When I was working at Amazon, the Principal Engineering community set about a task to define a list of books an engineer could conceivably read within a year which would have a measurable impact on the growth of their career. After much deliberation, the following list of 13 books was the result. I have personally only read a small number of these, but I am aiming to read some or all of them in the coming months and years. Some emphasis was placed on taking a more holistic view of engineering instead of focusing on specific technologies.
Of the books listed below, I have only skimmed Programming Pearls, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, and Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming. I found all three to be generally enjoyable, but focused mostly on the art of skilled computer programming. In future books, I hope to get to the more holistic side of engineer which I was promised.
- Designing Distributed Control Systems: A Pattern Language Approach
- The Field Guide to Understanding ‘Human Error’
- Thinking in Systems: A Primer
- The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts In Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact
- How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business
- Thinking, Fast and Slow
- The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
- Programming Pearls
- Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
- Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming
- The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition
- The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change