6 books I wish I read at 22 as a junior software engineer:

1/ Why Programs Fail:

I wasted a lot of time adding console logs everywhere.

This book taught me everything I needed to know about systematic debugging;

Besides, I think it's the most important skill you must learn as an engineer.

whyprogramsfail.com

2/ The Simple Path to Wealth:

I didn't know what to do with money in my early 20s.

So I put everything in the checking account and lost a lot against inflation.

I learned the hard way: it doesn't matter how much I earn if I'm not financially educated.

This book taught me everything I wish school had taught me.

amazon.com/Simple-Path-…

3/ Never Split the Difference:

I put in a ton of work to get promoted: be a leader, deliver quickly, and so on.

But I never got promoted because I had no clue about negotiation.

My manager always told me: the company was having a bad time or something else was wrong.

So I read every book I could find on negotiation.

And this is the book that I recommend to you if you're getting started.

I got promoted at work after that.

amazon.com/Never-Split-…

4/ Can't Hurt Me:

I've had many bad days in life; also not everything went well at work.

This book motivated me to try new things and take risks in my personal life + career.

It's one of the best books on mental health.

And it might save you someday.

amazon.com/Cant-Hurt-Me…

5/ The Pragmatic Programmer:

I had no idea about productivity when I started my career.

So I tried to learn from senior engineers.

Also I got lucky to work with people who wrote code for Linux kernel and Git.

This book taught me a lot about developer productivity,

I'd say I became a better engineer than my past self.

pragprog.com/titles/tpp…

6/ On Writing Well:

I struggle with English because I'm not a native speaker.

Also I don't know many sophisticated words.

So I never scored good grades at school for my language skills.

Yet I write each day at work: sending emails, code reviews, team chat, and so on.

This book taught me - writing doesn't belong to my English teacher.

Besides it helped me grow the system design newsletter to 100K readers quickly.

amazon.com/Writing-Well…

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What's your must-read book?

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