HN Recommended Books > Software Engineering

Software Engineering Books Recommended on Hacker News

These software engineering books are ranked using Hacker News discussions, comment activity, and editorial review. The collection covers software design, maintainability, legacy systems, refactoring, architecture, design patterns, engineering effectiveness, and the long-term evolution of codebases.

Top 5 quick picks

#1 Working Effectively with Legacy Code (Robert C. Martin Series) #2 Code Complete #3 A Philosophy of Software Design #4 Software Engineering at Google #5 Mythical Man-Month, The: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition
Showing 1 - 14 of 14 books
Working Effectively with Legacy Code (Robert C. Martin Series) cover

1. Working Effectively with Legacy Code (Robert C. Martin Series)

by Michael C. Feathers
Read 37 comments
Code Complete cover

2. Code Complete

by Steve McConnell
Read 31 comments
A Philosophy of Software Design cover

3. A Philosophy of Software Design

by John Ousterhout
Read 18 comments
Software Engineering at Google cover

4. Software Engineering at Google

by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright
Read 10 comments
Mythical Man-Month, The: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition cover

5. Mythical Man-Month, The: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition

by Frederick P. Brooks (Jr.)
Read 17 comments
Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (Addison-wesley Object Technology Series) cover

6. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (Addison-wesley Object Technology Series)

by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck
Read 8 comments
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software cover

7. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
Read 14 comments
Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship cover

8. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

by Hugh Wiley Hitchcock
Read 25 comments
The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts In Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact cover

9. The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts In Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact

by Edmond Lau
Read 8 comments
Clean Architecture: A Craftsman's Guide to Software Structure and Design (Robert C. Martin Series) cover

10. Clean Architecture: A Craftsman's Guide to Software Structure and Design (Robert C. Martin Series)

by Robert C. Martin
Read 3 comments
Head First Design Patterns cover

11. Head First Design Patterns

by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Robson, Elisabeth Freeman, Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates
Read 6 comments
Software Design for Flexibility: How to Avoid Programming Yourself into a Corner cover

12. Software Design for Flexibility: How to Avoid Programming Yourself into a Corner

by Chris Hanson, Gerald Jay Sussman
Read 1 comment
Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering cover

13. Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering

by Robert L. Glass
Read 4 comments
Refactoring to Patterns cover

14. Refactoring to Patterns

by Joshua Kerievsky
Read 1 comment