 | True Names: And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier by Vernor Vinge
Buy new: $10.87 / Used from: $0.55 Read It. Vernor Vinge's science fiction has probably shaped my view of computation as much as any technical book. I restricted myself to one book here, but next in line would probably be "Peace War" and "Rainbows End". Caution! "True Names" is only one chapter in this book and the only part that is a must read. The rest of the book is OK, but optional.
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 | The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master by Andrew Hunt
Buy new: $32.25 / Used from: $26.20 Read It. There been a trend from time to time to remind programmers that there are many skills they need to deliver products. An unfortunate side effect is it sometimes diminishes the role of programming. For me this book puts programming back in its place as the defining act of craft. Other skills are essential, but this is what we *do*.
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 | Software Craftsmanship: The New Imperative by Pete McBreen
Buy new: $20.31 / Used from: $6.88 Read It. I almost hesitated to add this because it overlaps so much with "Pragmatic Programmer", abeit with a little more focus on softer topics. But its excellent and also worth reading.
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 | The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $5.51 Read It. Not a programming book per say, but to me excellence in programming requires multi-perspective thinking about the task or product at hand. Reading the DOET book is great practice for learning to see things from multiple perspectives.
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 | Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Buy new: $15.61 / Used from: $5.98 Read It. Again not a programming book per say, but much of programming can be said to be the act of capturing how and what we think. And this is a great book that can be summarized as a book about thinking about thinking.
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 | Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices by Robert C. Martin
Buy new: $51.61 / Used from: $35.90 Understand It/Read It. I have been influenced a lot by "Uncle Bob's" principles of OO design, but I read them as papers before this and related books were published. This contains the best recapitulation of the papers and extended examples. But I've never slogged through the whole thing. But the principles are must know knowledge. There are copies of the original articles online as well.
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 | Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma
Buy new: $38.70 / Used from: $26.99 Understand It. Knowing what makes a pattern a pattern and how to use it is probably more important then memorizing specific patterns.
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 | Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams by Alistair Cockburn
Buy new: $25.80 / Used from: $12.00 Understand It. There are many good books on/related to pragmatic development methods. Cockburn is essential because he does a great job an keeping the focus on the human aspects.
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 | Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Second Edition by Harold Abelson
Buy new: $101.14 / Used from: $49.95 Know It. I've been fascinated by the ideas in this book and owned a copy for 15 years but I have never read it in full.
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