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Computer Science Graduate Recommended Reading
The best books for recently graduated computer science majors to read to get up to speed and advance their skills in the workplace.
A career as a professional software engineer, programmer, developer, etc. can look and feel very different in practice than the theoretical approaches of most computer science majors. An adjustment period is normal.
Some of these books can also be good reads for professionals who are a few years past graduation but feel as if their career has stalled.
Also see MIT's Missing Semester of of Your CS Education (not a book, but a free online course).
A career as a professional software engineer, programmer, developer, etc. can look and feel very different in practice than the theoretical approaches of most computer science majors. An adjustment period is normal.
Some of these books can also be good reads for professionals who are a few years past graduation but feel as if their career has stalled.
Also see MIT's Missing Semester of of Your CS Education (not a book, but a free online course).
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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The Missing README: A Guide for the New Software Engineer
by
Chris Riccomini (Goodreads Author)
4.41 avg rating — 404 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 2 |
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The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition
by
Andy Hunt (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 23,632 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 3 |
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The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
by
Tanya Reilly (Goodreads Author)
4.38 avg rating — 1,896 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 4 |
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The Software Engineer's Guidebook: Navigating senior, tech lead, and staff engineer positions at tech companies and startups
by
Gergely Orosz (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 638 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 5 |
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Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach
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4.26 avg rating — 2,088 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 6 |
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Designing Data-Intensive Applications
by
Martin Kleppmann (Goodreads Author)
4.70 avg rating — 10,105 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 7 |
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Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
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4.36 avg rating — 23,081 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 8 |
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Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
by
Betsy Beyer (Editor)
4.21 avg rating — 2,864 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 9 |
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Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective
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4.46 avg rating — 1,114 ratings
score: 92,
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1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Kill It with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems
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4.15 avg rating — 726 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
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Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions
by
Gayle Laakmann McDowell (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 6,887 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
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| 12 |
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Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
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4.47 avg rating — 4,829 ratings
score: 89,
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1 person voted
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| 13 |
|
How to Win Friends & Influence People
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4.22 avg rating — 1,119,715 ratings
score: 88,
and
1 person voted
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| 14 |
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Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
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3.94 avg rating — 84,860 ratings
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
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| 15 |
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The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,703 ratings
score: 86,
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1 person voted
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| 16 |
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Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual
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3.84 avg rating — 2,837 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
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| 17 |
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Letters to a New Developer: What I Wish I Had Known When Starting My Development Career
by
Dan Moore (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 51 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
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| 18 |
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Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
by
Steve McConnell (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 9,441 ratings
score: 83,
and
1 person voted
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| 19 |
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Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
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4.40 avg rating — 10,389 ratings
score: 82,
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1 person voted
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