Top Software Engineering books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteSoftware Engineering books – and here are the answers.

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Top Software Engineering books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of Software Engineering

Understanding the concepts of Software Engineering starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Programming Pearls

Programming Pearls

When programmers list their favourite books, Jon Bentley’s collection of programming pearls is commonly included among the classics. Just as natural pearls grow from grains of sand that irritate oysters, programming pearls have grown from real problems that have irritated real programmers. With …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Mythical Man-Month

The Mythical Man-Month

Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project m…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

A Philosophy of Software Design

A Philosophy of Software Design

This book addresses the topic of software design: how to decompose complex software systems into modules (such as classes and methods) that can be implemented relatively independently. The book first introduces the fundamental problem in software design, which is managing complexity. It then dis…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Building a Career in Software: A Comprehensive Guide to Success in the Software Industry

Building a Career in Software: A Comprehensive Guide to Success in the Software Industry

Software engineering education has a problem: universities and bootcamps teach aspiring engineers to write code, but they leave graduates to teach themselves the countless supporting tools required to thrive in real software companies. Building a Career in Software is the solution, a comprehensi…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Refactoring

Refactoring

Refactoring is about improving the design of existing code. It is the process of changing a software system in such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of the code, yet improves its internal structure. With refactoring you can even take a bad design and rework it into a good one. …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software

Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software

A single dramatic software failure can cost a company millions of dollars - but can be avoided with simple changes to design and architecture. This new edition of the best-selling industry standard shows you how to create systems that run longer, with fewer failures, and recover better when bad …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Software Engineering Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Software Engineering, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Clean Code

Clean Code

Even bad code can function. But if code isn’t clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year, countless hours and significant resources are lost because of poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Noted software expert Robert C. Martin, presents a revolut…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach

Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach

Salary surveys worldwide regularly place software architect in the top 10 best jobs, yet no real guide exists to help developers become architects. Until now. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of software architecture’s many aspects. Aspiring and existing architects alike will …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

Data is at the center of many challenges in system design today. Difficult issues need to be figured out, such as scalability, consistency, reliability, efficiency, and maintainability. In addition, we have an overwhelming variety of tools, including relational databases, NoSQL datastores, strea…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems

Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, k…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries

Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries

This book, Framework Design Guidelines, presents best practices for designing frameworks, which are reusable object-oriented libraries. The guidelines are applicable to frameworks ranging in size and in their scale of reuse: Large system frameworks, such as the .

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

JavaScript: The Good Parts

JavaScript: The Good Parts

It is intended for programmers who, by happenstance or curiosity, are venturing into JavaScript for the first time. It is also intended for programmers who have been working with JavaScript at a novice level and are now ready for a more sophisticated relationship with the language.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Specializations and Deeper Software Engineering Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Software Engineering is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition

The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition

“One of the most significant books in my life.” —Obie Fernandez, Author, The Rails Way “Twenty years ago, the first edition of The Pragmatic Programmer completely changed the trajectory of my career. This new edition could do the same for yours.” —Mike Cohn, Author of Succeeding with Agile , Agi…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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