Books

I’m terrible at writing. I have a lot to make up for and the faster the better. This book is great for giving small nuggets of advice that you can immediately use in your writing. The author, Gary Provost, does a brilliant job of making it a pleasure to read the book. Most of the time, he crafts his own writing to be examples of the very thing he is teaching at that very moment.

After taking the Tour of Go, I bought Go in Action and haven’t regretted it. It’s great for someone who already knows how to program, but wants to get up to speed on the details and inner workings of Go. The authors, William Kennedy, Brian Ketelsen, and Erik St. Martin, did a great job of giving examples I could expand into a practical applications while keeping them concise (which keep the book light, in both reading and weight).

Just For Fun was a biography about Linus Torvalds’ life up until about 2002. I believe it is important for programmers to understand how humankind has gotten to this point in technology and to understand the mindset behind the people who pushed it. Just like how we must study all history in order to strive to do better on behalf of our predecessors, programmers should get a solid course in how the fantastic machine they carry around in their pockets came to be.

This book has left a lasting impression and was a great starting place to continue my learning after college. Instead of teaching an algorithm or some abstract theory, the authors give you their advice composed from years of experience as established professionals in our field. This was a priceless insight into things like working with a team, handling a real world project, and how to choose the best tools and libraries that will make your life easier.