Y Hacker News Books

Ask HN: Best books under 200 pages for developers? ↗

The books people recommended

2020-05-30 · 551 points · 102 comments · 33 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

  1. 5A Philosophy of Software Design

    A Philosophy of Software Design

    John Ousterhout

    5 here · 42 all-time · #116 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,832 ratings on Amazon
  2. 5

    The Elements of Style

    William Strunk Jr.

    5 here · 38 all-time · #129 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 7,297 ratings on Amazon
  3. 3Grokking Algorithms

    Grokking Algorithms

    Aditya Y. Bhargava

    3 here · 12 all-time · #535 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,557 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2

    The Mythical Man-Month

    Frederick Brooks Jr.

    2 here · 137 all-time · #13 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,811 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2

    Algorithms

    Robert Sedgewick

    2 here · 49 all-time · #89 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 876 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2

    Programming Pearls

    Jon Bentley

    2 here · 35 all-time · #145 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 402 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2

    Refactoring UI

    Adam Wathan, Steve Schoger

    2 here · 24 all-time · #255 overall

  8. 2Test-Driven Development by Example

    Test-Driven Development by Example

    Kent Beck

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1180 overall

  9. 2Style

    Style

    Joseph M. Williams

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1755 overall

  10. 1

    Code Complete

    Steve McConnell

    1 here · 108 all-time · #22 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,353 ratings on Amazon
  11. 1

    The Little Schemer

    Daniel P. Friedman, Matthias Felleisen

    1 here · 51 all-time · #81 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 185 ratings on Amazon
  12. 1

    Don't Make Me Think

    Steve Krug

    1 here · 35 all-time · #149 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,670 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    The Mom Test

    Rob Fitzpatrick

    1 here · 28 all-time · #208 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 4,371 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    How to Measure Anything

    Douglas Hubbard

    1 here · 27 all-time · #214 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 595 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1The Practice of Programming

    The Practice of Programming

    Brian Kernighan, Rob Pike

    1 here · 16 all-time · #398 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 176 ratings on Amazon
  16. 1Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby

    Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby

    Sandi Metz

    1 here · 12 all-time · #537 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 521 ratings on Amazon
  17. 1The Elements of Programming Style

    The Elements of Programming Style

    Brian Kernighan and P. J. Plauger

    1 here · 9 all-time · #697 overall

  18. 1Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    Unwritten Laws of Engineering

    W.J. King

    1 here · 9 all-time · #743 overall

  19. 1A Discipline of Programming

    A Discipline of Programming

    Edsger Dijkstra

    1 here · 8 all-time · #805 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 27 ratings on Amazon
  20. 122 Immutable Laws of Marketing

    22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

    Al Ries and Jack Trout

    1 here · 8 all-time · #821 overall

  21. 1How to Take Smart Notes

    How to Take Smart Notes

    Sönke Ahrens

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1103 overall

  22. 1Apprenticeship Patterns

    Apprenticeship Patterns

    Dave Hoover , Adewale Oshineye

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1176 overall

  23. 1A Tour of C++

    A Tour of C++

    Bjarne Stroustrup

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1216 overall

  24. 1Writing Solid Code

    Writing Solid Code

    Steve Maguire

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1355 overall

  25. 1The Sense of Style

    The Sense of Style

    Steven Pinker

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1366 overall

  26. 1The Art of Readable Code

    The Art of Readable Code

    Dustin Boswell & Trevor Foucher

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1541 overall

  27. 1ML for the Working Programmer

    ML for the Working Programmer

    Larry C Paulson

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1592 overall

  28. 1Principles of Object Oriented JavaScript

    Principles of Object Oriented JavaScript

    Nicholas C. Zakas

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1723 overall

  29. 1Project Oberon

    Project Oberon

    Niklaus Wirth

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1837 overall

  30. 1Data & Reality

    Data & Reality

    Peter Chen

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1874 overall

  31. 1Grokking Simplicity

    Grokking Simplicity

    Eric Normand

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1908 overall

  32. 1Compiler Construction

    Compiler Construction

    Niklaus Wirth

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1963 overall

  33. 1Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming

    Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming

    Professor Frisby

    1 here · 3 all-time · #1977 overall