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A Programmer's Bookshelf

Posted by Hemos on from the good-question dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With christmas just round the corner I have been looking for gifts for my geek friends. But what book? I recently found a simple page with one person's bookshelf and explain what's good and what's not. What do you think? Whats on a programmer's bookshelf? (or what should be and is not!)"

3 of 362 comments (clear)

  1. PARENT NOT OFFTOPIC! by madaxe42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Godel, Escher and Bach is a damned good book, and any self-respecting geek should have read it. Twice.
     
    Other favourites include Capital by Marx, Crime & Punishment by Dostoeyevsky, Also Spracht Zarathustra (Nietzsche), The Fountainhead (Rand), The heart of a dog (Bulgakov) and Dubliners (Joyce).
     
    If you're a programmer, the last thing you're going to want to read are code books.

    1. Re:PARENT NOT OFFTOPIC! by ATeamMrT · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Godel, Escher and Bach is a damned good book, and any self-respecting geek should have read it. Twice.

      Other favourites include Capital by Marx, Crime & Punishment by Dostoeyevsky, Also Spracht Zarathustra (Nietzsche), The Fountainhead (Rand), The heart of a dog (Bulgakov) and Dubliners (Joyce).

      Those books are a little heavy to digest. I don't know about most people, but I would not want work as a gift, then to feel obligated to read 700 pages. I've read a few books by Dostoevsky, and they are not christmas books! Christmas should be about having fun, not getting a headache reading.

      If you're a programmer, the last thing you're going to want to read are code books

      I agree. It is like giving your mom a skillet for christmas because she cooks for you.

      Picking the right gift requires knowing your friend. One of the BEST gifts I ever recieved was from a neighbors wife. She is an awesome baker. She filled up a tin with homemade cookies, her daughters helped decorate the tin. It was a gift they put their hearts into. They spent a few hours at my place, it was nice to talk, to listen about their year, and what they were planning for the new year. Fellowship is the best gift.

      I also love getting christmas cards from friends who have moved away. It is a nice way to keep in touch with people.

      Remember, it is the thought that counts. The gift is not important. What is important is someone cares about you.

  2. Not to throw cold water on this or anything... by Peregr1n · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find lo-tech paper books aren't costworthy in today's tech environment - they go out of date too quickly, and are thus resource wasteful (In my area - web tech - anyway). Any reference books I buy in digital form, as this is usually more cost-efficient.

    So for a REAL bookshelf... probably some IT-angled fiction. This is tricky as most authors fail to research tech angles correctly (like Hollywood computers, but not quite as glaringly obvious). Douglas Copeland's Microserfs was OK, and quite entertaining.

    For an intelligent recommended read though, I can't recommend the usual Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance highly enough. It really makes you think, which is nice. I've been meaning to check out Scott Adam's (of Dilbert fame) God's Debris too. That's free to download by the way. So it might be worth reading a bit and if you like it, you could buy paper copies for your friends.