Jeff Atwood is a programmer and blogger best known as co-founder of Stack Overflow, the largest Q&A platform for developers. He's also created Discourse, an open-source discussion platform. Through his writing and projects, Atwood has shaped how developers learn, collaborate, and build software together.
19 Books Recommended by Jeff Atwood
Ranked by popularity across all reading lists on this site
Masters of Doom
7 people recommendedrecommended 2xPlease read [this book]. It's such a great book.
Please read [this book]. It's such a great book.
Also recommended by: Elon Musk, Patrick Collison, Tobi Lutke, Alexis Ohanian, Austen Allred, Trung Phan
The single best book on usability I've ever read.
The single best book on usability I've ever read.
Also recommended by: Brian Armstrong, Ev Williams, Garry Tan, Nick Ganju, Derek Sivers
The Mythical Man-Month
5 people recommendedArguably the only classic book in our field. If you haven't read it, shame on you.
Also recommended by: Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Marc Benioff, Alan Kay
Will give you a new appreciation of the 'devil in the details.'
Will give you a new appreciation of the 'devil in the details.'
Also recommended by: Tobi Lutke, Marissa Mayer, Scott Adams
This is the book that introduced the world to the concept of personas.
This is the book that introduced the world to the concept of personas.
Also recommended by: Brian Armstrong, Marty Cagan
59 Seconds
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xHighly recommend.
Highly recommend.
Also recommended by: Charles Poliquin, Mr Money Mustache
Peopleware
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xIf you've ever seen the performance of an all-star sports team suffer due to poor coaching, you'll appreciate this book.
If you've ever seen the performance of an all-star sports team suffer due to poor coaching, you'll appreciate this book.
Also recommended by: Kevin Kelly
About Face
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xA fantastically useful book; I've used whole chapters as guides for projects I worked on.
A fantastically useful book; I've used whole chapters as guides for projects I worked on.
Also recommended by: Jocko Willink
Envisioning Information
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xJeff Atwood recommended this book on his blog.
Jeff Atwood recommended this book on his blog.
Also recommended by: Kevin Rose
The Pragmatic Programmer
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xInstead of worrying about code, the authors boiled down all the practical approaches that they've found to work in the real world into this one book.
Instead of worrying about code, the authors boiled down all the practical approaches that they've found to work in the real world into this one book.
Also recommended by: Ev Williams
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xEssential.
Essential.
Also recommended by: Brianne Kimmel
Top 10 Games You Can Play In Your Head, By Yourself
This book is *profoundly* weird... next level galaxy brain weird. I mean that as a compliment!
Programming Pearls
The collective wisdom of many journeyman coders distilled into succinct, digestible columns.
Beautiful Evidence
recommended 2xJeff Atwood recommended this book on his blog.
Jeff Atwood recommended this book on his blog.
Code Complete
recommended 2xThe very act of reading this book already sets you apart from probably ninety percent of your fellow developers. In a good way.
The very act of reading this book already sets you apart from probably ninety percent of your fellow developers. In a good way.
Rapid Development
recommended 2xThe epiphany offered in this book is that making mistakes is good– so long as they are all new, all singing, all dancing mistakes.
The epiphany offered in this book is that making mistakes is good– so long as they are all new, all singing, all dancing mistakes.
Designing Web Usability
recommended 2xA full-on web usability primer.
A full-on web usability primer.
Regular Expressions Cookbook
recommended 2xI may be a card carrying member of the 'Keep It Simple Stupid' club, but I'm making a meteor sized exception for regular expressions.
I may be a card carrying member of the 'Keep It Simple Stupid' club, but I'm making a meteor sized exception for regular expressions.
