From my software engineering days, I like Steve McConnell's "Code
Complete" and "Software Project Survival Guide;" "The Mythical
Man-Month," by Fred P. Brooks; "Joel On Software" by Joel Spolsky (who
also has a blog); and "The Elements of Programming Style," by Kernigan
and Plauger. K&R is directed at the C programming language, but there
are enough similarities in syntax with PHP, Java, and a lot of other
web developer languages that I think it's still relevant.

Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
Technology Librarian
http://firstgentrekkie.blogspot.com/






On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 12:12 PM, Robert Fox<[log in to unmask]> 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
>