Books

This page contains categorized links to recommended books. See also this list of free programming books.

Essentials

Books that every programmer must have.

Head First Java: You do not know object-oriented programming until you’ve read this book.
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: You do not know how to apply object-oriented programming until you’ve read this book. It covers the software design process and teaches skills sufficient to design any software system. You should also know SOLID and GRASP.
Design Patterns (aka the Gang of Four book): A catalog of well-known solutions to common software design problems. A good summary of the book is on Wikipedia. A summary of the patterns described here can be found at http://www.oodesign.com/.
Head First Design Patterns: Goes into greater depth on selected patterns. Some consider it better for learning and understanding patterns than the GoF book, which is more of a reference book than a study book.
97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: The title says it all. The actual “things” are listed here.
The Art of Readable Code: Many useful tips for writing code that is easy for people (including yourself) to understand.

Introductory programming books.

The C Programming Language (aka the K&R book): Hello, World!
The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: MIT’s long-time textbook.
Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, Python edition. See the author’s other books on statistics and data structures in Python.
How to Design Programs: Focuses on building problem-solving skills and good style and documentation habits.
Eloquent JavaScript: A good intro to a nonsensical language.
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Introductory book targeted at non-programmers. Covers automating everyday office and other computing tasks, including searching and organizing files, extracting text from Word and PDF documents, extracting data from Web pages, sending email and text messages, and GUI automation.

Computer graphics and OpenGL.