>From my software engineering days, I like Steve McConnell's "Code Complete" and "Software Project Survival Guide;" "The Mythical Man-Month," by Fred P. Brooks; "Joel On Software" by Joel Spolsky (who also has a blog); and "The Elements of Programming Style," by Kernigan and Plauger. K&R is directed at the C programming language, but there are enough similarities in syntax with PHP, Java, and a lot of other web developer languages that I think it's still relevant.
Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS Technology Librarian http://firstgentrekkie.blogspot.com/ On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 12:12 PM, Robert Fox<[email protected]> wrote: > Since this list has librarians, hard core programmers and hybrid librarian > programmers on it, this is probably a good place to ask this sort of question. > > I'm looking for some book recommendations. I've read a lot of technical books > on how to work with specific kinds of technology, read a lot of online > technical "how tos" and that has been good as far as it goes. But, technology > changes too fast to be wed to one particular programming language, database > technology, metadata standard, etc. I'm interested in finding books that > speak to the issues of programming methodology, design principles, lessons > learned, etc. that transcend any particular programming technology. Are there > good books that distill the wisdom and experience of veteran developers and > /or communicate best practices for things like design patterns, overall > software architecture, learning from mistakes, the developer mindset and such > things? > > Could you recommend perhaps the top three or four books you've read in these > areas? > > Rob Fox > Hesburgh Libraries > University of Notre Dame >
