Episode · The Pragmatic Engineer · 2026-10-29
Gergely Orosz & Titus Winters: books mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer
Software engineering at Google & CS education with Titus Winters
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Titus Winters recommended PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS. by CAT. HICKS, discussed Software Engineering at Google by Titus Winters and others, and criticized The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks Jr..
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Software Engineering at Google
Software Engineering at Google by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, and Hyrum Wright documents the engineering practices, cultural values, and scaling strategies that sustain Google's massive codebases.
Discussed“And I think it's in the first two or three pages of the book uh I've said now for 10 years you know, your code base is sustainable if for any valuable change that comes along, you are capable of making that change safely, right?”
Where to get it
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PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS.
The Psychology of Software Teams by Cat Hicks is a research-based exploration of human dynamics within technology environments, focusing on the behavioral and cognitive science behind effective engineering groups.
Recommended“Um I love Cat Hicks, uh the psychology researcher for tech. Like her book, The Psychology of Software Teams, is beautiful. And like she talks about, you know, these these things a lot, right?”
Where to get it
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The Mythical Man-Month
The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P.
Critiqued“I regularly cite Fred Brooks in the Mythical Man-Month essays, right? And in the surgical team like at the surgical team is my least favorite chapter in that book because it's structured as if we're only ever going to do one project.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Before, he spent more than 10 years at Google, was the lead author of the book Software Engineering at Google, and ran the company's readability program.”
“Um similarly, there's a platform engineering at Google book that some of my friends are putting out. This early release chapters on O'Reilly. I might have written the chapter on education for that.”
“Like, we've been using go write a new essay on Catcher in the Rye. Like, we don't need another essay on Catcher in the Rye. Go write a new linked list.”