Faye Bridge
writes on October 18, 2017
Whether you’re learning to code online, at a coding bootcamp, or in-person, there’s one supplementary resource that we recommend to accompany your learning: books. But with so many programming books to choose from (a Google search brings up over 12 million related results) how do you know which ones to choose?
We decided to do some crowdsourcing and asked our awesome community on Facebook and Twitter: If there was one programming book you’d recommended, what would it be? We got lots of great responses and after sorting through them pulled together the top 25 (listed in no particular order).
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General Programming
1. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin
2. Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction by Steve McConnell
3. Think Like a Programmer: An Introduction to Creative Problem Solving by V. Anton Spraul
4. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware & Software by Charles Petzold
5. Starting Out with Programming Logic & Design by Tony Gaddis
6. Beginning Programming All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies by Wallace Wang
7. Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions & Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
8. Head first book series (Java, Python, Design Patterns, JavaScript, C#, WordPress, Rails)
HTML & CSS
9. HTML and CSS: Design & Build Websites by Jon Duckett
10. Head First HTML and CSS: A Learner’s Guide to Creating Standards-Based Web Pages by Elisabeth Robson
JavaScript & jQuery
11. You Don’t Know JS: Up & Going by Kyle Simpson
12. Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming by Marjin Haverbeke
13. Head First JavaScript Programming: A Brain-Friendly Guide by Eric T. Freeman
14. JavaScript & jQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development by Jon Duckett
15. Professional JavaScript for Web Developers by Nicholas C. Zakas
16. Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja by John Resig
17. JavaScript: JavaScript Programming The Ultimate Beginners Guide by Dennis Hutten
Python
18. Learn Python 3 The Hard Way: A Very Simple Introduction to the Terrifyingly Beautiful World of Computers and Code by Zed A. Shaw
19. Fluent Python: Clear, Concise, and Effective Programming by Luciano Ramalho
20. Python Crash Course: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming by Eric Matthes
21. Automate The Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners by Al Sweigart
& More
22. The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master by Andrew Hunt
23. iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide by Christian Keur
24. Java How to Program, Early Objects by Paul J. Deitel
25. Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
This is definitely not an exhaustive list, so we’d love to hear from you. What programming books would you add to the list?
chris you should read -> the 7 habits of highly effectivve people by stephen covey and also check -> side hustle and $100 startup by chris guillebeau….you can find much more on amazon i recommend you to use amazon kindle if you can or like read on devices (obs: with kindle the books are cheaper then you can buy mmore)
Great List, but please update with some good books on android and Laravel framework.
Would it be possible to also have an article for books that are more conceptual? An example would be “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug and “The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman. I listened to Donald Norman’s book on Audible and read “Don’t Make Me Think”. “Unmarketing”, “The Lean startup”, and “Start With Why” are also great books as well.
I love your tutorials for the tech component, but I’m looking for more books about professional and personal growth 🙂
Thank you for any help or recommendations!!
chris you should read -> the 7 habits of highly effectivve people by stephen covey and also check -> side hustle and $100 startup by chris guillebeau….you can find much more on amazon i recommend you to use amazon kindle if you can or like read on devices (obs: with kindle the books are cheaper then you can buy mmore)
really didn’t mansion clean coder by uncle Bob?
That’s the first book in the list. Clean Code by Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin