missing-readme

“The Missing README fills in that gap—a distillation of workplace lessons, best practices, and engineering fundamentals that the authors have taught rookie developers at top companies for more than a decade”

Get it just for the “Design Doc” template!


seconding this, very high signal-noise ratio.


Michael Levine shared the best books about leading great software teams, this might be right up your alley: https://shepherd.com/best-books/if-you-want-to-lead-great-so...

And, John Sonmez wrote about great books for software developers on the soft skill size - https://shepherd.com/best-books/fun-for-software-developers


Anyone know if the old Joel on software essays are still around? Are they still relevant?


I think they are (I put them in my response :) ). I still think about this one periodically: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-...

I didn't see all the letters outlined in any location, so why not here:

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-...

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/24/strategy-letter-ii...

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/03/strategy-letter-ii...

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2001/03/23/strategy-letter-iv...

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2007/09/18/strategy-letter-vi...

Hard to beat his writing style.


Thanks! Looks like his main page has all the articles plus classified into different groupings like top 10.


Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks is pretty good. There is also the Design of Everyday Things (TDoET) by Don Norman.

Structured Design from 1975 by Larry L. Constantine and Ed Yourdon is another excellent book that I am currently reading now.


> converting asks to deliverables, managing expectations from management, enabling team members by opening communication channels across teams, time management

These all sound like David Allen's Getting Things Done, the art of stress free productivity.

> converting asks to deliverables

GTD teaches you to ask what the correct outcome is and what the next action item to get there is (and what those questions even mean) so your projects are always moving forward

> managing expectations from management

GTD talks about setting up project lists so you are current and keeping you current when you meet with management

>enabling team members by opening communication channels across teams

GTD teaches you how to brainstorm with the group and how to ensure everyone in a meeting knows what the next step to move the project forward is

>time management

GTD teaches you someodels to help you best know what your time landscape is and give you reminders of what tasks need to be when and where if known otherwise it has a model of helping set priorities based on contexts available to you


Become a better story teller and persuader, and learn how to make better decisions and manage risk. A few books that helped me in no particular order …

The Science of Storytelling - Will Storr

Influence - Robert Cialdini

Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

Antifragile - Nassim Taleb

How Innovation Works - Natt Ridley

The One Thing You Need to Know - Marcus Buckingham

Team of Teams - General Stanley McChrystal


My suggestion is that besides reading books, you could try to build a startup. It could just be consulting on your own (or with ChatGPT or Fiverr/freelancing sites as your team). Then you will gain direct experience in a lot of those things.

Also here are a few ideas for managing scope, deliverables, expectations, time management. Structure things financially so that they are tied to relatively short iterations that require direct interaction with working software and between the engineers and the users and management at regular intervals. The communication with users AND management, payment, and deployment of working software at regular intervals should be strictly enforced. The project should not continue into the next iteration until all of those requirements are met for the current one.


I agree.

Soliciting for business and sustaining good relationships, in particular, will enrich one’s experience overall.

I’ve learned many lessons - everything from improving my craft to knowing when to drop a problematic client or project.


Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but a startup != a consulting company to me. You'll learn valuable skills doing either, but they aren't the same.

Consulting is way way easier.

Signed, a former consultant and startup CTO.


Elicitating the real needs of customers is the most challenging part for me within a software development process. The concept of Domain Driven Design (book by Eric Evan) helped me a lot to decode the language of the customer and transform it into an object model.


"You're Not Listening" by Kate Murphy.

It's not at all software related but it will make you a better teammate, partner (i.e., client relationship), manager and/or leader.

Technology is the easy part. People, that's the difference between average and above.


"Software engineering at Google" (O'Reilley) has a lot of "team focused" advice also, it's overall pretty non-technical but generally a good read. Free to read online too https://abseil.io/resources/swe-book


A few things come to mind along with what's already been mentioned:

Assorted Non-Book Readings:

- https://randsinrepose.com/dont-skip-this/

- http://www.stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks

- https://sysadvent.blogspot.com/2019/12/day-21-being-kind-to-...

- https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-t...

- https://grugbrain.dev/

- https://changelog.com/posts/rich-hickeys-greatest-hits

- https://github.com/papers-we-love/papers-we-love/blob/master...

- http://www.cs.unc.edu/techreports/86-020.pdf

Books:

- The Phoenix Project: Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

- Deep Work: Cal Newport

- The Art of Leadership: Michael Lopp (Rands)

- Extreme Ownership: Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (once you get through the ho-rah stuff it's a fantastic read)

- Time Management for System Administrators: O'Reilly (fantastic for interrupt driven work)

- Elements of Clojure: Zachary Tellman (not just for Clojure devs)


I checked out your other links because you included Programming Sucks; not because it's an amazing resource, but because my partner and I once nearly died of laughter listening to the audio book rendition at the bottom of a page. Grub doesn't disappoint either, but is still recent enough to be the wider HN consciousness.


Software Estimation: Demystifying the dark art is an under-appreciated book in this area.


Is that this book? https://books.google.com/books/about/Software_Estimation.htm...


That's the one!


Given it is pretty short, easily one of the best investments I have made in time.


Peopleware and Mythical Man-Month are fundamental to understanding larger software projects and teams.

They often state obvious things, but I didn’t guess them myself.

Mythical Man-Month also provides important historical perspective.


OP, I've been thinking about starting a column on those kinds of lines - generalized engineering advice. I have 20+ years of experience in the industry and have held both principal engineer and engineering director positions at S&P 500s. Does that hold your interest?

For everyone else, I think I've created an interesting backlog of topics, but I'd love any advice about additional topics that would interest folks, how to kickstart an initial audience, what platform to use, how to moderate without losing my mind, and anything else that'd be useful to know doing this kind of thing.


> I'd love any advice about additional topics that would interest folks, how to kickstart an initial audience, what platform to use, how to moderate without losing my mind, and anything else that'd be useful to know doing this kind of thing.

What are your goals? Just to get your stuff read, help other folks be better engineers, to build a consulting business, to build a recruiting pipeline, something else?

Your goal affects any advice I'd give.


You might want to check this content creator on how they approach it.

https://youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered

Substack is a popular platform if you want to go longform writing route - see the pragmatic engineer


I’m interested.

My main topic of interest is how much has changed over time and perhaps what the next 20+ years hold. Such discussions can be eye opening when considering what direction to take, for example, when adopting frameworks and methodologies.

Looking forward to your content.


This list was posted a few months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32305997


I know you asked for books or blog posts, but I believe the best way is to read lots of code from the tools you use. Look into how your favorite libraries do things, for a start.


How does that help with what the OP asked for? "What I’m seeking is reading material regarding how to manage project scope, be better team member, converting asks to deliverables, managing expectations from management, enabling team members by opening communication channels across teams, time management, etc."

I think reading code is great for learning more about code, but don't see how it helps with the other items on that list.


I noticed nobody had mentioned any Youtubers. Surprisingly there are a few Youtubers who bring a ton of industry experience to their videos.

I found these channels to be helpful:

- Rahul Pandey (e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADWkkJtZna4)

- A life engineered (e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i5iFlP01mQ)


I think the main reason no one mentioned YouTubers is that OP was looking for reading material (e.g. books, blogs). These could be helpful though.


The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by WJ King is a great book on the people-skills side of engineering and management. At ~60 pages it’s also mercifully short and to the point.


There are many books, articles, and other resources that can help you to become a better software engineer. Some popular choices include "Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin, "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas, and "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell. These books provide practical advice and guidance on a range of topics, including design, testing, debugging, and refactoring.


Most of these books are so trivial that if you’re already a professional you should be surprised if you learn anything from them.

Except for the Bob Martin one, which you just shouldn’t read since he is not good at programming and his advice is bad.


I loved 'Joel on Software' - I got a heap from it (I was a PO but attempted to be as technically aware as possible).

Taught me so much about all the things you mentioned


This is more on the "managing lots of code" rather than the people side of things, but: John Lakos has a book called "Large-scale C++, volume I: Process and Architecture."

Even if you don't read the book, I think this talk he gave on it is a good watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NvRnkz6jVM


Try "Extreme Ownership".

It will give you concrete examples on how to broaden your scope out of just your individual contribution, by learning to care for all the rest, and pushing you to realize that to a large extent, the things you see as broken you can actually fix.

Even when they are not inside the codebase you are in charge of. Even if they aren't even on engineering side.


"Death March", by Ed Yourdon. Most of the reccommended books In this thread are about trying to keep a project in a good place. This book is about what to do when it has already gone wrong. You can make a not terrible argument that much of the industry has gone to an all-death-march-all-the-time model. This book can help.


I’m currently reading The Staff Engineer's Path by Tanya Reilly and it’s really good (so far). It’s a great thing to read at the point it sounds like you have reached, where programming a little better is no longer going to move the needle, even if you aren’t in a position to apply everything in it yet.


Systemantics is a fun read: https://www.amazon.com/SYSTEMANTICS-SYSTEMS-BIBLE-John-Gall-...


> Weaving the Web by Tim BL

> Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Liu Cixin

> The Unix O'Reilly Guide

All quick entertaining reads. All written by software engineers. All utterly useless for managing state in your React apps.


Worse is Better: https://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html


An absolute must from a "how to think" and cultural perspective is The Phoenix Project, many years on I still think back to this frequently.


Hiya,

I'd consider these books/articles/podcasts:

* Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg: http://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/Consulting_Secrets.html Every problem is a people problem.

* Refactoring by Martin Fowler et. al: https://martinfowler.com/books/refactoring.html talks about how and why to refactor, as well as providing a nomenclature for the process.

* Code Complete by Steve McConnell. https://stevemcconnell.com/books/ A bit dated (the last version I could find was from 2004) but a great overview of the entire software process, from requirements to maintenance.

* The Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brookes: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/mythical-man-month-the/... best practices about software development, written about a project from the 1960 and 1970s.

* The Joel On Software Strategy Letters: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-... is the first one. All of them (I think there are five) are great.

* Letters to a New Developer: https://letterstoanewdeveloper.com/the-book/ Please note I wrote this, but I still think it does a good job of discussing the "soft skills" in an easily digestible format.

* Pragmatic Programmer by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt: https://pragprog.com/titles/tpp20/the-pragmatic-programmer-2... Haven't read the revised 20th anniversary edition, but the first one opened my eyes to the craft of software.

* High Output Management by Andy Grove: https://bookshop.org/p/books/high-output-management-andrew-s... a great way to think about throughput

* The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim et. al: https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/ Fun novel(!) about applying lean management principles to software engineering.

* Radical Candor (haven't read, but it's been recommended): https://www.radicalcandor.com/ About communication.

* Good to Great by Jim Collins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_to_Great Focuses on what great companies bring to the table. Helps me evaluate where to work.

* Mastery Autonomy and Purpose: A great video about what people really want in work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzXXC4MZZnY

* https://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts a podcast about managing people. You didn't say you wanted to be a people manager, but knowing what managers think about will make you more effective in any org.

* Managing Humans by Michael Lopp: https://managinghumans.com/ The whole Rands site is work reading, but I enjoyed this book about how to manage teams and build software. See above.

* Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug: https://sensible.com/dont-make-me-think/ Easy ways to think about usability, focusing on webapps. Short and easy.

* Badass: Making Users Awesome, by Kathy Sierra: http://seriouspony.com/badass-users-the-book Will help you put yourself in the shoes of your users and think about how to build software they will love. Short and easy.

Hope this helps.


> Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?

That's a bit like "Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better pianist?"

You will need to write and maintain a lot of code, and make a lot of mistakes, then you will get gradually better.


The Pragmatic Programmer (Hunt)

Refactoring (Folwer)


The Design of Design.


forget it... AI gonna replace all of us


[flagged]


About ⅓ of the homepage is already directly about ChatGPT, please let's not have every other submission's comment section dominated by it too...


This mindset is unfortunately futile now. 90 % of what you see on HN, both posts and comments is eventually gonna be AI generated and largely indistinguishable from human made content in not very long time.


It's a good answer, who cares where it's from?


Then just post it, without drawing attention to where it's from and making that the inevitable discussion?


The last two books are not even close to relevant to the question, they're just generic business-flavored self-help.


I can promise you that if you don't learn to get organized and if you don't learn to influence people, there's a ceiling to where you can go as a software engineer.

I don't know if I had recommended these specific books, but they're certainly relevant.

To bring this back to the main topic: For persuasion/negotiation, I prefer Stuart Diamond's "Getting More". For negotiation & communication with a power differential, I'd go for "Nonviolent communication" by Marshall/Rosenberg. (For finding an organization scheme, IDK. GTD is not the worst book. I know of none significantly better, but I also question the nature of a work environment where we drown in tasks. So, maybe Cal Newport's books instead)


Unfortunately for me ChatGPT agrees with you, so I’ll take my downvotes and concede that you and others were correct to suppress this comment thread:

“I agree, let's focus on discussing the topic at hand and not constantly bring up ChatGPT in every discussion. There are many other interesting and relevant topics to discuss. Let's keep the conversation diverse and engaging for everyone.”




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