Recommended Reading – Programming

The following lists various reading materials (or videos) that I generally think are pretty good and/or have had a significant impact on my current thoughts regarding programming/software development.

Warning: Some content linked to below may not always use the most family-friendly language.

Books

  • Code Complete – My favorite overall book related to programming/software development.  Lots of good, practical tips and wisdom.
  • The C Programming Language – A classic book on a classic language.  Good for anyone interested in learning more about C.  Could be a useful reference for more experienced developers, and might work for beginning programmers interested in putting in a lot of effort to learn programming with C.

Blogs

  • Coding Horror – A blog with lots of nice insights on computers and software.
  • Joel on Software – Another blog with some nice insights on software development.  The older posts (i.e. reading lists on the sidebar) have generally been more valuable.

Videos

  • Handmade Hero – A fun video series with live programming streams for coding a game basically “from scratch.”  While I don’t necessarily agree with every “decision” made during the stream, there’s no doubt that Casey Muratori knows what he is doing.  I’ve learned a lot by watching him and have been challenged to rethink some of my previous assumptions regarding programming.
  • A Programming Language for Games – Videos by Jonathan Blow working on developing a new programming language.  Presents some interesting ideas to overcome some of the “friction” of working in existing languages like C/C++.

Miscellaneous Web Links