Books Programmers Don't Really Read But Recommend
Ya know, I would put a lot of the books most programmers have read on the second list. How many have actually read Code Complete (HN is probably a bad sample)?<p>I totally agree about Design Patterns. That is perhaps the driest (I mistyped that as "direst"; Freudian slip?) technical book (or any book for that matter) I have ever tried (and failed) to read.<p>Thing is, technical books don't have to be that way. The early Michael Abrash books (eg [1]) are actually highly entertaining. Effective C++ and Java are eminently readable.<p>I lot of people recommend CLRS and I've certainly studied from parts of it but I found Skiena's The Algorithm Design Manual to be far more approachable and enjoyable. If your goal is to learn I suggest that. CLRS seems more aimed at people who want or need to know mathematical proofs or are bound for postgrad CS.<p>TAOCP and the Dragon book are classic examples of books that get recommended all the time (on SO, here and elsewhere) but I'm convinced only a handful have actually read them.<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Assembly-Language-Knowledge-Programming/dp/0673386023" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Assembly-Language-Knowledge-Progra...</a>