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Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Ok, so it will have a strong web programming bias! This list is different to most others, I'm going to assume you basically know how to code in .NET enough to get a senior developer job in most companies. From a very rough poll I'm also going to assume a fair number of you don't have strong University / College CS / Software Engineering backgrounds (I don't). These are the books that over the years I've found useful in filling in / updating bits of my development brain.

NOTE: When it comes down to it, this is MY list...I realize there's some books you just can't believe aren't in the list. This is either because I just don't think  they make the cut (too dated like Code Complete / Rapid Development) or too 'daily textbook' like the JavaScript Bible / Programming C#. Feel free to argue / post mini-reviews of books you feel strongly about in the comments (I JUST won't know some of them and that's good too!).

Design / General Practice

  1. Algorithms in a Nutshell
  2. Applying Domain Driven Design and Patterns - with examples in C#
  3. Agile Principles and Practices in C#
  4. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
  5. Working Effectively With Legacy Code
  6. Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software

.NET - go deep!

  1. The CLR via C# (3rd Edition)
  2. Advanced .NET Debugging (NOT READ THIS YET, PLEASE REVIEW FOR ME!)

TDD, learn, master!

  1. Test Driven Development By Example
  2. The Art Of Unit Testing
  3. xUnit Test Patterns : Refactoring Test Code

The Javascript Triumvirate...you know the syntax, but want to get yourself to godlike status Smile

  1. Pro Javascript Techniques
  2. Javascript: The Good Parts
  3. Pro Javascript Design Patterns
  4. Even Faster Web Sites: Performance Best Practices for Web Developers (previous book is in the next section...this one focuses on JS perf / techniques)
    5.  

CSS / HTML

  1. Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns
  2. CSS: The Missing Manual
  3. High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers

Print | posted on Saturday, October 30, 2010 2:34 AM |

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Err, can you link thru to Amazon for each book? :-) - even put your own affiliate code in if you want to make a few quid?

10/30/2010 9:13 AM | Alan Graham

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Oh yeah, totally just giving it a few days for suggestions and stuff before I finalize, add Amazon links and my review of each :)

10/31/2010 3:50 AM | scott

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

JavaScript Bible
Mastering Regular Expressions
Code Complete
Prag Prog

10/31/2010 1:03 PM | David Clarke

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Yeah, David chose to specifically exclude those four. Think they are essential but for more junior devs...my list would be the books you read *after* those four :)

10/31/2010 10:26 PM | scott

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Brownfield Development in .NET

11/1/2010 7:19 AM | Craig Berntsopn

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Hmm, not read that one...will put it on the 'Third Party Recommendations' list which I'm adding on.

11/1/2010 7:34 AM | scott

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

clean code by Uncle Bob is the big one you are missing

11/1/2010 8:01 AM | Johnno Nolan

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

I nearly forgot. Some .net ones.

CLR via c#

C# in depth

are both highly rated.

11/1/2010 8:04 AM | Johnno Nolan

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Oh, so you're preaching to the converted? I've worked with developers who would be offended by any suggestion they are junior devs and yet who have not heard of let alone read those 4 books (perhaps I'm exaggerating for the JavaScript Bible). Even after working as a developer for a number of years I learned plenty (and likewise disagreed with some) from Code Complete. I still regularly refer to JS Bible and Mastering RE, which would be my definition of essential. And Prag Prog is a book that I think really marks a devs transition from pedant to taking that first step on the path to learning.

11/1/2010 11:58 AM | David Clarke

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

David, hmm...Pragmatic Programming is a tricky one, reread it again recently and I'm just not sure it makes the cut.
Code Complete for me offers little over the books I've already listed...and in many cases is really dated.
Anyway, I'll add them to the 'others recommend list'. Want to give a couple of two-line reviews for those?

11/1/2010 1:51 PM | scott

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Code Complete is well overdue for a rewrite but has enjoyed considerable longevity and I suspect is often removed from shopping baskets due to its publication date rather than its content being out of date. I ran an in-house seminar series just over 3 years ago using Code Complete to establish some baseline coding skills with staff who like yourself didn't have a formal CS education. In the process I found answers to some questions I didn't realise I hadn't asked (if that makes sense).

Prag Prog was I think the first time I had seen DRY and YAGNI but I haven't read it in some time. I still consider it one of those ephiphany texts that encapsulates/enunciates much acknowledged wisdom. Again, in an industry where half my bookshelf becomes obsolete after a year, Prag Prog is one that is probably not read enough.

Being something of a dinosaur I find myself still referring back to the JS Bible when I want some specific API detail. I find it a lot faster than google which will often regurgitate screeds of pages requiring much filtering. Particularly as I seem to have some form of muscle memory with respect to where I need to find the section on Regular Expressions for example.

And Mastering Regular Expressions is hands down the best book on regular expressions and a great treatment of what is normally considered a black art.

Other great reads include Speed Up Your Site, and Eric Meyer on CSS but looking at Amazon those books are from 2003 and 2002 respectively, darn that makes me feel old. I'm thinking of adding High Performance JavaScript to my Kindle - any feedback on that one?

11/1/2010 4:41 PM | David Clarke

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

JavaScript Patterns by Stoyan Stefanov

www.amazon.com/.../0596806752

11/1/2010 7:07 PM | Elijah Manor

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Typo in "Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#"

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code
Release It! Design and deploy production-ready software

11/1/2010 10:59 PM | Leyu Sisay

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# re: Essential Books For Pretty Good .NET Developers (IN DEVELOPMENT, SUGGEST MORE!)

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
http://amzn.to/aLGbnc

.NET Domain-Driven Design with C#: Problem - Design - Solution
http://amzn.to/90BOGQ

11/2/2010 12:29 AM | Simone Falconi

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