Podcast
Gergely Orosz's book list: the books mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer
Key facts
- 120 books have been mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer, as of October 29, 2026.
- 58 episodes of The Pragmatic Engineer mention at least one book, as of October 29, 2026.
- 52 people brought up a book on the show, as of October 29, 2026.
- The 3 books mentioned in the most episodes of The Pragmatic Engineer, as of October 29, 2026: A Philosophy of Software Design, AI Engineering and Software Engineering at Google.
- The latest episode of The Pragmatic Engineer with a book mention aired on October 29, 2026.
Updated
Books from the latest episodes
Building resilient systems with Sam Newman
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sed and awk Pocket Reference
at 6:48 -
Growing Object-Oriented Software: Guided by Tests
at 10:14 -
Building Microservices
at 20:55 -
Domain-driven Design
at 33:16 -
Building Resilient Distributed Systems
at 45:20 -
Fundamentals of Software Architecture
at 1:52:23 -
Balancing Coupling in Software Design
at 1:52:38 -
Learning Domain-Driven Design
at 1:52:38
Most recommended on The Pragmatic Engineer
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A Philosophy of Software Design
Discussed“And another one was John Asterout's book philosophy of software design where I picked up tons of great stuff like deep modules is which is a massive one for me.”
Where to get it
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AI Engineering
Recommended“I think that if you are trying to learn more about the foundational aspects of AI engineering in this moment there's a great book called AI engineering by Chip Huin that is also worth taking a look at.”
Where to get it
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Software Engineering at Google
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Titus Winters and host Gergely Orosz discussed the book Software Engineering at Google, which Winters co-authored. Orosz asked about the origins and scope of the book, leading Winters to describe the lengthy, part-time effort required to compile contributions from numerous people. Winters also referenced a key principle from the opening pages regarding sustainable codebases, while Orosz brought up a passage concerning teamwork and the rarity of lone programmers.
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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Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann came up on The Pragmatic Engineer in two separate episodes. In July 2025, Steve Huynh recommended the book during an interview, noting that a new edition was expected later that year. Later, in April 2026, Gergely Orosz interviewed Kleppmann and praised the work as a generational and iconic text that had served as the go-to resource for building large back-end systems for nearly a decade, while also introducing the newly released second edition.
Discussed“Designing data intensive applications has been the go-to book for anyone building large back-end systems. 9 years after publishing this book, the second edition is here. Martin Kleppmann is the author of this generational book.”
Where to get it
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The Timeless Way of Building
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Christopher Alexander's The Timeless Way of Building was discussed by Kent Beck and Tomas Reimers. Kent shared that he originally read the book standing up in a bookstore because he could not afford it, and later recommended it on the podcast, while Tomas also recommended it for its architectural insights.
Discussed“The patterns work I had become interested in Christopher Alexander at the University of Oregon. I couldn't afford the timeless way of building. So I read it standing up in the bookstore uh over the course of several visits”
Where to get it
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The Mythical Man-Month
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Frederick P. Brooks Jr.'s The Mythical Man-Month came up in discussions with Titus Winters, Will Larson, and Gergely Orosz. Titus critiqued the surgical-team chapter as overly hierarchical, Will invoked the book to argue against adding staff to late projects, and Gergely mentioned reading the classic text.
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
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Code Complete
Steve McConnell's Code Complete was featured on The Pragmatic Engineer. Guest Greg Kroah-Hartman recommended the book, sharing that it taught him the importance of consistent coding style for pattern recognition. In a later episode, host Gergely Orosz interviewed McConnell, discussing the extensive 900-page scope of the book on software construction, its impact on the industry, and McConnell's reflections on how programmers approach design and implementation differently.
Discussed“Code Complete is a single bus book on code construction which includes coding, debugging, detailed design, testing, and many more topics. It's also the most detailed one with an impressive 900 pages.”
Where to get it
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The Pragmatic Programmer
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Matt Pocock, Dex Horthy, and Gergely Orosz discussed The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. Matt brought up the book after noticing his AI-generated code declining in quality, while Dex listed it among software engineering classics that his team considered increasingly relevant. Matt later named it in his recommendations, and Gergely discussed its enduring concepts.
Discussed“I just I opened a book that I had on my shelf that I I think was still wrapped in plastic the first time I took it out, which was the pragmatic programmer. Um, which is everyone told me to read it.”
Where to get it
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Domain-driven Design
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Matt Pocock and Sam Newman discussed Eric Evans's Domain-driven Design. Matt brought up the book on September 17, 2026, explaining that a shared domain language makes communication with AI agents more effective, and later recommended its first three chapters. Sam also mentioned the book on October 7, 2026, while reflecting on how software development models existing non-digital enterprise processes.
Discussed“I mean that's what the whole domain driven design book came out 2000 Eric it was domain driven design came out 2004, and it was a reflection of the fact that the vast majority of software development was the process of us trying to model existing non-digital processes, and how you do that.”
Where to get it
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Vibe Coding
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Gergely Orosz discussed Vibe Coding by Gene Kim and Steve Yegge across multiple episodes in 2025 and 2026. Gergely referenced the upcoming release, asked Steve Yegge to define the term, and explored examples and predictions in the book regarding AI usage and developer jobs.
Discussed“So, in this book, Vibe Coding, I remember last time you were on the podcast, this book was about to come out and I was reading an early version of it or so.”
Where to get it
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Refactoring
Refactoring by Martin Fowler and others was discussed on The Pragmatic Engineer in two episodes. In November 2025, Gergely Orosz interviewed Martin Fowler, asking about the motivation behind publishing a second edition twenty years after the original 1999 release, and Fowler explained his desire to refresh the examples. Later, in July 2026, Dex Horthy recommended the book as a classic, emphasizing its enduring relevance for improving existing code and maintainability.
Recommended“Nowadays, we talk a lot about refactoring by Martin Fowler classic. I think it's because we spent a lot of time improving the design of existing code and trying to figure out how to get models to build code that is easy to maintain.”
Where to get it
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Software Architecture
In the May 28, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, From Software Engineer to AI Engineer – with Janvi Kalra, Gergely Orosz discussed Software Architecture by Mary Shaw and David Garlan. Orosz mentioned he had started reading the book and noted that Grady Booch, whom he had previously interviewed, considered it the single best software book.
Discussed“It's called software architecture and it's by Mary Shaw and David Garlon and Grady Grady Bouch who's a legend in software engineering and I interviewed him. He said that he thinks this is the single best software book.”
Where to get it
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Skunk Works
On The Pragmatic Engineer podcast episode "The history of servers, the cloud, and what’s next – with Oxide" on December 17, 2025, Bryan Cantrill recommended Skunk Works by Leo Janos and Ben R. Rich. He described the book as very influential for him personally, noting that it details the history of Skunk Works and features Clarence Kelly Johnson as the originator of the effort.
Recommended“for me personally um very influential was skunk works by Ben Rich. So about the the the history of skunk works. Um Clarence Kelly Thompson was the with kind of the originator”
Where to get it
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Tidy First?
On the April 23, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, Building Reddit’s iOS and Android app, a guest recommended Kent Beck’s Tidy First? after describing how their team read it together the previous year. The team subsequently held a multi-day conversation about how they could incorporate the book's ideas into their work.
Recommended“And then I also enjoyed Kent Beck's tidy first book. It's a really thin book, but I just like how crisp every single idea is, even though like that book might be a bit less relevant when you're writing a bit less code”
Where to get it
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Accelerate
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Gergely Orosz brought up Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, PhD, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim while asking Nicole Forsgren about the DORA framework. He recommended it as a starting read. In another episode, a guest mentioned the book while discussing organizational culture typologies and how cultures settle into pathological, bureaucratic, or generative states.
Discussed“It's in the accelerate book and I think about it a lot. Um it basically says that all cultures will eventually like settle into a pathological power oriented culture, a bureaucratic rule oriented culture or a generative performanceoriented culture.”
Where to get it
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Clean Code
Clean Code by Robert C. Martin was discussed across two episodes of The Pragmatic Engineer. In April 2025, Gergely Orosz brought up the book and its author during a conversation with John Ousterhout to compare their differing opinions on software design. Later, in July 2026, Dex Horthy recommended Clean Code as an essential software engineering classic that remains deeply relevant to modern development practices.
Recommended“We're reading a lot of like classics of software engineering. Refactoring clean code, the pragmatic programmer, like all that stuff is I think is more relevant now than it has ever been.”
Where to get it
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The society of mind
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Grady Booch discussed Marvin Minsky's book The Society of Mind. He referenced Minsky's ideas regarding systems architecture and multiple agents, explaining how those historical concepts apply to modern agent programming as developers begin to explore how multiple agents can work together in software systems.
Discussed“Taking ideas of Marvin Minsky society of mind which is a way of of systems architecting multiple agents. We're in agent programming now which I think people are just beginning to tap upon how those things apply.”
Where to get it
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Building Resilient Distributed Systems
Discussed“So I I wanted to talk to you about your latest book that is just coming out. Building resilience distributed systems. Yeah. What is the book about and why did you feel this is a good time to write it?”
Where to get it
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Observability Engineering
On The Pragmatic Engineer on August 12, 2026, Gergely Orosz and Charity Majors discussed the second edition of Observability Engineering by Charity Majors, Liz Fong-Jones, and George Miranda. Charity detailed the expanded structure of the book, covering deterministic and non-deterministic systems, while Gergely recommended the book to listeners in the episode outro.
Discussed“And when it comes to observability, I cannot not mention your book Observability Engineering and you have a second edition.”
Where to get it
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A Random Walk Down Wall Street
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Gordon Malkiel was featured on The Pragmatic Engineer in March 2026. Jean Lee brought up the book in conversation with Gergely Orosz while describing how she educated herself to manage her wealth after the acquisition of WhatsApp. Lee recommended the title as an essential starting point for anyone interested in financial management and personal finance.
Recommended“Um I read the Random Walk Down Wall Street, which is a great book. I recommend that people read it if you're interested in financial management and I read several other books to really educate myself to be able to manage this new wealth that I I came across as a young 29-year-old.”
Where to get it
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Complications
Complications by Atul Gawande was discussed on The Pragmatic Engineer in September 2025. Charles-Axel Dein recommended the book as a fascinating, nontechnical read focused on how to learn from mistakes and apply a scientific process to errors. Dein mentioned the work while listing recommended reading areas adjacent to programming fundamentals that extend beyond daily work.
Recommended“One of the best one I've read is Complication by Surgeon Atul Gande. It's an amazing book about how do you learn from mistakes and and how to have a scientific process when it comes to to learning from those errors.”
Where to get it
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Engineering a Safer World
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Hillel Wayne recommended Engineering a Safer World by Nancy G. Leveson as a useful starting point for understanding how complex systems fail, noting that the author investigated events like the Therac-25 case and the Columbia disaster. He later named the book again as an influence on his work with software.
Recommended“I'm going to just completely go 90° here and I'm recommend this book by um Nancy Leveson called Engineering a Safer World. Um she was an aeronautics engineer who investigated things like Therac-25 radiation case and like the Columbia disaster.”
Where to get it
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PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS.
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Titus Winters recommended the book The Psychology of Software Teams by Cat Hicks. Winters praised Hicks as a tech psychology researcher and described her book as a compelling treatment of the team dynamics and learning themes he and the host had been discussing during the episode.
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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Rust Programming Language
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Alice Ryhl recommended the official Rust Programming Language book by mEm lnc and Claudia Alves as a resource for learning Rust, pointing out that it is freely available on the official website. She later reiterated the recommendation when asked for her favorite books.
Recommended“So for one, I would say that the Rust book which is so it's on the official Rust website is actually really good, right? And you don't have to it's freely available online.”
Where to get it
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Surrounded by Idiots
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Jean Lee recommended Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson while discussing resources she used to learn about communication and understand different DISC personality types. She noted that despite the funny title, it was an excellent book for working with people.
Recommended“There's several books like I love the book Surrounded by Idiots. Have you read that book? It talks about the the DISC personality, the different types of personalities.”
Where to get it
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Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done by David Allen was discussed on The Pragmatic Engineer in September 2025. Charles-Axel Dein recommended investing early in personal productivity, naming Allen's book as the first he read on the topic. Later in the episode, when Gergely Orosz asked how he managed his commitments and reading, Dein brought up the method again, describing it as a simple approach that he had relied on for fifteen years.
Recommended“So in I've always invested a lot like the first book I read on this topic was getting things done um by Alan, which is a pretty I think it's also a section in your in your book by the way.”
Where to get it
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Test-driven Development
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Gergely Orosz asked Kent Beck about Test-driven Development and named his book Test-driven Development by example while exploring how the practice related to Extreme Programming. Orosz recalled the book's popularity, and Kent Beck discussed how the practice was received over time.
Discussed“And then when did TDD come along? Because there was a book that you you wrote that came out, I think two years later, uh, test-driven development by example. And how did it relate to XP?”
Where to get it
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A Fire Upon The Deep
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Kat Cosgrove recommended A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge. When asked for a book recommendation, Kat mentioned she was currently rereading the novel, describing it as a very strange and unusual piece of hard science fiction that remains one of her absolute favorite books.
Recommended“Um right now I'm rereading A Fire Upon the Deep by Verer Ving which is very weird, very um very very strange hard science fiction. Um it's one of my favorite books. I would I would absolutely recommend that if you like hard sci-fi.”
Where to get it
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Accelerando
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode Building Claude Code with Boris Cherny, Boris Cherny recommended Accelerando by Charles Stross. Cherny suggested the novel to listeners new to science fiction who want harder science fiction, praising the book as a speculative product roadmap for the next fifty years.
Recommended“For people that are new to sci-fi and you want like a little bit like harder sci-fi I really love Accelerando by Stross. This is a book I would totally recommend. It's like essentially the product roadmap for the next 50 years.”
Where to get it
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Addiction by Design
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled Design Engineering with Maggie Appleton on September 23, 2026, Maggie Appleton recommended Addiction by Design by Natasha Dow Schüll in response to a question about her favorite books. She described it as an anthropological study of people addicted to gambling machines in Las Vegas.
Recommended“One of my favorites that I give to most people is called Addiction by Design. So, it's about people addicted to gambling machines in Las Vegas, but it's an anthropologist doing it.”
Where to get it
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Algorithms Plus Data Equals Programs
On May 13, 2026, in the episode TypeScript, C# and Turbo Pascal with Anders Hejlsberg on The Pragmatic Engineer, Anders Hejlsberg recommended Algorithms Plus Data Equals Programs by Niklaus Wirth. He described it as a foundational resource that taught him about hash tables and compiling.
Recommended“I always recommend the same book, which is Niklaus Wirth's Programs plus Data Structures uh um equals algorithms. It's actually like available online now. Uh it was written in the '70s, but that was the book that It was a revelation for me to read this book.”
Where to get it
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An Elegant Puzzle
During an episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled "The revised rules of engineering management with Will Larson" on October 21, 2026, host Gergely Orosz discussed An Elegant Puzzle by Will Larson. The host stated that he had read both An Elegant Puzzle and Staff Engineer, noting that he took a lot of guidance from them and endorsing their overall usefulness for engineering leaders.
Recommended“And and so so positively or I I remember the both the elegant puzzle and staff engineer. I read it and I took I took a lot of guidance from it.”
Where to get it
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Antifragile
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled AI Engineering with Chip Huyen on February 5, 2025, Chip Huyen recommended Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. While discussing books and authors she enjoyed, she highlighted Taleb as a very interesting character and expressed her fondness for his works.
Recommended“um I like the book uh anti fragile uh so so so yeah so so the ideas thing um I think the author is is a very interesting character uh I I read his books I actually really like them”
Where to get it
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Apple in China
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled The state of VC within software and AI startups – with Peter Walker on August 6, 2025, Peter Walker appeared as a guest and answered Gergely Orosz's question about a book recommendation by sharing Apple in China by Patrick McGee. Peter noted that the book provides a massive history of how Apple became deeply embedded in China for product manufacturing, observing that the candid account might evoke mixed feelings for Apple fans.
Recommended“Apple in China very recently published. Candidly, if you're an Apple fan, it kind of makes you feel uh not so good. You you get this huge history of how Apple came to be so deeply embedded in China for the manufacturing of all their products”
Where to get it
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Balancing Coupling in Software Design
On the October 7, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building resilient systems with Sam Newman, guest Sam Newman recommended Balancing Coupling in Software Design by Vlad Khononov. While discussing modularity in software design, Newman praised Khononov's book as fantastic and particularly great for engineering teams.
Recommended“I would say around the modularity, Vlad Khononov's book on balanced coupling is fantastic. And I mean, his book on DDD is also very good. But that that balanced coupling book is really great.”
Where to get it
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Catastrophe Ethics
On the August 12, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Stop being skeptical about AI for development with Charity Majors, guest Charity Majors brought up Catastrophe Ethics by Travis Rieder. Majors recommended the book as a thought-provoking read that deals with ethical choices and the inherent difficulties of figuring out how to respond to massive, large-scale problems.
Recommended“really got a lot out of Catastrophe Ethics. It's not I haven't seen it mentioned many places and I think it might be I think real philosophy nerds would be like, "That's kind of a pop book, you know?"”
Where to get it
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Code
During the April 29, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building Pi, and what makes self-modifying software so fascinating, the host Armin Ronacher recommended Code by Charles Petzold. He praised it as a great read for non-techies and a primary recommendation for explaining his profession.
Recommended“Code by Petzold. Classic. I just love it. It's just such a great read. It's also for non-techies and it's the first thing I recommend if anybody ask me, "What's your job?"”
Where to get it
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Complex Adaptive Systems
During the February 5, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled AI Engineering with Chip Huyen, Chip Huyen recommended Complex Adaptive Systems by John H. Miller and Scott E. Page. Huyen highlighted the book as a very interesting read on systems thinking, specifically regarding how to design social dynamics so that people can work together toward shared goals.
Recommended“so so I really like the book like first of all like complex uh adaptive systems uh it's a very interesting book about a system thinking like how to design”
Where to get it
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Crafting Engineering Strategy
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled The revised rules of engineering management with Will Larson, released on October 21, 2026, host Gergely Orosz brought up Will Larson's book Crafting Engineering Strategy. The host recommended the recent book, noting that it contains many interesting ideas, and corrected an apparent title transcription error during the discussion.
Recommended“And certainly, I think Crafting Enduring Strategy came out last year and I think it's you know, the the newest one, but I think there's like a lot of interesting ideas in there for for sure.”
Where to get it
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Crossing the Chasm
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode TDD, AI agents and coding with Kent Beck, Kent Beck recommended Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore. Beck brought up the book as a resource for understanding how to reach the early majority market, and he subsequently referenced its concepts to explain why a group sought an industry standard.
Recommended“But if we wanted to reach the early majority, again, go back and highly recommend uh reading Crossing the Chasm or at least having Claude explain it to you.”
Where to get it
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Debugging
On July 29, 2026, during the episode Formal methods with Hillel Wayne on The Pragmatic Engineer, Hillel Wayne recommended Debugging by David Agans. He noted that he gave the book to every junior engineer because it treated debugging as a disciplined practice rather than guesswork.
Recommended“The last book is um called Debugging the Nine Simple Rules by David Agans. And it's literally just like a book of war stories about debugging and like basic principles. But this is the book that I give to every junior engineer”
Where to get it
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Diaspora
On June 17, 2026, during the episode CI/CD with Robert Erez on The Pragmatic Engineer, Robert Erez recommended Diaspora by Greg Egan. He mentioned the title alongside other hard science fiction works, stating that Egan's mind-bending stories appealed to him.
Recommended“From the the more fun side, basically anything by Greg Egan. He's an Australian sci-fi author. He writes some pretty crazy and mind-bending hard hard sci-fi. So, if you're really into that, I'd say read like Diaspora or Schismatrix.”
Where to get it
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Ender's Game
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Nicole Forsgren recommended Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. When looking for a fun and familiar book to read, she described it as an oldie but goodie that she turns to whenever she wants an entertaining and light read for an escape.
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
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Equoid: A Laundry Novella
Recommended“so I like um there's turns there's um Charles stros does the laundry file series which is about sort of secret like MI5 style Wizards”
Where to get it
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Fluke
During an episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled "Observability: the present and future, with Charity Majors" on January 22, 2025, Gergely Orosz asked for a nonfiction book recommendation for software engineers. Charity Majors recommended Fluke by Brian Klaas, explaining that the book explores chance and chaos, and discussing why she finds meaning in its ideas despite not being a religious person.
Recommended“the book is called fluke uh by Brian Claus fluke chance chaos and why everything we do matters I'm not a religious person but I do like really look for ways of having meaning in my life”
Where to get it
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Functional Programming in Scala
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode Building Claude Code with Boris Cherny, Boris Cherny strongly recommended Functional Programming in Scala by Paul Chiusano and Runar Bjarnason. Cherny stated that even if language choices do not matter as much anymore, the art of functional programming taught in the book helps engineers learn how to code better.
Recommended“And then on the technical side, I would strongly recommend functional programming in Scala. Even if language choice just doesn't matter as much anymore, I think there is this arts to functional programming that just teaches you how to code better.”
Where to get it
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Fundamentals of Software Architecture
During the October 7, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building resilient systems with Sam Newman, guest Sam Newman recommended Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Neal Ford and Mark Richards. Newman told the host it was a good read for software architecture, while candidly disclosing that the authors were his personal friends and that his recommendation was not unbiased.
Recommended“I I think there's a few books I can point people at. I think the um Software Architecture Fundamentals by Neil Ford and Mark Richards is a good read. Just to be clear, they're friends of mine, so I'm not unbiased in recommending it.”
Where to get it
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Gomer Goof Vol. 6 : Gomer
During the February 26, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled The man behind the Big Tech comics – with Manu Cornet, Manu Cornet recommended Gomer Goof Vol. 6 : Gomer by André Franquin. Cornet explained to English speakers that the famous European comic-book series was currently receiving good English translations under the title Gomer Goof.
Recommended“for English speakers I would recommend um the there's a a comic book that is a series of of books that is really famous in Europe but not that much in the US but it's currently being translated I think pretty well and the English title is Gomer goof uh so it is the the name of a guy his”
Where to get it
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Growing Object-Oriented Software: Guided by Tests
On the October 7, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building resilient systems with Sam Newman, guest Sam Newman recommended Growing Object-Oriented Software: Guided by Tests by Freeman Steve. Newman suggested the book for understanding the London flavor of test-driven development, identified its authors as his friends Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce, and joked that it had one of the worst titles in existence.
Recommended“It's sort of like if you want to know, you pretty to read growing object-oriented software guided by tests. One of the worst titled books in existence written by a couple of friends of mine. Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce.”
Where to get it
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Head First Design Patterns
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode Developer Experience at Uber with Gautam Korlam, released on March 12, 2025, Gautam Korlam recommended Head First Design Patterns by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Robson, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra, and Bert Bates. When Gergely Orosz asked for a recommendation, Korlam noted that although the book was a bit old, its software patterns and layering were still very strong.
Recommended“I read this book early in my career called head first design patterns which is a a little uh old at this point but the patterns are really good”
Where to get it
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Inspired
On the February 19, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, Developer productivity with Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Gergely Orosz asked Nicole Forsgren for technology-related book recommendations. Forsgren recommended Inspired by Marty Cagan, noting that she was still making her way through parts of the substantial volume.
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
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Learning Domain-Driven Design
During the October 7, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building resilient systems with Sam Newman, guest Sam Newman recommended Learning Domain-Driven Design by Vlad Khononov. While offering resources on modular architecture, Newman briefly highlighted Khononov's domain-driven design book alongside his other coupling-focused work as a very good read.
Recommended“I would say around the modularity, Vlad Khononov's book on balanced coupling is fantastic. And I mean, his book on DDD is also very good. But that that balanced coupling book is really great.”
Where to get it
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More everything forever
During an episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled "Stop being skeptical about AI for development with Charity Majors" on August 12, 2026, Charity Majors recommended More everything forever by Adam Becker. She noted that she had recommended the book multiple times because of how good it is, explaining that it offers a critique of beliefs surrounding the singularity, effective altruism, accelerationism, and endless growth.
Recommended“Number two, this is a book that I recommended a couple times, but I'm just going to keep recommending it cuz it's so good. It's by Adam Becker, and it's called More Everything Forever.”
Where to get it
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Outlive
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Nicole Forsgren discussed Outlive by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford in response to Gergely Orosz's request for book recommendations. Nicole shared that she loved the book because it offered practical information, noting that she enjoys diving into random topics and using books as a way to nerd out and learn new concepts.
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
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Piranesi
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled Building Figma Slides with Noah Finer and Jonathan Kaufman on March 26, 2025, Noah Finer recommended Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Responding to a question about books he had recently read, Noah described it as a short and captivating story that stayed in his thoughts every day after finishing it.
Recommended“I recently read panesi which is it's like it's pretty short it's a really captivating story and it's one of those books where after you read it you really do think about it for every day”
Where to get it
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Practical TLA+
During the October 21, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled The revised rules of engineering management with Will Larson, guest Will Larson mentioned Practical TLA+ by Hillel Wayne. Will recommended the book as a fantastic resource for verification ideas, and host Gergely Orosz helped identify Hillel Wayne as the author when Will temporarily forgot his name.
Recommended“And then there's a another great book whose name I'm losing on TLA plus And using that Is that Hillel Wayne? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he was on the podcast. Yeah, he he has the famous TLA plus. Fantastic book.”
Where to get it
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Programming Pearls
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode How Linux is built with Greg Kroah-Hartman, Greg Kroah-Hartman recommended Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley. Kroah-Hartman described the book as a tiny and fun read focused on bit fiddling and cute algorithms, noting that the topics covered remain surprisingly relevant to software engineering today.
Recommended“On the flip side, another really fun one, um, that's really tiny, programming pearls and like bit fiddling and, um, cute little algorithms and neat stuff like that, which surprisingly we still do today.”
Where to get it
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Project Hail Mary
On the April 23, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building Reddit’s iOS and Android app, a guest recommended Andy Weir's fiction book Project Hail Mary during the closing segment. The speaker praised it enthusiastically, describing it as a fantastic read that they simply could not put down.
Recommended“Um Project Hail Mary is my uh my fiction book recommendation. Fantastic. Couldn't put it down.”
Where to get it
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Radical Candor
On The Pragmatic Engineer, guest Robert Erez recommended Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott while discussing organizational and communication topics. He explained that he found the book useful for communicating more efficiently and with greater compassion with peers and colleagues, allowing leaders to maintain empathy while remaining direct in their professional interactions.
Recommended“The other one um from a more um I guess organizational and communication side of things, um Radical Candor by Kim Scott. How to you communicate more efficiently and with more compassion with um your peers and other people around you.”
Where to get it
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Ready Player One
On the February 19, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Developer productivity with Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Nicole Forsgren recommended Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. Forsgren mentioned the book as a fun, escapist story that she would pick up as a trashy beach read to race through whenever she wanted a lighthearted distraction.
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
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Robert A. Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson Set
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Quinn Slack recommended Robert A. Caro's multivolume biography set about Lyndon B. Johnson. When asked for a favorite book, Quinn praised the project as the most in-depth biography ever written about a United States president, emphasizing that readers truly get to understand the subject despite the significant time investment required.
Recommended“I love the LBJ biographies that Lynden Baines Johnson a US president back in uh middle of the 20th century uh by Robert Caro they are the most in-depth biographies ever and you really get to learn about someone”
Where to get it
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Rust for Rustaceans
During the May 20, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Why Rust is different, with Alice Ryhl, Alice Ryhl recommended Rust for Rustaceans by Jon Gjengset. She suggested the book for intermediate Rust developers who had gained experience and wanted to advance further.
Recommended“I also think that so John Ganget has another book that I think is really good and this book is kind of aimed at the intermediate Rust developer. The the Rust developer who has gotten some Rust experience but wants to go further.”
Where to get it
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Sapiens
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Gergely Orosz asked Steve Yegge for a book recommendation outside of his own work. In response, Steve Yegge endorsed Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, calling it an awesome book.
Recommended“So, and and what's what's a what's a book recommendation uh that that you had outside of your your own book? Read Sapiens, man. Such an awesome book.”
Where to get it
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Skin in the Game
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode "Building OpenCode with Dax Raad" on May 27, 2026, Dax Raad recommended Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in response to Gergely Orosz's request for book recommendations. Dax Raad called himself a big fan of Taleb's work, stating that the books contain fundamental truths about how the world works, even if they consist of single good ideas expanded into full volumes.
Recommended“I'm a big fan, these are like boring recommendations, but I'm a big fan of uh a bunch of TB's work. I think he's basically got like a couple good ideas and it's maybe hard to read a whole book cuz a book is just one good idea inflated into a book, but these are just fundamental true things about”
Where to get it
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Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode DHH’s new way of writing code, David Heinemeier Hansson recommended Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns by Kent Beck. Hansson praised the book as his number one recommendation for programmers seeking to learn the nitty-gritty details of structuring methods and classes, and he called it his favorite book of all time on tactical programming.
Recommended“Small Talk Best Practices is my number one recommendation for any programmer who want to learn the nitty-gritty of how to structure a method and a class and the rest of it. Small Talk Best Practices, which is Kent's book from 95, I think, or 96, is to this day my favorite book of all time on tactical programming uh”
Where to get it
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So Good They Can't Ignore You
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Steve Huynh recommended So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport when asked by Gergely Orosz for a book suggestion that software developers should read. Steve explained that the core concept centers around career capital, focusing on identifying and developing the specific skills that are in the highest demand within the industry.
Recommended“I think that most software developers should read a book by Kell Newport. It's called so good they can't ignore you. And so the concept there is around career capital. So like what are the skills that are in the most demand?”
Where to get it
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Software Engineering - The Soft Parts
During the August 19, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled From Chrome DevTools to AI Engineering, with Addy Osmani, host Gergely Orosz brought up Addy Osmani's short book Software Engineering - The Soft Parts. The host mentioned that the free, fifty-page publication was a really good read while asking Osmani about his writing workflow.
Recommended“You've written the short book Software Engineering the Soft Parts, a free book, about 50 pages, a really good read.”
Where to get it
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STEVE JOBS & THE NEXT BIG THING
During the December 17, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled The history of servers, the cloud, and what’s next – with Oxide, Bryan Cantrill recommended STEVE JOBS & THE NEXT BIG THING by Stross. He praised its account of Steve Jobs's time at NeXT to provide a more comprehensive view of his career.
Recommended“And then the uh the other one is Steve Jobs and the next big thing by Randall Straws. So um Steve Jobs is kind of like lionized by the industry but people forget about a very important chapter of his life namely next”
Where to get it
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The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled From Software Engineer to AI Engineer – with Janvi Kalra on May 28, 2025, Janvi Kalra joined host Gergely Orosz for a rapid-fire Q and A session. When asked what book she would recommend, Janvi named The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson. She noted that she had read it multiple times and praised the way the author approaches career pragmatism alongside personal happiness.
Recommended“Book I'd recommend is the almanac of Neville Ravikant. I've read it a couple times. big fan of the way he talks about building your life both from a very pragmatic way about how you should do it from your career but also in terms of just how to be happy”
Where to get it
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The Black Swan
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled Building OpenCode with Dax Raad on May 27, 2026, Dax Raad discussed influential books and mentioned The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Dax noted that the book is very popular and highlighted the concept of emergent properties from Taleb's work as particularly influential on his own thinking.
Recommended“Uh, obviously Black Swan is super popular. A lot of the stuff that I found to be very influential on myself is the idea of uh emergent properties.”
Where to get it
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The C Programming Language
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled Building Reddit’s iOS and Android app on April 23, 2025, the host asked a guest for a book recommendation to close the interview. In response, the guest recommended The C Programming Language by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie. The guest explained that working through the book felt challenging and eventually melted their brain a little bit when they truly understood that object-oriented programming is simply C structures with function pointers.
Recommended“And then as closing what's a book that you would recommend and why I thought about this forever and I have to choose the KN&RC book um like I feel like it melted my brain a little bit when I really really understood that like object-oriented programing is like just C structures with function pointers inside of it.”
Where to get it
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The Design of Everyday Things
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode Formal methods with Hillel Wayne, Hillel Wayne discussed books while exploring how different technical fields compile practical knowledge. Wayne mentioned that an engineer he spoke with frequently recommended The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman to every engineer, alongside The Snap-Fit Handbook.
Recommended“one of the engineers that I talked about two favorite books, The Design of Everyday Things, which he recommends every engineer read, and The Snap-Fit Handbook.”
Where to get it
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
On The Pragmatic Engineer podcast episode titled "Design-first software engineering: Craft – with Balint Orosz" released on March 5, 2025, Balint Orosz brought up The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. In response to a question from host Gergely Orosz about books he had read and would recommend, Balint Orosz explained that he found the book super interesting, particularly because of how it discusses concepts like management depth.
Recommended“there's Ben Harvest wrote this hard thing about hard things book and it's been super interesting for me because a lot of the things how it talks for instance about something called management depth”
Where to get it
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The Hunger Games
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Jean Lee mentioned The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins when Gergely Orosz asked her for fiction recommendations. Jean shared that the series was one of her absolute favorites, noting that she read the entire book series and enjoyed both the novels and the film adaptations.
Recommended“Hunger Games was one of my favorite books. I I read the whole series. I read it as well and I I almost like the I like the movies as well, but I love the books.”
Where to get it
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The Idea Factory
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode Building Windsurf with Varun Mohan, Varun Mohan recommended The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner when host Gergely Orosz asked for a book recommendation. Mohan explained that he read the book a long time ago and really enjoyed its account of how Bell Labs achieved massive innovation while operating as a commercial entity.
Recommended“You know, there was a book that I read a long time ago that I really enjoyed. Uh it's called The Idea Factory. It's basically about how Bell Labs uh kind of like innovated so much while being a very commercial entity”
Where to get it
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Mitchell Hashimoto appeared on The Pragmatic Engineer on February 25, 2026, in the episode "Mitchell Hashimoto’s new way of writing code." When asked by Gergely Orosz for a book recommendation, Mitchell Hashimoto brought up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. He described it as a romantic fiction novel about a woman who sells her soul to live forever, only for the cost to be that no one remembers her.
Recommended“The The something life of Addie LaRue. It's just like kind of a romantic type of fiction novel, but yeah, it's just about it it's about I think it's like 10 years old. It's older now. But uh it's just about a woman who kind of sells her soul to live forever, but the cost was no one remembers her”
Where to get it
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The Last Days of Night
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode Stacked diffs and tooling at Meta with Tomas Reimers, Tomas Reimers recommended The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore when host Gergely Orosz asked for a book recommendation. Reimers described the book as historical fiction centered around Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the race to invent the light bulb.
Recommended“So I am an avid mystery reader, so the mystery book I always recommend people is The Last Days of Night. It's a book around a Tesla, Edison and Westinghouse and the race to invent the light bulb.”
Where to get it
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The Linux Programming Interface
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode Hypergrowth startups: Uber and CloudKitchens with Charles-Axel Dein, released on September 24, 2025, Charles-Axel Dein recommended The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk. Dein described it as a less obvious read that detailed the API exposed by the kernel and provided technical foundations for their software stack.
Recommended“So for instance, one of the books that I non-obvious book I would say is like the L the Linux programming interface which goes into what is the API that is exposed to by the kernel.”
Where to get it
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The Little Book of Deep Learning
Recommended“it's the little book of uh learning by um by by France fur which which was sort of something I picked up when I was getting into llms and I wanted to have a bit of a better understanding”
Where to get it
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The Midnight Library
Recommended“um and then a fiction book is the Midnight Library but by Matt Hig um essentially it's a library of your all your possible lives and um it makes you think puts things into perspective”
Where to get it
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The Name of the Rose (Helen and Kurt Wolff Books)
Recommended“but to recommend a book that I like I read every year I I got a shout out the name of the Rose by Alberto Eko uh I read it every year”
Where to get it
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The October Man (Rivers of London)
Recommended“there's the river of London series by Ben aronovich which are metropolitan police officer who gets Tangled Up In Magic I really enjoy those”
Where to get it
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The Phoenix Project
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode CI/CD with Robert Erez, Robert Erez recommended The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford when asked for book suggestions. Erez recalled that their manager had distributed copies to everyone at Skype and praised the book's central focus on engineers being involved in operations.
Recommended“Phoenix Project is still for me a good one. This is one By Gene Kim, yeah. Yeah, and um I I can see uh you know, go you kind of remember that we got that in in in Skype.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler on November 19, 2025, guest Martin Fowler recommended The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro. Fowler described himself as totally obsessed with the book, praising its exceptional writing and length, and discussing its detailed account of how Robert Moses wielded immense power in New York.
Recommended“Another book that I'd mention that is completely separate and is in challenging in a completely different way that I've been totally obsessed with is a book called The Power Broker.”
Where to get it
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The Sciences of the Artificial
On February 4, 2026, in the episode The third golden age of software engineering – thanks to AI, with Grady Booch on The Pragmatic Engineer, Grady Booch recommended The Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert Alexander Simon. He cited the work as a foundation for systems theory and problem solving.
Recommended“go read the work of of Simon and Newell in the the sciences of the artificial. Uh there's a whole set of work that's come out on complexity and systems from the Santa Fe Institute.”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
On the February 5, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled AI Engineering with Chip Huyen, Chip Huyen recommended Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene. Huyen stated that she liked the book because it deepens a reader's understanding of free will, prompts critical questioning, and explores the fascinating concept that living entities can persist either through physical genes or through transmitted ideas.
Recommended“um I like the book uh selfish Gene um because uh you understand more like about Free Will and makes you like question a little stuff uh but it's the idea of like you can live on either through like jeans or through ideas”
Where to get it
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The Software Engineer's Guidebook
During the episode Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani on The Pragmatic Engineer, published on October 29, 2025, Addy Osmani recommended The Software Engineer's Guidebook by Gergely Orosz. Osmani praised the book for covering career paths and best practices for software engineers in a compelling way, directly addressing Gergely Orosz as the author of the guide.
Recommended“The book I'm going to recommend is one that I think covers career paths and best practices for software engineers in a way that I found very compelling. It is by you. It's the software engineers guide book.”
Where to get it
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The Soul of a New Machine
Bryan Cantrill appeared on The Pragmatic Engineer on December 17, 2025, in the episode "The history of servers, the cloud, and what’s next – with Oxide." He recommended The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder, noting that the book won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 or 1981 and details the engineering work behind building a new computer at Data General.
Recommended“first is Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kder. So this one won the Puliter Prize uh in 1980 or 1981, but about the the the building of a new computer at data general”
Where to get it
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The Three-Body Problem
Recommended“I'm a big science fiction fan. I think we all spend so much time reading professional books, diving into Prof. I mean this is a professional podcast you're making, right? Sometimes you got to get out of it. A three body problem is a amazing science fiction novel.”
Where to get it
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The years of Lyndon Johnson (Volumes 1-3)
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler on November 19, 2025, Martin Fowler mentioned The years of Lyndon Johnson Volumes 1-3 by Robert A. Caro as a follow-up to The Power Broker. Fowler praised the ongoing five-volume biography as equally brilliant in its exploration of political power.
Recommended“And then once you go on from that, you move on to his second biography because he's only written two biographies and that's his currently five volume biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, LBJ, which is equally brilliant”
Where to get it
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Think Again
Recommended“so um non-fiction book that actually helps with influence is called think again by Adam Grant I I love anything by Adam Grant but think again it was exceptional”
Where to get it
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Thinking in Systems
On The Pragmatic Engineer in the episode The revised rules of engineering management with Will Larson, Will Larson recommended Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. Larson stated that the book shaped his worldview regarding management and company operations. The host noted that he had read the book based on Larson's prior recommendation.
Recommended“I think, you know, Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows is like one that I think about a lot. read it based on your recommendation. I I think it's it's honestly the the book that kind of formed my view about management and kind of operating in companies.”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
On the November 19, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler, Martin Fowler recommended Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. Fowler explained that he particularly liked to recommend the book because it does an exceptionally effective job of helping readers develop an intuitive understanding of numbers, statistics, and probability.
Recommended“So, a book I I do particularly like to recommend is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kaneman. I like it because um he does a really good job of trying to give you an intuition about numbers”
Where to get it
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What color is your parachute?
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode titled Building WhatsApp with Jean Lee on March 18, 2026, Jean Lee recommended What color is your parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. She explained that the book had been very helpful in her own career by enabling her to understand her strengths, goals, and priorities.
Recommended“Anyways, it kind of depends on what your goals are, but you gave me some specific things like for your career, I think for me what was really helpful was What Color Is Your Parachute? That helped me really understand my strengths and my goals and priorities in my career and life.”
Where to get it
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Write Useful Books
During the July 23, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, Measuring the impact of AI on software engineering – with Laura Tacho, Laura Tacho recommended Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick. Tacho described it as a practical business book that helps make writing clearer and more concise by cutting out unnecessary fluff.
Recommended“First one is like a more business book and it's called Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick. This will get your writing clear and snappy and just cut out a lot of the fluff. So, it's incredibly useful.”
Where to get it
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
On The Pragmatic Engineer, Andrey Breslav recommended Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig when Gergely Orosz asked for a favorite book. Andrey described it as a well-known classic that has been widely recommended across the technology community for many years, praising it as a strong work that blends narrative with reflections on technology.
Recommended“There is this classic that's been recommended across the tech community for many years. Uh, it's called Zen and the Art of Moycle Maintenance. I heard that recommended. Yeah, it's a very good book.”
Where to get it
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A+ Certification Guide
In the June 3, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Kubernetes and retiring at the top with Kelsey Hightower, Kelsey Hightower discussed A+ Certification Guide by Azimuth Interactive Staff. He recalled purchasing the guide to prepare for certification and qualify for technical support jobs.
Discussed“And I remember going to a bookstore and they had the A+ certification guide and I looked and some of the job postings said, "Hey, you need to be A+ certified to take this support role or whatever it was."”
Where to get it
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Building Microservices
On the October 7, 2026 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled Building resilient systems with Sam Newman, host Gergely Orosz raised Sam Newman's book Building Microservices. The host brought up the publication timeline starting in 2014 and 2015 to ask Newman about how microservices became widely adopted around the time he was writing the book.
Discussed“You have written the book Building Microservices uh in in 2015 you started to write it in 2014 and as reference Uber started to talk about how they have thousands of microservices in 2015.”
Where to get it
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Cracking the Coding Interview
During the May 28, 2025 episode of The Pragmatic Engineer titled From Software Engineer to AI Engineer – with Janvi Kalra, Janvi Kalra recalled buying Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell and locking herself in her room to practice as many questions as possible to prepare for her Google interview. Gergely Orosz followed up by discussing the author and the history of the book's updates.
Discussed“And so, that green book, I'm forgetting what it's called, but I remember buying that book, locking myself in my room, cracking the coding interview probably. just cracking the coding interview and just reading as many questions as I could back then.”
Where to get it
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Histories
On The Pragmatic Engineer episode "“The Coding Machine” at Meta with Michael Novati" on January 15, 2025, Michael Novati discussed Histories by Herodotus. When Gergely Orosz asked which book had made an impact on him, Michael Novati named the work by the Greek historian and explained that it stuck with him because many of the stories within it do not seem to make sense factually.
Discussed“I think it was called uh histories it's by Herodotus the like Greek historian um and the reason why it really like sticks with me is it like a lot of the stories in there don't seem to make a lot of sense like factually”
Where to get it
The next 20 books mentioned on The Pragmatic Engineer, ranked
- Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
- Logic for Programmers by Hillel Wayne
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- Measure what matters by John Doerr
- Notes on the Synthesis of Form by Christopher Alexander
- Patterns of Distributed Systems by Unmesh Joshi
- Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler
- Programming TypeScript by Boris Cherny
- Rapid Development by Steve McConnell
- Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan
- sed and awk Pocket Reference by Arnold Robbins
- Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
- Showstopper! by G. Pascal Zachary
- Site Reliability Engineering by Betsy Beyer
- Software Craftsmanship by Pete McBreen
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- The First Snap-fit Handbook by Paul R. Bonenberger
- The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
- What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
- What the Dormouse Said by John Markoff
Guests who recommended books
- Steve McConnell (10)
- Matt Pocock (9)
- Sam Newman (8)
- Hillel Wayne (6)
- Jean Lee (6)
- Grady Booch (6)
- Titus Winters (5)
- Charles-Axel Dein (5)
- Will Larson (4)
- Charity Majors (4)
- Dex Horthy (4)
- Kent Beck (4)
- Bryan Cantrill (4)
- Martin Fowler (4)
- Nicole Forsgren (4)
- Addy Osmani (3)
- Robert Erez (3)
- Alice Ryhl (3)
- Steve Huynh (3)
- Chip Huyen (3)
- Simon Willison (3)
- Kelsey Hightower (2)
- Dax Raad (2)
- David Heinemeier Hansson (2)
- Boris Cherny (2)
- Elin Nilsson (2)
- Janvi Kalra (2)
- Varun Mohan (2)
- John Ousterhout (2)
- Tomas Reimers (2)
- Noah Finer (2)
- Greg Kroah-Hartman (2)
- Sean Goedecke (2)
- Irina Stanescu (2)
- Maggie Appleton (1)
- Anders Hejlsberg (1)
- Mitchell Hashimoto (1)
- Andrey Breslav (1)
- Peter Walker (1)
- Laura Tacho (1)
Latest mentions
“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?”
“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?”
“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.”
“You know, the J Reed seeing like a state, like you're not allowed to be in Silicon Valley if you haven't read Seeing as it like like a state, but it's basically um a book about how a state sees citizens and accomplishments and how that shapes how policy works.”
“And and so so positively or I I remember the both the elegant puzzle and staff engineer. I read it and I took I took a lot of guidance from it.”
“And certainly, I think Crafting Enduring Strategy came out last year and I think it's you know, the the newest one, but I think there's like a lot of interesting ideas in there for for sure.”
“I think, you know, Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows is like one that I think about a lot. read it based on your recommendation. I I think it's it's honestly the the book that kind of formed my view about management and kind of operating in companies.”
“And then there's a another great book whose name I'm losing on TLA plus And using that Is that Hillel Wayne? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he was on the podcast. Yeah, he he has the famous TLA plus. Fantastic book.”
“And he said he gave me a copy of the O'Reilly sed and awk book. And so, I spent 2 days learning how to do regular expressions. And I wrote a refactoring using regular expressions accounting for line lengths and everything else.”
“It's sort of like if you want to know, you pretty to read growing object-oriented software guided by tests. One of the worst titled books in existence written by a couple of friends of mine. Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce.”
“You have written the book Building Microservices uh in in 2015 you started to write it in 2014 and as reference Uber started to talk about how they have thousands of microservices in 2015.”
“I mean that's what the whole domain driven design book came out 2000 Eric it was domain driven design came out 2004, and it was a reflection of the fact that the vast majority of software development was the process of us trying to model existing non-digital processes, and how you do that.”
“So I I wanted to talk to you about your latest book that is just coming out. Building resilience distributed systems. Yeah. What is the book about and why did you feel this is a good time to write it?”
“I I think there's a few books I can point people at. I think the um Software Architecture Fundamentals by Neil Ford and Mark Richards is a good read. Just to be clear, they're friends of mine, so I'm not unbiased in recommending it.”
“I would say around the modularity, Vlad Khononov's book on balanced coupling is fantastic. And I mean, his book on DDD is also very good. But that that balanced coupling book is really great.”
“I would say around the modularity, Vlad Khononov's book on balanced coupling is fantastic. And I mean, his book on DDD is also very good. But that that balanced coupling book is really great.”
“One of my favorites that I give to most people is called Addiction by Design. So, it's about people addicted to gambling machines in Las Vegas, but it's an anthropologist doing it.”
“I just I opened a book that I had on my shelf that I I think was still wrapped in plastic the first time I took it out, which was the pragmatic programmer. Um, which is everyone told me to read it.”
“And another one was John Asterout's book philosophy of software design where I picked up tons of great stuff like deep modules is which is a massive one for me.”
“You've written the short book Software Engineering the Soft Parts, a free book, about 50 pages, a really good read.”
Episodes
Link to this list from your show notes
Host or produce The Pragmatic Engineer? Give your listeners every book mentioned on the show, with the episode it came up in. New episodes are added as they come out.
