10 Advanced Programming and Development Books for Experienced Developers - Best of Lot

Hello guys, if you are looking for some advanced programming and development books to take your coding and software development skill to next level then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared advanced courses in Java, Python, C++, and JavaScript and in this article, I am going to share some good books for the experienced programmer which can help them to become an expert. Learning never stops but once you become a professional programmer and spent a couple of years doing professional programming, you need to make some effort to reach the next level i.e. to become an expert programmer. Continuously doing the same stuff and not analyzing will not make you better. This is where these books can help you.

They are written by experienced and great programmers and contains the zest of the programming world, be it a programming language like Java or Ruby, or general programming concept, managing programmers, and stakeholders, project management, handling large enterprise project and various things you encounter in professional software development job.

I know this kind of list can never be complete, but these are some of the great books which can certainly help the senior developer to become expert programmers.

10 Must-Read Books for Experienced Software Developers

Without wasting any more of your time, here is my list of 10 of the best books every experienced Software developer should read. In this book, some books are programming language-specific like the Effective Java or Python Tricks or Effective C++ but they also contain some useful general programming advice that is applicable to almost all programming languages.

1. The Phoenix Project

This is one of the most interesting books I have read last year and a must-read for any experienced developer who wants to learn DevOps and Automation. The book is written in a novel style and teaches the story of an IT manager who tries to manage the technology of a company that is falling behind its competition.

The book is very easy to go through and teaches you how having an appetite for automation and implications can work wonders.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs an interesting book on technology but particularly to an experienced programmer who wants to become a DevOps Engineer and automate things for the better.

2. Clean Code

This is a great book, though if you are an experienced developer you might have already read it, not once but twice, but if you haven't then this is the right time to read this book. Uncle Bob Martin has taught a lot of good things in this book to become a good professional programmer. The second part of this book, Clean Coder and Clean Architecture is also a good read.

3. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler helped me make the jump from small systems built for myself to large, sophisticated systems built for others. This is also a good book to learn about Microservices which are ideal for cloud deployment.

Even if you are not interested in Microservices, I highly recommend every senior developer to read this book to get some ideas on enterprise architecture and patterns. The book is also highly recommended for experienced Java developers.

4. Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks

The Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks really helped me learn to think about large projects from a personnel and planning perspective. There are some ideas there that have become part of the CS canon; "no silver bullet" and the slightly sexist but accurate metaphor for throwing more people at an overdue project, "nine women can't make a baby in one month." The Mythical Man-Month was written in 1975, but it holds up remarkably well.

5. Eric Evans' "Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software"

Eric Evans' "Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software" blew my mind. Domain modeling gets to the heart of object-oriented programming. The book is a bit academic and long-winded, but very deep and complete. This is an immediate classic and required reading for any serious engineer.

5. Peopleware

This isn't a programming book, but I feel that every professional programmer (and certainly every manager) should have read it. It is about the human aspect of programming. Programmers are people too!

Now I am going to share some books which are written specifically from a programming language perspective but they are so useful that even if you don't know Ruby you can learn a lot of good things about effective software development, backward compatibility, etc.

Anyway, becoming a Polyglot programmer is a great skill and makes your resume better. I know Java developer who is also great C++ developer are always in demand.

7. Javascript, the Good Parts

This book is for experienced JavaScript developers. There is no doubt that JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages and darling of web development but you will hardly find expert JavaScript developers.

The language is very vast and there is so much to learn but this book, JavaScript the Good Parts solves those problems and teaches you what you need to know.

This book can really help you to become a better JavaScript developer and that's why it's of my must-read JavaScript books for experienced JavaScript developers.

8. Effective Java

This is a must-read book for any experienced Java programmer. It's written by famous Joshua Bloch who has written so many classes from java.lang and Java Collections framework.

The book is very different from any traditional programming book and will teach you how to use the language for practical things instead of focusing on syntax and semantics.

I highly suggest you read the intro to get the perspective of the author. He has given a very interesting example of how programming language is co-related with speaking languages and the difference between just using and using it the right way.

This is also the most recommended book for senior Java developers and really deserves a place on your bookshelf.

9. Python Tricks

This book is for experienced Python developers. When you search over the internet you will find a lot of Python beginner books but you will hardly find any Python expert book or something which you can use to deep dive into Python.

This book is in the same league as Effective Java for Java developers and Effective C++ for C++ developers. The book will teach you many awesome features of the Python Programming language and how to do things better in Python.

It contains practical advice and best practices that every Python developer should know which makes it a must-read book for Python programmers. If you need an advanced Python course to go along with this book then you can check The Python Bible course on Udemy.

10. Effective C++ Series

This is the must-read book for any experienced C++ developer. The series contains three books, Effective C+, Effective STL, and More Effective C++ which together contain much practical advice and best practices to get the most from C++.

The series is definitely a must-read book if you want to become a C++ expert and If you need a course to go along with this book, you can also check out Advanced C++ Programming by John Purcell on Udemy.

These are also practical books that will relate your daily work to more abstract computer science concepts. They assume that you're already comfortable with the language but then go back to show how that language uses CS concepts.

They highlight how functional programming, and other classic introductory CS concepts, but stay practical. The best part is most of them are not long reads, and there are clear takeaways that make you better at programming.

Other Books and Programming Articles you may like to explore

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these books then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any feedback or questions then please drop a note.

P. S. - If you are new to the Programming world then I suggest you start your journey with Python, one of the most popular languages of the programming world. If you need recommendations I highly recommend The Complete Python 3 Bootcamp course by Jose Portilla on Udemy.

Java67

Pages