18
votes

I am currently reading the recently published Being Geek by Michael "Rands" Lopp and I can't get enough of it.

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Is there any other career guidance books aimed directly or indirectly at programmers that are worth reading?

2
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  • I like "97 Things Every Programmer Should Know" book edited by Kevlin. This book contains views of Expert Programmers. It just helped me in understanding overall programming practices.
    – Badar
    Sep 24, 2012 at 16:33

10 Answers 10

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22
votes
+50

  • Code complete

  • The Pragmatic Programmer

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  • 5
    Although Pragmatic Programmer might be considered one, Code Complete definitely isn't a career guidance book.
    – Thomas Owens ♦
    Dec 21, 2010 at 9:45
9
votes

Professional Software Development -- Steve McConnell

This book is aimed at everyone in the software field, especially programmers and software engineers. It specifically discusses advancing the profession of software engineering at all levels - individual, organization, and industry.

This book is an expansion upon another book, also by Steve McConnell, After the Gold Rush.

8
votes

Joel on Software blog contains tons of invaluable information which can help you to be successful programmer. A lot of the things can be easily reflected to non-software development professions. If you prefer to read books, there are several books which compile all the wisdom of Joel's articles.

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5
votes

Most of the books by the Pragmatic Programmers are well worth reading. They have an entire section in their catalog on career guidance. I can recommend The Pragmatic Programmer (old, but good), Pragmatic Thinking and Learning, and The Passionate Programmer.

4
votes

I've found Land the Tech Job You Love which came out 2009 to be very useful. Practical advice on prioritizing you personal wish list for jobs, and simple advice about chucking out the unofficial CV rules to bring more relevant experience to the front.

2
votes

I've written a book which I published May this year just to answer this type of question. You can check it out at: http://siamacnikoo.com/life-as-a-software-developer.php

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  • You can also check out: ericsink.com. He provides some decent advice.
    – Siamac Nikoo
    Oct 8, 2010 at 3:53
1
vote

I wrote a small blog post here: I would add:

  • The Adventures of Johny Bunko - The last career guide you will ever need,
  • ReWork (does not fit 100% but gives you an insight to how things work in modern Software Development Environments)
0
votes

The Career Programmer

I was able to identify with this book more so than any other...

1
  • this book has horrible review, it s old , it is from 90s, not relevant anymore
    – ERJAN
    May 6, 2013 at 7:31
0
votes

IMHO, Coding Horror by Jeff Atwood, is the best programming blog out there.

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