Two Critical Books and Two Critical Articles (For 'Software People')

Article Table of Contents

I speak with many persons who are considering becoming software developers (usually by way of a program like the Flatiron School or the Turing School).

I’m a graduate of the Turing School, and have written a lot about the program, like:

• My reflections on Turing
• an 8-part guide to take you from slightly prepared to ridiculously prepared for the back-end program
• a bespoke Turing prep for parents
• job-hunting advice for Turing grads (and anyone else)

I recommend strongly the following books and articles all the time. They are broadly helpful no matter where you are in your career (or if you don’t have one! A “career” is a luxury, a “job” puts a roof over your head.)

This is a copy/paste from a recent conversation. I’m going to stop copy/pasting these four links to people all the dang time, and instead send them to this page you’re reading right now:

other person:

What where those books/resources that you said are so foundational to your understanding of the industry?

Me:

Read these two books, and these two articles. The books are available at your local library in any format you’d want. The articles are long, give them appropriate attention:

1/3rd of the reason I became a software developer is because of these two articles:

1. Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued (Patio11)
2. Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice (Patio11)

This book is another 1/3rd of the reason I got into software:

A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

The last 1/3rd (or maybe the first 1/3rd) was from this book:

So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love