Software Development Books

I have read a lot of books on software development during my career. I also have a subscription to Safari Books online. I am slowly reviewing my favourite books and choosing the best to add to these pages. The pages tend to read from top to bottom, i.e. the books I think you should read first are at the top.

I don’t review the books on these pages, I just give a short description and a link to Amazon.co.uk. All books listed here will get at least one Blog post in due course to properly review the contents.

Please note: as at Feb 2015, these pages are just being developed. I’ve started with one book in each category to start off with, please expect rapid development in the coming weeks and months. I’ll remove this paragraph when I think I’m somewhere near where I would like to be.

My Favourites

Please check back in the future as I expect this page to develop with the blog.

Soft Skills by Jon Sonmez This book has only just been published, but it is a future classic – that tells you everything you need to know outside of the technical aspect of being a developer. Its an easy read, with many small chapters, which I read from start to finish in a few days, just couldn’t put it down. View on amazon.co.uk: Soft Skills: The software developer’s life manual
Pro C# by Andrew Troelsen When your skills are starting to come on, rather than read the Learning C# Step by Step book again, I would recommend what I view as the C# programming bible. Its readable, definitely not just a reference guide. A must read for all C# developers. I can’t imagine anybody reading it cover to cover though – some chapters are definitely for intermediate/experts. View on amazon.co.uk: Pro C# 5.0 and the .NET 4.5 Framework (Expert’s Voice in .NET)
Clean Code by Robert C Martin This one is aimed at developers of all levels, not just beginners. In my view its worth reading alongside one of the OOD books, because between this and the OOD book, you will learn something about design that will stick. Apart from that, lots of practice and experience building systems is required. View on amazon.co.uk: Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship (Robert C. Martin)
Headfirst Object Orientated Analysis and Design Head First books have a unique teaching method that is good for developers of all levels of experience, that help you remember what is read. For me the other element is working with examples, and despite the examples being in Java don’t let that put you off. Download Eclipse and type in the examples – its not that different to C#! View on amazon.co.uk: Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: A Brain Friendly Guide to OOA&D
What Would Google Do? This book presents the new 21st Century way of thinking about business and social media. It should be essential reading for everybody not just software developers, UK politicians in particular would benefit and anybody who wants to learn more about how modern business works. View on amazon.co.uk: (What Would Google Do?: Reverse-engineering the Fastest Growing Company in the History of the World) By Jeff Jarvis (Author) Paperback on (Nov , 2011)