The Psychology of Computer Programming
Gerald M. Weinberg
16 people recommended it in 8 threads, 2017–2023.
What people on Hacker News said
Book 1 is a really nice read and touches a lot of the social and workplace aspects of computer programming.
This guy is also a time traveler in his insights
While dated in many ways (like MMM), it has a lot of interesting ideas and discussion about the structure and behavior of people and teams (regardless of discipline, though he was writing about programmers).
But maybe the better for you are his classic The Psychology of Computer Program (to understand the mind of programmers)
Coming to it 15 years later, I realize it'd have been the perfect companion to my first five years in industry, naming and describing problems I'd faced and solutions that only came through experience more painful than reading.
From its preface: "This book has only one major purpose - to trigger the beginning of a new field of study: computer programming as a human activity, or, in short, the psychology of computer programming."
It really shone a nice light on the human element and how we reason and think about code and programming.
But programmers haven't changed much since then. You'll recognize all the weirdness in software work.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read? 2017 · 8 recommendations
- Books I recommend to my software engineering students 2020 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read? 2023 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021? 2021 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What are the best books for professional effectiveness? 2021 · 1 recommendation
- Books that changed my career as a software engineer 2021 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? 2019 · 1 recommendation