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Fundamental Books of a Software Engineer (version 2018)

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More then six years ago I wrote a blog post about fundamental books that any software engineer (developer) should read. Now it is an excellent time to update this list with new entries.

There are 5 different categories of books, that represent the recommended path. For example, you start with Coding books, after that, you read books about Programming, Design and so on.
There are some books about C++ that I recommend not because you shall know C++, only because the concepts that you can learn from it.

Coding

  • Writing solid code
  • Code complete
  • Programming Pearls, more programming pearls(recommended)
  • [NEW] Introduction to Algorithms


Programming

  • Refactoring (M. Fowler)
  • Pragmatic Programmer
  • Clean code
  • [NEW] Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach
  • [NEW] The Mythical Man-Month
  • [NEW] The Art of Computer Programming


Design

  • Applying UML and Patterns (GRASP patterns)
  • C++ coding standards (Sutter, Alexandrescu)
  • The C++ programming language (Stroustrup, Part IV)
  • Object-oriented programming (Peter Coad)
  • Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (Fowler)
  • DDD (Erik Evans)
  • [NEW] Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (GOF)
  • [NEW] Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems (Sam Newman)
  • [NEW] RESTful Web Services
  • [NEW] Implementing Domain-Driven Design (Vaughn Vernon)
  • [NEW] Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
  • [NEW] Building Micro Services Designing Fine-Grained Systems (Newman)


Project (lifecycle, management, non-technical issues)

  • Design patterns (GOF)
  • Writing use cases
  • Rapid development
  • Software project survival guide (recommended)
  • Software estimation - demystifying the black art (recommended)
  • Debugging the development process (recommended) 
  • Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices (R.Martin)
  • Working Effectively with Legacy Code (Michael Feathers)


Professional

  • Clean coder
  • Mythical man month
  • Peopleware
  • Slack
  • [NEW] Enterprise Integration Patterns: Designing, Building, and Deploying Messaging Solutions
  • [NEW] Microsoft Application Architecture Guide
  • [NEW] CODE: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Don't try to cover all these books in a few months, you also need practice, additional to theory. Besides this, some of the books need to be re-read after a while. 

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