Introduction
Search engines and community forums like StackOverflow are indispensable tools for programmers. According to Handy, most programmers today code away with trial and error and take help from these communities when they get stuck. This helps to solve momentary problems. However, eventually, you hit a glass ceiling since the way you think, and code doesn’t evolve. Here are a few books that will change the way you code:
The Books
- Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction – To professional programmers, Code Complete by Steve McConnell is the ultimate holy grail of practical coding. The massive 900-page book has ample techniques and suggestions in every chapter to improve your ability to construct code and program every day.
One of the other key advantages of this book is that it doesn’t feel like a programming book, but something of a programming literature. The material is packed with stories that make reading the book entertaining and hence makes the reading experience easier.
- The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master – Andie Hunt and David Thomas have created a masterpiece with this book. It is one of the treasures in the programming world that has been published a long time back but continues to stand the test of time. It contains recommendations and important lessons that are indispensable for software developers.
It also has a collected set of 70 tips in the form of a tear-out card at the back. These tips may appear to be simple. However, they offer great dimensions and insights that would strengthen your skills and go a long way to aid you in your career.
- Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability – If you want to arm yourself with usability or just want to get deeper knowledge on this subject, then grab this book by Steve Krug. If you are creating mobile sites, mobile apps, or websites that are intuitive to use and don’t demand the user to be thrown behind a learning curve, then this book can offer immense resources. Moreover, concepts are laid down in a way that is easy to grasp for both the layman and technical audiences.
- Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship – Developing good code is quintessential for any developer. The alternative can bring good projects down to the brink of failure. Robert C. Martin in his book Clean Code shares tips and guides you by examples for writing better code.
The book puts forward best practices and principles to write clean code and also lays down challenges that make you evaluate sample codes and what’s wrong with them. The examples in this book are written in Java. However, you can apply them to almost all programming languages in existence.
Conclusion
Handy believes that programming books bring a certain perspective and depth of knowledge that may require months of experience and the right circumstances for you to encounter through trial and error. Grab one or all of the above-mentioned books and start reading to evolve and change the way you code.
