Good software development books are hard to find. I’m always being asked which books I recommend so I thought I’d compile a list of my favourites. These are books every software developer should read. All of these books have made me a better programmer. The list covers everything from the basics of coding to agile development and architectural software development.

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

Code Complete

Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules

Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture