Recommendations

Engineering books I recommend, with a short note on why each one is worth your time.

Gergely Orosz, author of The Pragmatic Engineer, maps how software engineering careers actually work: from writing your first production code to leading teams. It is a practical reference for growing as an engineer and for understanding how strong engineering organizations operate.

Gergely Orosz :: The Software Engineer's Guidebook

Gergely Orosz, author of The Pragmatic Engineer, maps how software engineering careers actually work: from writing your first production code to leading teams. It is a practical reference for growing as an engineer and for understanding how strong engineering organizations operate.

The standard engineering textbook on artificial intelligence. Russell and Norvig cover search, knowledge representation, machine learning, and the ideas behind modern AI systems in a way that stays useful when you are building software, not only reading papers.

Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig :: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

The standard engineering textbook on artificial intelligence. Russell and Norvig cover search, knowledge representation, machine learning, and the ideas behind modern AI systems in a way that stays useful when you are building software, not only reading papers.

Addy Osmani explains the patterns that show up in real JavaScript codebases: modules, observers, and the structures that keep large front-end applications understandable. A second Osmani book worth keeping next to Image Optimization when you care about how the code is shaped, not only how fast the page loads.

Addy Osmani :: Learning JavaScript Design Patterns

Addy Osmani explains the patterns that show up in real JavaScript codebases: modules, observers, and the structures that keep large front-end applications understandable. A second Osmani book worth keeping next to Image Optimization when you care about how the code is shaped, not only how fast the page loads.

A clear guide to the techniques behind image optimization, including how browsers decode and render images. It is the book I reach for when a page is slow because of pictures rather than JavaScript.

Addy Osmani :: Image Optimization

A clear guide to the techniques behind image optimization, including how browsers decode and render images. It is the book I reach for when a page is slow because of pictures rather than JavaScript.

I used this book to fill the gaps between software engineering and performance work. If you are moving into performance from another area, it is a strong start: it explains how to analyze systems and which tools to use day to day.

Brendan Gregg :: Systems Performance

I used this book to fill the gaps between software engineering and performance work. If you are moving into performance from another area, it is a strong start: it explains how to analyze systems and which tools to use day to day.