If you want to do programming, then your life path will be linked with continuous self-education. Information sphere, technologies do not stand still. What is relevant today, tomorrow will no longer have value. However, it is possible to choose the best programming books that are still useful today, especially for beginners. In the article we will give an overview of publications recognized by professionals and thousands of readers.
"Perfect code"
The author of one of the best programming books is S. McConnell. The creator himself claims: "Write the code as if it will be accompanied by a psychopath-rapist who knows where you live."
It is difficult to find a programming guru who would bypass this creation. We warn you right away that the book is not a reference book at all, but a voluminous edition of 900 pages. McConnell described everything here that a novice programmer might encounter:
- Recipes for writing high quality codes.
- Debugging and testing mechanisms.
- Code optimization strategies.
- Human factors affecting development, and so on.
The author conducted an impressive research work: the bibliography takes 20 pages of material, including about 500 sources! Therefore, it is not surprising that the book was recognized by the readers as super-useful, more than once led the ratings of programming publications. It is important that she is distinguished by a simple manner of presentation, a peculiar style of the author and his sense of humor.
Content of the Perfect Code
Let's go through the contents of the publication. The main technical imperative of software development for McConnell is complexity management. The author believes that the clarity of architecture, source code determines the quality of the system. Hence, most of the book is devoted to the topic of writing high-quality code. The author scrupulously and in detail describes all the necessary rules: the development of package and class interfaces, the level of abstraction, the high-quality methods used, the simplification of control structures, successful variable names, commenting, and so on.
There is a special section on software quality in general. The creator of the book says that improving the quality of the system always guarantees lower costs for its development. Maintaining the quality of the code at the required level not only saves the programmer’s time, but also increases its efficiency.
McConnell cites several development methods in Perfect Code : code revisions, pair programming, informal and formal inspections, development based on testing - topics are widely disclosed in the material.
The best programming book for this publication is John Robbins. He says that every programmer should re-read the Perfect Code from cover to cover every year. D. Robbins himself has been doing this for nine years.
Refactoring
Another best Martin Fowler authorship programming book. Let's start our acquaintance with the words of the author himself: "Everyone can write code that is understandable to a computer. And only good programmers write code that is understandable to humans."
In our ranking, this publication was not accidental. A huge number of authors of programming manuals refer in their works to the work of M. Fowler. First of all, the book was guaranteed success by its practical orientation. Fowler has no equal in demonstrating successful case studies.
Important Refactoring Sections
Many argue that the publication from the first words literally draws into the world of refactoring. 40 pages are devoted to the example itself. However, this is enough even for a novice to understand what refactoring is, what are its goals and principles, methods of implementation. The author tells in detail when it is needed, which code needs improvement. Fowler introduces his own rule of “three strokes”: if a programmer performs a similar operation for the third time, this is a sufficient signal to start refactoring.
The important section is where the author describes in detail the characteristics of the code that needs improvement: a large class, a long method, temporary fields, duplication, rejection, and so on. Another useful chapter: a catalog of refactoring methods. This compilation of methods, moving between objects of functions, simplification of conditional expression, and so on.
This is not just a beginner programming book. After reading it, many programmers radically change their approach to writing code. It is recommended to all professionals who want to become professionals in their field.
Design Patterns
Looking for great beginner programming books? Then pay attention to this edition of the union of authors:
- E. Gamma.
- R. Helm.
- D. Vlissides.
- R. Johnson.
If you ask any of the professionals to advise you on the publication of object-oriented programming, then in 9 out of 10 cases this book will advise you! The publication has long passed through the status of "best seller." See for yourself, because the book was published in more than 30 languages ​​and distributed by 500 thousand copies.
Why, in fact, a novice programmer to master the language of patterns? This will help to solve many design problems in a proven way in the shortest possible time, rather than reinvent the wheel. The book presents 20 patterns. And this is enough to solve a huge range of tasks in the field of software design.
This is by far one of the best books for learning programming. But note that before reading it, the reader should already have accumulated knowledge on object-oriented design. The publication is not enough to read. The book must be literally skipped through itself.
Contents of Design Patterns
The publication consists of 350 pages. The book is divided into two parts:
- The general concept of patterns in design, a description of their practical application.
- A catalog with patterns describing the structure, purpose, implementation features.
The authors divide all patterns into three main categories:
- Generating. Solve class instantiation tasks.
- Structural. Solving issues of system layout based on classes and objects.
- Behavioral patterns. Associated with the distribution of responsibilities between classes, algorithms.
The only minus of the book: the examples are written in the little-known Smalltalk language.
"Clean code"
The creation of Robin Martin cannot be ranked among the best books about programming. The author himself warns the reader: "Writing code is a difficult task. Here you definitely have to sweat."
360 pages of the publication (not including applications) are devoted to writing high-quality code. The main advantage: the publication is compiled in an accessible and understandable language. Therefore, it is really possible to fully master it in just a few evenings. A friendly manner of storytelling, an abundance of examples from the author’s real practice, also captivates.
Three parts of the Clean Code
R. Martin divided his publication into three parts:
- The theoretical section. This is precisely the theory of writing "clean" code: techniques, patterns and principles that every developer should know.
- Practical section. The author tells how to "clean" the codes of existing applications today.
- Total. Here is a list of "code odors", as well as instructions for eliminating them.
Why is the publication ranked among the best programming books? The creator here details the principles of naming variables, rules for creating functions, formatting code, writing comments, principles for writing unit tests and error handling. A large section is devoted to the creation of multi-threaded applications.
Robin Martin introduces the basic rule: no matter what part of the code you work with, your task is to make it cleaner, better than it was. Only in this case the code will not “rot”.
Of course, this is one of the best books on programming for beginners. Readers point out only one of its minus: Java-oriented.
"The art of programming"
We continue to acquaint you with the best books on the basics of programming. The creator of this, Donald Knuth, aptly observes: "The best way to figure something out is to try to teach this computer." Admirers of the book say that a programmer who does not have the "Art of Programming" in his library is like a clergyman without a Bible.
What is good monograph D. Knut? The author describes and analyzes in detail the fundamental algorithms of computer science, gives practical tasks for the assimilation of the material. The work was started back in 1962. The full edition will include 7 volumes. Three have been published so far - that's already 3,000 pages. The book is not a ready-made "recipe" for solving problems. It is not easy to read - examples are considered in a low-level programming language created by the author for a hypothetical computer.
Tom "Skills of programming"
Consider the parts of a scientific and practical work:
- The first volume. It is dedicated to the basic algorithms and generally prepares the reader for work on the book. We consider mathematical theorems, terms, a programming language created by the author - all that the narrative will be based on. Also, information systems and algorithms for interacting with them are mentioned here.
- The second volume. Exercises with random numbers and their sequences are considered. Important questions of arithmetic are described: number systems, arithmetic of numbers with a floating point, polynomial arithmetic and so on.
- The third volume. Search and sorting algorithms.
- Fourth volume. Not completely written, preparing for release. Here questions of combinatorial search will be dealt with.
The "Art of Programming" was highly praised by Bill Gates. In his review of the publication, he said that anyone who could handle Knut’s work could definitely send a resume to his corporation.
"Programmer-programmer"
Need the best books to learn programming from scratch? Your library must have this creation of E. Hunt and D. Thomas. What are pragmatic programmers? Those specialists who first of all look at the practical success of their own projects.
The book is small in size - 270 pages. However, the content necessary for the programmer is concentrated in its content. The authors accompany all the topics covered by expressive analogies: poor-quality code and the theory of a broken window, driving a car and writing code, carpentry work and the activities of a programmer.
Hunt and Thomas form a wonderful programming principle: "Do not repeat yourself." In this context, this means that each piece of knowledge is only an unambiguous representation in the system. As a result, this approach increases the reliability, simplicity and accessibility of a programmable product.
Chapters "Pragmatist Programmer"
Let's briefly review the contents of the book:
- The general philosophy of pragmatic programming. How do authors see a successful specialist.
- A pragmatic approach. Development methods, as well as evaluations of labor-intensive projects.
- Flexibility versus fragility. How change-resistant flexible systems are created.
- Before the start of the project. It describes how to formulate and approve system requirements.
- Pragmatic projects. Important aspects of creating real projects: features of teamwork, testing, paperwork.
The only thing that can upset here is a poor-quality translation into Russian, the presence of typos. Therefore, the book is best read in the original.
Programmer library
Here is a list of several iconic works recognized as the best programming books from scratch:
- "Effective work with legacy code." Creator - M.K. Fisers.
- JavaScript: Strengths Creator - D. Crockford.
- "Enterprise application templates." The creator is M. Fowler.
- "C programming language." The creators are B.W. Kernigan, D.M. Ritchie.
- "Effective use of C +++." Creator - S. Myers.
- "Experimental programming." The creator is K. Beck.
- "Algorithms. Construction and analysis." The creators are T. Cormen et al.
- "Regular expressions." Creator - D. Fridl.
- "Modern design in C ++." Creator - A. Alexandrescu.
Editions for young programmers
We will also introduce the best books on programming for children:
- "Scratch for children." Posted by M. Margie.
- "JavaScript for children." The author is N. Morgan.
- "Python for children." Posted by D. Briggs.
This concludes our acquaintance with the top editions for adult and young programmers. We hope that the presented lists, reviews on books will help you choose a worthy tutorial, enrich the piggy bank of knowledge, perceive new experience.