Episode · The Pragmatic Engineer · 2025-02-19
Gergely Orosz & Nicole Forsgren: books mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer
Developer productivity with Dr. Nicole Forsgren (creator of DORA, co-creator of SPACE)
Supported by Our Partners • WorkOS — The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS • CodeRabbit — Cut code review time and bugs in half • Augment Code — AI coding assistant that pro engineering teams love — How do you architect a live streaming system to deal with more load than it’s ever been done before?
Gergely Orosz recommended Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren and others. Nicole Forsgren recommended Inspired by Marty Cagan, Outlive by Peter Attia and others, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Accelerate
Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, PhD, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim is a research-backed guide that examines software delivery performance, organizational culture, and DevOps practices.
Recommended“the the book accelerate uh I think had had a huge impact as well I see it on the shelves of almost every engineering leader and if you've not read it I I think it's a great read to start with at least”
Where to get it
-
Inspired
Inspired by Marty Cagan serves as a comprehensive guide to building tech products that customers actually love.
Recommended“and what are are one or two books that you read and would recommend it's Tech related um Inspire by Marty Kagan is great I'm still making my way through parts of it because it is not a small book”
Where to get it
-
Outlive
Outlive by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford is a health and longevity guide focused on shifting from traditional medicine to proactive prevention and functional healthspan.
Recommended“another one that I loved uh that was just kind of like practical I just like to dive into like random things um but outlive by Peter AA was just I like to N I want to like nerd out and learn something”
Where to get it
-
Ender's Game
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is a classic science fiction novel about a gifted child recruited into a rigorous military training academy to prepare for an impending alien invasion.
Recommended“and for a fun book I always love Enders Game it's like an oldie but goodie so if I just want to like Escape I'll just grab like a a trashy beachy read or I'll grab like Ender Game or Ready Player one or something”
Where to get it
-
Ready Player One
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a science fiction adventure novel set in a dystopian future where people escape their reality through a sprawling virtual reality universe called the OASIS.
Recommended“so if I just want to like Escape I'll just grab like a a trashy beachy read or I'll grab like Ender Game or Ready Player one or something CU it's just it's just a fun story that I can just race through”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“she is a co-creator at the widely used framework Dora and space lead author of the book accelerate”