Do I Need to Read Book to Become a Good Programmer
Programmers Don't Read Books -- But You lot Should
One of the central themes of stackoverflow.com is that software developers no longer learn programming from books, every bit Joel mentioned:
Programmers seem to accept stopped reading books. The market place for books on programming topics is miniscule compared to the number of working programmers.
Joel expressed similar sentiments in 2004'due south The Shlemiel Style of Software:
But the majority of people still don't read. Or write. The majority of developers don't read books about software development, they don't read Spider web sites virtually software development, they don't even read Slashdot.
If programmers don't larn from books today, how exercise they learn to program? They practise it the erstwhile-fashioned way: by rolling up their sleeves and writing lawmaking – while harnessing the collective wisdom of the net in a 2nd window. The cyberspace has rendered programming books obsolete. It's faster, more than efficient, and just plainly smarter to get your programming data online. I believe Doug McCune's experience, which he aptly describes every bit Why I Don't Read Books, is fairly typical.
I lay office of the arraign squarely at the feet of the technical book publishing industry:
- About programming books suck. The barrier to being a book author, equally near as I can tell, is near nonexistent. The signal to noise of book publishing is arguably not a heck of a lot meliorate than what you lot'll notice on the wilds of the internet. Of the hundreds of programming books released every yr, perhaps 2 are three are truly worth the time investment.
- Programming books sold by weight, not past volume. There seems to exist an inverse relationship between the size of a programming book and its quality. The bigger the volume, somehow, the less useful information information technology will incorporate. What is the bespeak of these giant wanna-be reference tomes? How do y'all find anything in it, much less lift the damn things?
- Quick-fix programming books oriented towards novices. I have naught against novices entering the programming field. But I continue to believe the "Learn [Insert Language Here] in 24 hours!" variety of books are doing our profession a disservice. The monomaniacal focus on correct at present and the fastest, easiest possible way to do things leads beginners down the incorrect path – or as I like to call it, "PHP". I child! I kid!
- Programming book pornography. The idea that having a pile of thick, important-looking programming books sitting on your shelf, largely unread, will somehow make you a better programmer. As David Poole in one case related to me in email, "I'd never get to practise that in real life" seems to be the theme of the programming volume porn pile. This is why I considered, and rejected, buying Knuth's Art of Reckoner Programming. Try to purchase practical books you lot'll actually read, and more importantly, put into action.
As an writer, I'g guilty, too. I co-wrote a programming book, and I still don't think you lot should purchase it. I don't mean that in an ironic-trucker-hat, opposite-psychology way. I mean it quite literally. It'southward not a bad volume by any means. I have the utmost respect for my esteemed co-authors. Merely the aforementioned data would be far more accessible on the spider web. Trapping it inside a dead tree book is ultimately a waste product of effort.
The net has certainly accelerated the demise of programming books, merely at that place is some evidence that, even pre-net, programmers didn't read all that many programming books. I was quite surprised to run across the following passage in Lawmaking Complete:
Pat yourself on the back for reading this book. Y'all're already learning more than most people in the software manufacture because one book is more than than most programmers read each year (DeMarco and Lister 1999). A little reading goes a long way toward professional advancement. If you read even one skillful programming book every two months, roughly 35 pages a week, y'all'll soon have a business firm grasp on the industry and distinguish yourself from near anybody around you.
I believe the same text is present in the original 1993 edition of Code Consummate, just I no longer have a re-create to verify that. A lilliputian searching uncovered the passage Steve McConnell is referencing in DeMarco and Lister'southward Peopleware:
The statistics about reading are particularly discouraging: The average software programmer, for instance, doesn't ain a single volume on the subject area of his or her work, and hasn't e'er read i. That fact is horrifying for anyone concerned almost the quality of work in the field; for folks similar us who write books, it is positively tragic.
Information technology pains me greatly to read the reddit comments and learn that people are interpreting the stackoverflow.com mission statement as a repudiation of programming books. As ambivalent as I am well-nigh the current programming book market place, I love programming books! This very blog was founded on the concept of my recommended developer reading list. Many of my blog posts are my feeble attempts to explain cardinal concepts outlined long agone in archetype programming books.
How to reconcile this seemingly contradictory statement, the love and detest dynamic? Y'all see, at that place are programming books, and there are programming books.
The best programming books are timeless. They transcend choice of language, IDE, or platform. They do not explain how, simply why. If y'all feel compelled to make clean house on your bookshelf every five years, trust me on this, you're buying the wrong programming books.
I wouldn't merchandise my programming bookshelf for anything. I refer to it all the time. In fact, I referred to it twice while composing this very mail service.
I won't belabor my recommended reading list, every bit I've kept it proudly the aforementioned for years.
(Update: Tim Spalding kindly set up a LibraryThing account on my behalf – and members have already documented and entered every volume pictured on these shelves. Impressive, and quite absurd!)
But I exercise have this telephone call to artillery: my top five programming books every working developer should ain – and read . These seminal books are richly applied reads, year subsequently year, no matter what kind of programming I'm doing. They reward repeated readings, offering deeper and more penetrating insights into software engineering every time I return to them, armed with a few more years of experience under my belt. If you haven't read these books, what are you waiting for?
| Code Complete 2 | Don't Brand Me Think |
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| Peopleware | Pragmatic Developer |
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| Facts and Fallacies | |
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It is my greatest intention to brand stackoverflow.com highly complementary to these sorts of timeless, archetype programming books. It is in no way, shape, or course meant as a replacement for them.
On the other mitt, if you're the unfortunate author of Perl for Dummies, then spotter your back, considering we're definitely gunning for yous.
Do I Need to Read Book to Become a Good Programmer
Source: https://blog.codinghorror.com/programmers-dont-read-books-but-you-should/
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