I found this old post on my old blog and still think it may have some good book tips which I will share with you on my new blog, where I also have new visitors.
In this post I will give my suggestions of books that in my opinion could make you become a great developer. Remember that books will only give you theoretical knowledge and not the practical knowledge, so you also need to use your knowledge and do some practical programming to success. You will also learn from your mistakes and the best way to succeed is to follow those who have succeeded.
Note: I assume you already have some great skills in some programming language, such as C#, VB.Net, Java and C/C++ etc. The books I will list in this post will be easier to understand if you have basic knowledge in C#, C/C++ or Java. Most examples in the book are written in Java, C# or C/C++.
Before you start your path to become a great developer, I should suggest you to read the following book:
The Balanced Life: Achieving Success in Work & Love - Alan McGinnis
To become a great developer you will need time, and you should be careful so you don’t scarify the one you love.
Read the books in the order they are listed:
Learn how to become a Pragmatic programmer:
1) The Pragmatic Programmer - Andrew Hunt, David Thomas
Learn how to write well structured code
2) Code Complete, Second Edition - Steve McConnell
Learn about how to write secure code
3) Writing Secure Code 2:Edition - Howard and LeBlanc
Learn about Object Oriented thought process
4) The Object-Oriented thought Process – Matt Weisfeld
Learn GOF’s Design Patterns
5) Design Patterns – GOF
Learn about different principles and patterns etc
6) Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices - Robert C. Martin
Learn how to write high quality code by suing TDD
7) Test Driven Development: By Example - Kent Beck
Learn about how you can improve the design of existing code
8) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code - Martin Fowler
Learn about how to refactoring to patterns
9) Refactoring to Patterns - Joshua Kerievsky
Learn about Data Structures and when to use them
10) Data Structures And Algorithms With Object-Oriented Design Patterns In C++ - Bruno R. Preiss
Another great book I can recommend is a book about how to help others to excel:
Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Enjoy Helping Others Excel - Alan McGinnis
If anyone have some more book tips or stuff that make you to be a good developer, please feel free to add a comment!