9 Must-Read Books for Software Engineers: Boost Your Skills and Advance Your Career

Jordan Baumgardner
3 min readJan 4, 2023

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As a software engineer, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and best practices in the industry. One way to do this is by reading books written by experienced professionals. Here are nine must-read books for software engineers that will help you improve your skills and advance your career:

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  1. “Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship” by Robert C. Martin: This book is a classic in the software engineering world and a must-read for any engineer. It covers best practices for writing clean, maintainable, and scalable code.
  2. “The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master” by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas: This book is a comprehensive guide to becoming a better software engineer. It covers a wide range of topics, including design patterns, testing, and debugging.
  3. “Designing Data-Intensive Applications” by Martin Kleppmann: This book is a must-read for engineers working with data-intensive applications. It covers the design and architecture of such systems and provides guidance on how to build scalable and resilient systems.
  4. “Cracking the Coding Interview” by Gayle Laakmann McDowell: If you’re looking to land a job at a top tech company, this book is a must-read. It provides a comprehensive guide to preparing for coding interviews and includes over 190 programming questions and solutions
  5. “Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code” by Martin Fowler: This book is a must-read for any engineer who wants to improve the design and structure of their code. It covers a range of refactoring techniques and provides guidance on how to make your code more maintainable and scalable.
  6. “Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests” by Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce: This book is a great resource for software engineers who want to learn about test-driven development (TDD). It covers the principles and practices of TDD and provides guidance on how to use it to build high-quality software.
  7. “The Mythical Man-Month” by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.: This book is a classic in the software engineering world, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the process of software development. It covers a range of topics, including project management, team dynamics, and the challenges of building software.
  8. “The Algorithm Design Manual” by Steven S. Skiena: This book is a comprehensive guide to algorithm design and analysis. It covers a wide range of algorithms and data structures and is a great resource for software engineers who want to improve their problem-solving skills.
  9. “The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers” by Robert C. Martin: This book is a sequel to “Clean Code,” and covers best practices for professional software development. It covers topics such as ethics, testing, and teamwork, and is a must-read for any software engineer looking to take their career to the next level.

There are many other great books out there that software engineers should consider reading, but these are a few that we highly recommend. By reading these books and others like them, you can continue to improve your skills and advance your career as a software engineer.

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Jordan Baumgardner

Software Engineer, meteorologist, and sports & fitness enthusiast. Follow for updates on my tech projects and adventures.