Hi, Robert.

I highly recommend both "The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to  
Master" (http://www.pragprog.com/titles/tpp/the-pragmatic-programmer)  
and "Practices of an Agile Developer" (http://www.pragprog.com/titles/pad/practices-of-an-agile-developer 
). I found both of these books to be the best distilled wisdom about  
best practices, problem solving, good habits, and developer mindset  
I've ever encountered.

Bess

Elizabeth (Bess) Sadler
Chief Architect for the Online Library Environment
Box 400129
Alderman Library
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904

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(434) 243-2305



On 9-Sep-09, at 12:12 PM, Robert Fox wrote:

> Since this list has librarians, hard core programmers and hybrid  
> librarian programmers on it, this is probably a good place to ask  
> this sort of question.
>
> I'm looking for some book recommendations. I've read a lot of  
> technical books on how to work with specific kinds of technology,  
> read a lot of online technical "how tos" and that has been good as  
> far as it goes. But, technology changes too fast to be wed to one  
> particular programming language, database technology, metadata  
> standard, etc. I'm interested in finding books that speak to the  
> issues of programming methodology, design principles, lessons  
> learned, etc. that transcend any particular programming technology.  
> Are there good books that distill the wisdom and experience of  
> veteran developers and /or communicate best practices for things  
> like design patterns, overall software architecture, learning from  
> mistakes, the developer mindset and such things?
>
> Could you recommend perhaps the top three or four books you've read  
> in these areas?
>
> Rob Fox
> Hesburgh Libraries
> University of Notre Dame