Which author's software development books do you always want to read?

Question

While answering this question on being stuck on a problem I recommended a book by Gerald Weinberg called "Are Your Lights On: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is" (sanitised Amazon link) and this started me thinking that:

• I've read a lot of excellent books by Jerry on all sorts of things
• I often go back and reread his books
• I look forward to any new books written by him. In fact, I'm reading his new book "Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing" (sanitised Amazon link) at the moment and it is a real eye-opener. Thanks Jerry.

Then I realised that I always do the same for Scott Berkun, Steve McConnell, Martin Fowler and The Pragmatic Programmers.

Anyone else have authors that they regularly check to see if they have a new release out. I'm talking specifically software development and project management here.

cheers,

Rob

Answer 1

What I was writing C++ I had everything that Scott Meyers wrote.

Answer 2

• Scott Meyer (C++);
• Josh Bloch (Java);
• Alan Holub (Java);
• Michael Abrash.

Answer 3

Head first java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates was really useful when i started my career in java.

Answer 4

Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt. The pragmatic Programmers :) Their books are easy to read and contains golden nuggets of wisdom.

Answer 5

Herb Sutter (C++). His books (and articles) are exceptional (pun intended).

Answer 6

Bret McLaughlin Java,XML,J2EE

Answer 7

Looking for any new books from Jon Skeet.

Answer 8

• Frederick Brooks, as he seems to grasp the softer aspects better than most.
• Jim McCarthy, as he grasps teams so well. His new Agile stuff is good.

Answer 9

• Bruce Eckel back in the day, mostly cause he didnt just tell you "how", he'd tell you "why"
• Joel Spolsky. I don't agree with everything he has to say but it's always an entertaining read and bite-size chunks so you can pick up and put down at your leisure

Answer 10

Steve McConnell (Code Complete, Software Estimation, etc...)

Answer 11

Martin Fowler (Refactoring) and Kent Beck (Test-Driven Development: by example and Implementation Patterns

Also all from O'Reilly theory in practice series.

Answer 12

Alistair Cockburn best author on real software project management and the development process for small to medium sized teams.

Answer 13

I'm a huge fan of the Head First Labs books from O'Reilly

Answer 14

Robert Martin and Mike Cohn

Answer 15

I like Jesse Liberty

Answer 16

• Don Box
• Jeffery Richter