50 books · 2007 to 2026
Recommended by many,
for many years.
We read 176,523 comments from developers and counted which books keep getting cited, year after year. No login, no account.
Full ranking
50 books- 1Structure and Interpretation of Computer ProgramsAbelson and Sussman · technical72620
- 2Gödel, Escher, BachDouglas Hofstadter · ideas44620
- 3The C Programming LanguageKernighan and Ritchie · technical43120
- 4The Pragmatic ProgrammerAndy Hunt and Dave Thomas · technical40720
- 5Introduction to AlgorithmsCormen, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein · technical38720
- 6Clean CodeRobert C. Martin · technical36719
- 7Code CompleteSteve McConnell · technical33720
- 8The Art of Computer ProgrammingDonald Knuth · technical28219
- 9The Mythical Man-MonthFred Brooks · technical27820
- 10Designing Data-Intensive ApplicationsMartin Kleppmann · technical22713
- 11Design PatternsGamma, Helm, Johnson and Vlissides · technical20820
- 12The Design of Everyday ThingsDon Norman · ideas19820
- 13CodeCharles Petzold · technical17719
- 14Domain-Driven DesignEric Evans · technical10818
- 15Working Effectively with Legacy CodeMichael Feathers · technical9819
Where to start
The questions that come up most in the conversations, with the books cited most in the answers.
- 01Starting a companyConversations from people starting a company.8 books
- 02First job and careerConversations about getting started, junior roles, career, or “becoming a better developer”.13 books
- 03Books every programmer should readConversations about what programmers should read.13 books
- 04Fiction for programmersConversations about fiction and science fiction.8 books
Communities
Every community goes through the same process and has its own ranking. The overall ranking adds them all up.
- Hacker NewsEnglishTech and startup forum, with 20 years of discussions.50 books · 170,091 comments read
- TabNewsPortugueseBrazil’s developer community, in Portuguese.30 books · 3,196 comments read
- LobstersEnglishSmaller and more technical: systems, languages and security.not collected yet
- Stack ExchangeEnglish“What should I read” questions on Software Engineering and related sites.33 books · 3,236 comments read
- dev.toEnglishReading lists from people starting out.not collected yet
How we count
176,523 comments read across 3 communities, in 4,272 conversations about books.
- Comments
From each community, the replies in conversations about books and the comments with recommendation phrases.
- Books
For now, a title search. Extraction with Claude will separate people who recommend a book from people who just mention it.
- Same work
Open Library groups editions and translations, so “Código Limpo” and “Clean Code” count together.
- Ranking
Distinct people who cite the book, in how many years and in how many communities.